Sine Kerr

 

Updated 08/11/2026
Serial homophobe and far-right Republican extremist and former member of the Arizona State Senate, representing District 25. She assumed office on January 9, 2023. She left office on January 13, 2025. Kerr did not run for re-election to Arizona State Senate District 25 in 2024. Extremist Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Andy Biggs, has named Kerr as his 2016 choice for Lt. Governor.

-- SUMMATION --

 
Former Arizona State Senator Sine Kerr has sponsored and voted for legislation that LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups and opponents argue is harmful to the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically transgender individuals. Supporters of these measures, including Kerr, maintain that the legislation is intended to protect cisgender women and girls.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)  (ref 3)
 
Key Legislation
 
  • Senate Bill 1628 (2024): Titled the "Arizona Women's Bill of Rights," this bill was introduced and sponsored by Sine Kerr. It aimed to codify strict statutory definitions of "sex," "man," "woman," "boy," and "girl" based entirely on biological sex at birth.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)  (ref 3)
  • Impact on the LGBTQIA+ Community: LGBTQIA+ organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign, and Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill would effectively legalize discrimination and eliminate legal recognition for transgender and nonbinary Arizonans. By restricting legal definitions to biological sex, the bill would allow sports teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers to exclude transgender individuals.   (ref 1)  (ref 2)
Voting Record
 
As a Republican member of the legislative majority, Kerr consistently supported broader party-line measures tracked by civil rights groups as restrictive to LGBTQIA+ rights. This included voting for restrictions on transgender athletes in school sports and bills targeting drag performances.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)  (ref 3)
 
Throughout her tenure in the Arizona State Senate (2018–2024), Sine Kerr consistently voted with the Republican majority to support a slate of bills that LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups—such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Stonewall Democrats—identified as discriminatory or harmful to LGBTQIA+ individuals.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)  (ref 3)
 
The primary legislative measures she supported or was involved with include:
 
K-12 Education & School Restrictions
 
  • SB 1001 (Pronoun Restrictions): Kerr voted in favor of this bill, which sought to make it illegal for teachers and school staff to respect a transgender or nonbinary student's preferred pronouns without explicit, written parental permission.  (ref 1)
  • SB 1456 (Sex Education Restrictions): Passed by the legislature in 2021, this bill aimed to make all HIV/AIDS instruction strictly "opt-in" and required parents to sign off before students could learn about historical events or figures involving sexual orientation. The Human Rights Campaign opposed it for heavily restricting LGBTQIA+ visibility in school curricula.  (ref 1)
  • SB 1005 (School Litigation): She supported this measure, which exposed public schools to potential lawsuits and civil liability if they provided supportive, affirming environments or policies for LGBTQIA+ youth.  (ref 1)
Healthcare & Public Accommodations
 
  • SB 1138 (Gender-Affirming Care Ban): Kerr voted to pass this 2022 legislation, which successfully banned certain gender-affirming surgical procedures for transgender individuals under the age of 18. Mental health and civil rights groups, including "The Trevor Project", strongly condemned the law for jeopardizing the well-being of trans youth.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)
  • SB 1040 (School Restroom Ban): She voted for this bill to prohibit transgender students and school staff from utilizing multi-stall restrooms or locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. It additionally gave cisgender individuals the right to sue the school if they shared a facility with a transgender person.  (ref 1)
Athletics & Expression
 
  • SB 1165 (Transgender Sports Ban): Kerr voted in favor of this 2022 statute, which barred transgender girls and young women from competing on school sports teams matching their gender identity.  (ref 1)  (ref 2)
  • SB 1026 (Drag Performance Restrictions): She supported legislation to block state funding from being utilized for any drag performances or family-friendly Pride events hosted at public universities or municipal spaces.  (ref 1) 
Outside of LGBTQIA+ legislation, Sine Kerr has been involved in several major political and policy controversies, particularly surrounding abortion restrictions, voting access, and environmental policy. As the 2026 Republican nominee for Arizona Lieutenant Governor alongside gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, her past legislative record has faced renewed scrutiny.
 
