Arizona is on the front line of US culture wars. How did we get here?

For three years in a row, Arizona's Republican state lawmakers tried to pass legislation to bar what was described as "critical race theory" from being taught in Arizona classrooms. They wanted to restrict schools from teaching anything that could be perceived as judging a person based on race or ethnicity, or cause a person to feel ashamed because of their race or ethnicity.

This year, the bill passed though the House and Senate, but Gov. Katie Hobbs promptly vetoed it, saying it would only serve to divide and antagonize. It wasn't the only scolding from the Democratic governor, who has served as a buffer against other legislation rooted in the culture wars.

She vetoed the pronoun bill SB 1001 and the bathroom bill SB 1040 – both measures aimed at the hot topic of transgender rights in Arizona’s schools and sponsored by Sen. John Kavanagh.

Hobbs disposed of a bill rooted in another issue of the moment: drag shows. She also vetoed a measure that would have barred state financial investments in any operation that adheres to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

And that’s just a sampling of legislation in 2023.

Last year, Arizona emerged on the front lines of the culture wars when then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed bills that banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth and required student athletes to compete in the gender category that matches the sex they were assigned at birth. These policies have been enacted in numerous other Republican-controlled states.

This week on The Gaggle, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, Steve McIntosh joins host Mary Jo Pitzl. McIntosh is the director and co-founder of Cultural Evolution, a nonprofit that strives to integrate contrasting points of view when examining social issues.

Together, they discuss the sudden popularity of culture war issues, why they have emerged in a warlike context and their effect on politics.

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