Arizona District Court Judge Jennifer Zipps issued a preliminary injunction against the so-called Save Women's Sports Act to allow transgender individuals to participate in women's sports competitions at the college level.
In her brief, Judge Zipps stated:
Plaintiffs will also suffer serious and irreparable mental, physical and emotional harm if the Act applies to them because they cannot play on boys' sports teams. Playing on a boys' team would directly contradict Plaintiffs' medical treatment for gender dysphoria and would be painful and humiliating. Plaintiffs' mental health is dependent on living as girls in all aspects of their lives.
This decision is not final, as the U.S. Supreme Court will have the last word. Tom Horne, Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction, opposes the ruling:
"We will appeal this ruling. This will ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court, and they will rule in our favor. The Plaintiffs, in this case, claimed that this only involves pre-pubescent boys, but we presented peer-reviewed studies that show pre-pubescent boys have an advantage over girls in sports. The only expert presented by the Plaintiffs was a medical doctor who makes his money doing sex transition treatments on children and who has exactly zero peer-reviewed studies to support his opinion."
Former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law the Save Women's Sports Act in 2022 after receiving approval from the state's House.
