Hey Tucson! Secular AZ is heading your way on Saturday, October 11 for not one, but two in-person events... and you're invited to both.  

At 2pm, we're meeting at the Woods Memorial Library (3455 North 1st. Avenue) for a conversation with Secular AZ’s Jeanne Casteen and Eddie Chavez Calderon, hosted by the Secular Humanist Jewish Circle of Tucson. 

We’ll discuss Secular AZ’s work in education and church: state separation issues, as well as Eddie’s work in advocacy, human rights, and fundraising. Find details for this free event here.  

Then at 5:30pm, join us for Tucson-Ask-A-Lawyer. Two experts will join us to answer your questions about what's going on with immigration in Tucson and beyond. We'll meet near Broadway/Alvernon with special guests immigration activist Margo Cowan and immigration attorney Mo Goldman.  

RSVP is required. The location will be released the day before the event to registered guests. Light refreshments provided; please BYOB. Find details and registration here.

See you in Tucson! 

THIS WEEK'S NEWS

Good news! Last week, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction blocking Arizona's (bigoted) requirement that transgender people must undergo gender-affirming surgery to change the sex marker on their birth certificates. The court ruled that the surgery mandate violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision ensures all transgender individuals born in Arizona can now amend their birth certificates without surgery, preventing forced disclosure of their status and reducing risks of discrimination, harassment, and violence. The Department of Health Services was given 120 days to comply. Read more. 

Lack of ESA accountability leads to abuse. As if we needed any more reasons to oppose Arizona's out-of-control, no-accountability voucher expansion, here's some really horrifying news out of Glendale.  A father is suing Dream City Church, a Phoenix religious organization aligned with Charlie Kirk and famous for hosting rallies for GOP politicians, and its affiliated Dream City Christian School — which has taken in more than $2m in taxpayer dollars through ESA vouchers in 2025 alone  The lawsuit stems from the sexual abuse of his 15-year-old daughter by former ex-volleyball coach Nathaniel Pineda, who is now serving 3.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple felonies. The suit alleges the church and school negligently ignored numerous warning signs about Pineda’s conduct, failed to properly vet him, and lacked policies to prevent abuse, leading directly to the harm suffered by the victim. Why did this private religious school lack policies to prevent abuse? Well, in case you forgot, because  unlike public schools, voucher-funded schools don't have to conduct staff background checks and aren't required to put anti-abuse safety protocols in place, because the AZGOP has shut down every bill calling for these safety measures. Hmmm...wonder why? And they call us groomers and indoctrinators. Read more.

Lack of ESA accountability leads to fraud: Arizona's expansive school voucher program has failed the accountability test yet again. Arizona's Attorney General has charged a Florida man with multiple felonies, including theft and fraud, for allegedly submitting fake applications for school voucher funds for non-existent children between 2022 and 2024. Again and again, the rapid, massive voucher expansion — that voters don't want but was rammed through by the AZGOP — lacks proper oversight and has led to financial chaos and the potential for misuse of taxpayer dollars across the state. Of course, Tome Horne, who usually loves small government, is trying to blame Governor Hobbs for failing to make government larger and increase auditing staff. Read more. 

Owning the libs by eliminating disease research. Valley Fever or Coccidioidomycosis is a deadly and incurable fungal disease endemic to the Western U.S.  It's also currently surging in Arizona and California, with cases hitting near-record highs. Researchers link the dramatic increase to climate change, specifically the cycles of heavy precipitation followed by intense heat and drought, which facilitate spore growth and dispersal. But, of course, efforts to develop a human vaccine and surveillance tools are now threatened by the Trump administration's ordered cuts to public health infrastructure and research funding. Couple the cuts in medical and scientific research with the cuts in healthcare access that are about to affect millions of Arizonans, and it's the perfect recipe for a sicker population. Thanks, GOP. Read more.

This is fine. Remember the "first they came for the..." poem? Well, now it's anyone who's not Christian's turn to be targeted. Trump's National Security Presidential Memoradum-7 memo, released last week, purports to counter domestic terrorism. The memo identifies certain "common threads animating this violent conduct," which include "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity" and "hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality." NSPM-7  targeting political beliefs rather than just actions, and uses purposefully vague language that can easily be misused to classify non-profits, activists, and religious dissenters as domestic security threats to stifle opposition. The memo is directly in line with the theocratic goals of Project 2025 that so many of us warned about in the run-up to last year's election. Read more.