The Silent Alliance Driving Arizona’s Anti-LGBTQ+ School Board Initiatives

The Humboldt Unified School District Governing Board in Prescott Valley is considering a contentious “parental notification” policy. Advocates argue that the proposal would essentially out LGBTQ+ students to their parents.

If enacted, educators would be required to inform parents whenever a student requests to be addressed by a different name or pronoun than what is recorded in official school documents. Similar measures have emerged throughout Arizona, often based on a 2023 model policy from the Arizona Coalition of School Board Members, a relatively obscure conservative organization.

Founder Pam Kirby describes the coalition as nonpartisan, yet her writings on conservative platforms raise questions about that claim. Since its inception in 2021, the coalition has sought to provide an alternative to the Arizona School Boards Association, a well-established advocacy group for public school districts.

Currently, the coalition asserts it has members across 32 public school governing boards statewide. Former state Senator Sylvia Allen and Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Shelli Boggs have ties to the coalition. Its initiatives aim to diminish protections for LGBTQ+ students and to steer curricula toward more conservative values.

In Mesa, board member Sharon Benson recently advocated for policies addressing pronoun usage and bathroom access. Meanwhile, the Peoria Unified School District has implemented restrictions based on students’ sex assigned at birth, echoing strategies from the coalition’s handbook.

The coalition not only promotes its own policies but also highlights those from its members, targeting equity practices in education and seeking to remove transgender athletes from youth sports. Additionally, it supports limiting masks and vaccine requirements in schools.

Beyond policy advocacy, the coalition serves as a networking and training platform for school board members and community parents. Notably, one education partner, PragerU, presents a curriculum rooted in conservative values and Biblical teachings.

At a recent summer event, Representative Lisa Fink argued against comprehensive sex education, asserting that it was detrimental to students. Her claims included that safe-sex education promotes promiscuity among youth.

Furthermore, the coalition has given a platform to controversial figures like Rhonda Thomas, who opposes transgender theory and advocates for Christian-based education outside public schools. The coalition recently honored Dawn Densmore as its “School Board Member of the Year,” recognizing her opposition to expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX.

Arizona Women of Action, a far-right group, supported the election of new school board members in the Humboldt district this year. These individuals have taken up the mantle of revisiting the parental notification policy, originally proposed by a coalition-aligned board member last year.

The proposed policy mirrors similar initiatives in other states, highlighting a nationwide trend among far-right activists who aim to influence school governance concerning LGBTQ+ issues. The original source of the Arizona coalition’s model policy remains unclear, and the coalition did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.