Strict Abortion Legislation
 
  • The "Heartbeat" Bill (2021): Kerr was a primary architect and pusher of highly restrictive anti-abortion legislation in Arizona. She introduced a "fetal heartbeat" proposal that aimed to criminalize abortions once cardiac activity could be detected, which is often as early as six weeks into pregnancy.  (ref 1) 
  • The Controversy: The measure drew fierce backlash from reproductive rights organizations because it contained no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Opponents pointed out that the six-week timeline frequently bans the procedure before many individuals even realize they are pregnant.  (ref 1) 
Voting and Ballot Initiative Restrictions
 
  • Restricting Citizen Initiatives (2019): Kerr supported contentious legislation designed to make it significantly harder for grassroots organizations to place statewide citizen initiatives on the voter ballot. The proposal sought to require signature collection thresholds to be met in each of Arizona's 30 distinct legislative districts individually (ref 1) 
  • The Controversy: Voting rights organizations, including the League of Women Voters, strongly opposed the measure. Critics argued it would effectively grant a single, localized district veto power to block popular, bipartisan initiatives supported by a vast majority of the state's electorate. The push came directly after Arizona voters successfully bypassed the legislature to pass popular initiatives raising the minimum wage and banning specific livestock gestation crates.
Environmental and Water Rights Management
 
  • Blocking Watershed Protections: While serving as the Chair of the state Senate's Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee, Kerr faced significant criticism from environmental groups and conservationists (ref 1) 
  • The Controversy: She actively used her powerful committee chair position to block legislation aimed at protecting Arizona’s fragile watersheds. By refusing to add the protection bills to the committee's hearing schedules, she single-handedly prevented the environmental measures from being debated or voted on by the wider legislature.  (ref 1) 
AZ GOP Bill Would Strike ‘Gender’ From State Law, Limit Sex To Male & Female
"GOP senators want to rewrite Arizona law to define sex as only male and female and not “a person’s subjective sense of self,” a move they said will protect women and girls from “unwanted intrusions” by transgender women. But opponents called the bill another “LGBTQ+ Erasure Act,” little more than an attempt “by people who want to erase LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender and nonbinary folks, from public life.”" [ . . . ] "Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye, the lead sponsor of the “Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights,” said SB 1628 “affirms the simple truth that there are two sexes – male and female – and … helps protect women and girls from unwanted intrusions by males into intimate spaces.”"
Feb. 7, 2024

The anti-Drag Storey Time Bill. This bill would apply only to libraries and other government facilities.

This bill, had it become law, would be the same as laws covering a cabaret but with the words "drag show" instead of "cabaret". This is simply a sneaky attempt to outlaw drag shows.

Arizona Senate Panel Ignores Own Attorney, OKs Bills Attacking Trans Students And Drag Queens

Elias Weiss / Phoenix New Times

Mar. 1, 2023

 
"Relentless Republicans advanced three anti-LGBTQ bills to the full Arizona Senate on Monday despite warnings that the bills might be unconstitutional.
 
Senate Rules Attorney Chris Kleminich warned the Senate Rules Committee that SB 1001, which targets transgender children in schools, and SB 1026 and SB 1698, two weapons in the GOP’s war on drag queens, weren’t likely to be upheld in a court of law."
 

[ . . . ]

 
"Despite Kleminich’s admonition, Republicans advanced the bill to the full Senate with a 4-3 vote. Republican Senators Warren Petersen, Sonny Borrelli, Sine Kerr, and T.J. Shope voted to advance the bill. Democratic Senators Lela Alston, Catherine Miranda, and Raquel Terán voted against it."

GOP Lawmakers Ask Gov. Ducey To Withhold Funding From School Districts Mandating Masks
"Several prominent Arizona Republicans issued a joint letter Wednesday afternoon asking Gov. Doug Ducey to withhold funding and begin legal action against school districts that are not following state laws."
Aug. 11, 2021
Battle Lines Drawn In Arizona Gay Discrimination Case
Dec. 24, 2018
  

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