In 2023, Secular AZ spoke up against the reading of religious scripture at Peoria Unified School District board meetings by board member Heather Rooks, who filed a lawsuit against the district. This week, in a victory for the constitutional requirement of church:state separation, the court ruled against Rooks.
U.S. District Court Judge Liburdi granted summary judgment for Peoria Unified School District against board member Heather Rooks on January 27, 2025. Secular Communities for Arizona and Freedom from Religion Foundation had both sent letters to Rooks and the Board warning them that Rooks’s pattern of reciting Bible verses from the dais in her official role as an elected board member was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Subsequently, legal counsel for the District gave the Board legal advice that such behavior could result in a lawsuit against the Board or an investigation by the Attorney General's office. Despite the legal advice and the warning letters, Rooks continued to read Bible verses ten times.
Secular Communities for Arizona welcomes this decision as upholding the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions guaranteeing freedom of religion and separation of religion and government. The Arizona Constitution in Article 20, Section 1 ensures that "Perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured to every inhabitant of this state, and no inhabitant of this state shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship, or lack of the same."
Brace yourselves, Secular Fam. This Substack update of the Peoria (PUSD) school board meeting that took place on 1.23.2025 may very well be the dumbest and most dangerous meeting I’ve ever covered. Get your coping mechanisms out, because this is going to be grueling.
I had every intention this weekend to dig in and cover the EIGHT-AND-A-HALF-HOUR meeting from last week, but the level of stupidity at every proposed policy discussion overwhelmed me, so instead, I procrastinated and opted to spend time with my grandson.
But this meeting was so spectacularly bad, the people in PUSD — and really, the entire state of Arizona — need to know how deeply unserious these evangelical extremists are. Everyone needs to know how much damage will happen to districts when cult members gain a majority on the board.
Last Friday, we welcomed Dr. Patricia Zavella to discuss the state of reproductive rights and justice.
Dr. Zavella is Professor Emerita of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she publishes in the intersection of Chicanx/Latinx studies, anthropology, and feminist studies on poverty, family, sexuality, health, work, transnational migration, and women's social activism.
Her latest book is The Movement for Reproductive Justice: Empowering Women of Color through Social Activism.
As the 57th Legislature steams along, Secular AZ is monitoring bills that violate church:state separation and providing updates so you can voice your opposition using Request to Speak/RTS. Now is the time to take action!
So far, we're seeing bills that attempt to legally erase the existence of trans people, funnel tax dollars to fake "pregnancy clinics" that are anti-choice fronts, restrict (Pride, Palestine, Ukraine, etc.) ban flag displays on public property, create bathroom bans, regulate pronoun use in schools, base policy on anti-scientific conspiracy theories, and more.
Trump's Anti-Transgender Executive Order: What You Need to Know
Since the Trump administration took power last week, the incoming onslaught of executive orders feels overwhelming. Transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals have been targeted with an order that essentially serves to erase their existence under the law. We've seen similar "erasure" replicated in HB2602, which we asked you to take action on earlier this week.
A number of organizations that work on issues affecting the transgender community have compiled a primer that explains the impact of this EO, which include removing legal protections in the workplace, endangering people in custody, stop providing federal ID that reflects a person's gender, and stop the federal government from recognizing employees' genders.
