"Focus On Real Issues That Matter," AZ Governor Hobbs Vetoes Anti-Trans Bills

Governor Hobbs vetoes a birth certificate update ban as well as two DEI bans that explicitly included transgender people.

Gage Skidmore // Creative Commons

On Friday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed three anti-transgender bills that had cleared the state’s Republican-controlled legislature. One of the measures would have prohibited transgender individuals from updating the gender marker on their birth certificates—a process already mired in legal and bureaucratic hurdles due to existing law. The other two bills targeted trans people in higher education and workplaces, continuing a broader pattern of attempts to restrict their rights in public life. Hobbs, who has positioned herself as a consistent and vocal opponent of the anti-transgender agenda pushed by the right, has repeatedly used her veto authority to block similar efforts throughout her time in office.

House Bill 2438 passed both the Arizona House and Senate along strict party lines. The legislation states that “in order to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records… the sex designation of a person may not be changed on the person’s original birth certificate as a result of sex change surgery.” In effect, the bill would have struck language from earlier statutes that explicitly allowed transgender individuals to change the gender marker on their birth certificates following surgical procedures.

Governor Hobbs, vetoing the bill, issued the following statement: “Today, I vetoed House Bill 2438. This bill will not lower costs, will not increase opportunity, and will not enhance security or freedom for Arizona. I encourage the Legislature to focus on real issues that matter and impact people’s everyday lives.”

The governor also vetoed Senate Bills 1694 and 1256. SB 1694 sought to prohibit any institution of higher education in Arizona from receiving state funding if it offered courses related to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”—a category so broadly defined that it would have included any curriculum merely referencing “gender identity.” SB 1256 extended a similar prohibition to state agencies, effectively banning policies that ensure nondiscrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Both measures, like the birth certificate bill, passed the legislature along strict party lines.

Of the college and university ban, Hobbs issued the following statement: "Today I vetoed Senate Bill 1694. Our state universities and community colleges play a vital role in developing Arizona's workforce, improving our economy, and strengthening our quality of life through transformational research. Jeopardizing their state funding with a bill that lacks clarity attacks their future stability and would lead to negative effects on the state's workforce and economy."

Earlier this year, Hobbs also vetoed House Bill 2062, one of the most sweeping anti-transgender proposals introduced in the state. The legislation would have effectively erased transgender people from legal recognition in Arizona. Had it become law, it likely would have triggered bans on gender marker changes for driver’s licenses, rolled back existing nondiscrimination protections, and set the stage for broader legal exclusions.

Governor Hobbs has long been an LGBTQ+ ally. In 2023, the governor signed an executive order ensuring that the state employee healthcare plans cover gender affirming surgeries for transgender people. She also signed an executive order banning conversion therapy, which she defined as any therapy designed to “change an individual’s non-heteronormative sexual orientation or non-cisgender identity,” including any therapy that operates under the “false premise that homosexuality and gender diverse-identities are pathological.”

While Republicans in Arizona have remained unified in their push to pass anti-transgender legislation, Gov. Katie Hobbs has consistently used her veto power to halt those efforts at the finish line. Since taking office, she has positioned herself as a final line of defense against a legislative agenda aimed squarely at rolling back LGBTQ+ rights. And this year, none of those bills will become law: Republicans do not have the votes necessary to override her vetoes.