Last week, we alerted you to SB1211, creating an administrative burden on teachers to publish all learning materials online—a political bill serving no purpose but to appease the religious conservative education movement.

That bill got held in committee last week, but is making a comeback in House Appropriations this Monday.

The following day, Senate Appropriations will also hear HB2637, forcing the state to divest from sex education curriculum providers that also provide abortions (i.e. Planned Parenthood), and whose learning materials are "explicit" (read: scientifically accurate and LGBTQ-inclusive). This bill, of course, unconstitutionally revolves around Christian anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ doctrine.

This bill was also supposed to be heard last week but got pushed back. So we have a second chance to get our voices on the record for both these bills.

If you can join us, here’s what you can do:

1. Contact committee members. You can use our form here to get in contact.
2. If you are a Request to Speak user, sign in against both bills
3. If you can testify live in committee, contact us if you’d like help knowing how to prepare

More Capitol Updates

Three bills we brought to your attention the other day were just sent to Governor Ducey’s desk: 15-week abortion ban SB1164 and transgender discrimination bills SB1138 and SB1165.

There is a lot of doom and gloom surrounding these bills, but also some reasons to be encouraged: Governors in Idaho and Utah have recently vetoed similar transphobic bills.

So don’t relent: if you’re as fired up about these bills as we are, make sure to give Governor Ducey’s office a piece of your mind at 602-542-4331.

We’re also still holding the line on HB2707—the coerced Pledge of Allegiance/moment of silence bill—and HB2507, the major religious privilege expansion.  These bills will be heard on the Senate floor soon at a date TBD—possibly on short notice. We’ll do our best to track these bills and inform you when they’re scheduled to hit the floor.

Announcing new events

We just announced a couple new opportunities coming up for you to connect with our community!

• April 20th - “In God We Trust?” – after a powerhouse speech at our Day the Capitol, we’re inviting author and theistnormativity expert Kristina Lee back for a deep dive into why religious motto bills are so serious! Register for the free Zoom event here.
• April 30th-May 1st: Rainbow Festival support our table at this Pride event in midtown Phoenix!