Arizona Revised Statutes § 15-120.02 Save Women’s Sports Act

The Save Women’s Sports Act, codified at Arizona Revised Statutes section 15-120.02, requires that interscholastic and intramural athletic teams sponsored by public schools, and certain private schools competing against them, be designated as male, female, or coeducational based on students’ biological sex assigned at birth. The law prohibits transgender students and students assigned male at birth from participating on teams designated for females assigned at birth, while allowing unrestricted participation in both male or coeducational teams. The statute bars government entities, accrediting organizations, and athletic associations from penalizing schools for maintaining separate "female" teams and creates private causes of action for students or schools harmed by violations or retaliation, with a two-year statute of limitations. Prevailing parties may recover injunctive relief; damages for psychological, emotional, or physical harm; attorney's fees and other costs. The statute applies to kindergarten through grade twelve schools and institutions of higher education, and includes legislative findings asserting biological differences between males and females as justification for sex-specific athletic classifications. This statute is still being challenged in Doe v. Horne, 115 F.4th 1083 (2024).