A bill that would provide statutory definitions for terms such as “boy,” “father,” “female,” “girl,” and “male” passed the Senate Tuesday despite strong opposition from Democrats.

House Bill 2062, dubbed the Arizona Sex-based Terms Act, also aims to protect single sex spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters and sexual assault crisis centers. In addition, the bill requires any publicly collected data from the state and its political subdivisions, including school districts, to identify people as male or female.

The bill will now go to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk, where it is unlikely to be signed into law. Hobbs vetoed a similar measure last year and wrote in her veto letter that she would not sign legislation that “attacks Arizonans.”

Advocacy group Independent Women’s Voice still released a letter Tuesday imploring Hobbs to sign the bill. The group said in the letter that similar legislation has received support from Democrats and Republicans across the country.

“Americans and Arizonans agree that Arizona has an important governmental interest in preventing sex discrimination. But we cannot fight sex discrimination if we cannot define ‘sex,’” the letter read.

The group said the bill’s passage offers Hobbs a second chance to rectify last year’s veto.

“And heading into her reelection, it’s certainly in her best interest to do so given the mass losses Democrats faced last election after refusing to stand for objective truth and biology despite near-unanimous support among all Americans that there are only two sexes,” said Christy Narsi, the Arizona chair and national chapter director of Independent Women’s Network, in a statement.

Democrats and LGBTQ activists have said the bill would result in harassment and erasure of transgender, nonbinary and intersex individuals.

“This bill legally erases trans people from existence,” said Sen. Lauren Kuby, D-Tempe, during the Senate Third Read hearing on Tuesday. “And in doing so, it jeopardizes the safety of people who are trans, intersex and nonbinary, while rescinding the basic rights of women by codifying into our laws a narrow and outdated definition of sex and gender.”

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, read a note from a Tucson psychologist who expressed concerns that the bill could negatively impact the mental health of transgender, intersex and nonbinary youth.

“Restricting the definition of gender and sex to so-called biological terms does a disservice to all youth and adults, but it impacts youth in the sense that a lack of validation leads directly to mental health issues and conditions,” Sundareshan said.

Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, said she’s fielded questions from some LGBTQ constituents and their family members who fear for their safety and has asked why the government is looking to bully them.

“How is this freedom at all? How is this fair to anyone?” Gonzales said.

Despite the opposition, Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale, the bill’s sponsor, previously said the proposal wouldn’t endanger the rights of LGBTQ individuals.

“This bill was carefully crafted to ensure that (it) does not create any special rights for women, nor does it take any rights from anybody else,” Fink said at a March 5 Senate Government Committee hearing. “It simply establishes the foundation for policy discussions about complex issues related to men and women.”

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