Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed executive orders Tuesday to ensure that transgender employees of the state have access to gender-transition surgeries and to prevent state funds from being used to promote or support so-called conversion therapy.

The order by Hobbs on gender-transition surgeries changes the existing policy which prohibited the state health plan from paying for the surgery.

After Russell Toomey of the University of Arizona, who is a woman by birth but identifies herself as a male, sued Arizona for not covering a hysterectomy, a new policy was created. Arizona has spent more than $1,000,000 in legal fees on the lawsuit, which is still pending. ACLU lawyers representing Toomey have said that they will respond to the new order by filing a motion for settlement.

Toomey, in a press release, said that the executive order issued by Governor Hobbs today provides unimaginable relief and care for the state-sanctioned pain and suffering I and other Arizonans who are transgender have endured over several years. This action gives me hope for the future of Arizona, where transgender people like myself can live lives filled with joy and opportunity.

Hobbs also issued an order that prohibits state agencies from cooperating in civil and criminal proceedings where the treatment of gender-transition is illegal.

The order on conversion treatment also instructs Arizona state agencies to create policies to protect youth against the practice that aims to “convert”, LGBT people into heterosexuality.

Hobbs, in a press release, said: “Our LGBTQ+ communities should never face discrimination and hate. I will fight to achieve full equality.” “The state leads by example in this issue and we will keep working until Arizona becomes a place where everyone can participate equally to our economy and workforce without fear of exclusion or discrimination.”

LGBT activists have in recent years expanded the definition “conversion therapy” to include some widely accepted forms where mental-health professionals don’t affirm an individual’s transidentity immediately.

Cathi Herrod is the president of Center for Arizona Policy. She said that the center is considering its options for challenging the law in court.

Herrod told the Arizona Mirror that “Governor Katie Hobbs would have been better off running for the Arizona Legislature if she had wanted to pass laws.” “Arizona legislators who represent Arizonans throughout the state, and not the Governor, are responsible for passing new laws.”

The executive orders come one week after Hobbs’ executive order, which prevented county attorneys in Arizona from prosecuting abortionists who violated Arizona abortion laws. Republicans in the Arizona state legislature threatened to delay the confirmation of her nominations. They expressed concern that Hobbs’s orders would allow her appointees defy the state laws.