Radar Naughty List: Equality Arizona
- RADAR News
- 7 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Equality Arizona sells itself as a friendly neighborhood “civil rights nonprofit,” but peel back a single layer, and you find a political machine pushing gender ideology into every school, youth space, faith-adjacent program, and institution in the state. The group was founded during the HIV and AIDS crisis, but it has since mutated into something else entirely: a statewide influence network that blends activism, academia, electoral mobilization, and youth recruitment under the soft-focus banner of “equality.” Their mission statement uses warm words like “community building” and “safety,” but their operations tell the real story. Equality Arizona is forcing gender identity ideology into every aspect of civic life, fueled by academics, filmmakers, DEI consultants, and activists who treat children like raw material for their cultural project.
The organization hides behind a PO Box in Phoenix and a generic email, yet proudly brags that it has shaped Arizona elections for years by galvanizing voters for preferred “pro-equality candidates.” This isn’t a grassroots charity. It’s a top to bottom political operation plugged directly into Arizona State University, GLSEN, the DEI bureaucracy, and a web of youth-focused events marketed as “faith affirming.” Each piece of this network serves one aim: to embed gender ideology where parents can’t see it until it’s already done.
President Michael S. C. Soto illustrates this pipeline perfectly. Soto has cycled through every internal role (intern, volunteer, CEO, and more) before taking the top spot. With a BA in Women and Gender Studies, an MS in Justice Studies, and ongoing PhD work in the same field at ASU, Soto is the definition of the modern activist product: trained in postmodern theory, deployed into politics, and funneled back into academia and institutions that reinforce the ideology. Online, Soto relentlessly promotes the Belong Youth Conference, an identity-based event designed for ages 13 to 18. Nowhere does he disclose that he is part of the conference leadership. Instead, he advertises it as just another “community resource,” glossing over the fact that he is helping run an event aimed directly at minors. Sessions are marketed as “faith affirming,” with planned expansion into Arizona and Utah in 2026. It’s political outreach dressed up as spirituality and support. Soto also uses the company's Instagram to promote Phoenix Pride, eroding the boundaries between adult sexuality-based events and activism aimed at children.
Board member Dr. Quan provides another ideological anchor point. A professor of Justice and Social Inquiry at ASU’s School of Social Transformation, Quan works at the intersection of radical resistance, identity politics, and anti-capitalist themes. Quan’s films, including Queer, Broke & Amazing! (2024) and America’s Home (2012), serve as political vehicles for “progressive” messaging. Quan co-founded No Alibis Radio and collaborated with Third World News Review, building a career on amplifying ideological content. Fellow board member CA Griffith carries the same mission. An associate professor at ASU’s Sidney Poitier Film School, Griffith publishes in journals focused on feminist futurism, transnational solidarity, and identity activism. Together, Quan and Griffith run QUAD Productions, using film as a cultural delivery system for their worldview.
Board member Trey Jenkins brings GLSEN’s influence in through the side door. A doctoral candidate in ASU’s School of Social Work, Jenkins specializes in research on “black transgender and queer people,” the exact niche GLSEN weaponizes to push gender ideology into K to 12 schools. Jenkins previously sat on GLSEN Phoenix’s board and now co-chairs the 2025 Let’s Get Better Together Conference, Arizona’s statewide 2SLGBTQIA+ health and advocacy event. Jenkins also works within ASU’s Office of Inclusive Design for Equity and Access, placing Equality Arizona’s agenda inside the machinery of university-level DEI policy.
Board member Monica Phillips is a transhausen-by-proxy parent of two children who identify as “LGBTQ,” including one who identifies as transgender. She previously served on the board of North Star International, which encourages Mormon families to merge religious life with gender ideology. Phillips reacted to the U.S. v. Skrmetti ruling with pure virtue signaling, condemning limits on child gender transitions. She has appeared on a podcast to discuss raising “transgender and nonbinary children.” Her involvement with One Community, a DEI consulting group, shows how she brings this ideology into the corporate world.
Board member Dr. Sarah Suhail stretches Equality Arizona’s activism into international terrain. Suhail’s work began in Pakistan with “trans and queer communities” and now focuses on colonialism, imperialism, gender studies, and land and labor resistance. Her academic framework blends queer politics with anti-imperialist rhetoric, giving Equality Arizona a global ideological through line. Advisor Iese Wilson uses choral music as “empathy-based advocacy,” another example of how even the arts have been roped into the ideological mission. Wilson earned a Master’s in Choral Conducting from ASU and speaks at LGBTQ-themed religious events like the Gather Conference in Utah. Advisor Peter Burgoyne brings solar and battery engineering into the mix, adding a corporate-tech angle to the group’s “responsible business” activism.
After the Skrmetti decision that upheld restrictions on sex-rejecting procedures for minors, Equality Arizona’s social media erupted with panic, rage, and political calls to action. They portrayed the ruling as an attack on “youth safety,” never acknowledging that the case was about protecting children from irreversible medical harm. They called the decision “morally bankrupt,” which shows just how out of touch with reality this organization is, since most people would describe mutilating children with castration drugs as “morally bankrupt.” But clearly, they are willing to push whatever suits their narrative. Board member Phillips echoed the same sentiment, using the decision to mobilize parents and call for political resistance. This is Equality Arizona’s true function: use every cultural flashpoint to escalate activism and energize voters.
Equality Arizona consistently targets minors. The Belong Youth Conference, promoted by the president without disclosure, is aimed directly at children aged 13 to 18. GLSEN-linked board members push school programming. DEI operatives shape campus policy. Film professors generate ideological content and package it as education. Academics turn activism into coursework under labels like justice studies and social transformation. Parents on the board normalize transition narratives for children. This is not “support.” It’s recruitment. And it works. Equality Arizona openly admits it has shaped state elections by mobilizing voters for its chosen candidates. With leadership embedded inside ASU, advisors tied into corporate DEI systems, and messaging tailored to youth and young adults, the organization has positioned itself as a political force with cultural reach far beyond its small public footprint.
Equality Arizona is not a “civil rights nonprofit.” It is a coordinated ideological network stretching from universities to film studios, from DEI training to youth conferences, from international activism to state elections. Its board is not a “diverse group of community advocates.” It’s a roster of professional activists, academics, and organizers who view Arizona’s institutions, corporations, and children as levers for their political project. Behind the polished language of “equality” is an operation engineered to inject gender ideology into every corner of public life. Their place on the Gays Against Groomers Naughty List is well deserved. Families need to know exactly who is crafting policy, shaping narratives, and targeting their kids under the banner of “community safety.” Equality Arizona exists to engineer cultural transformation. And they’re using YOUR CHILDREN as the testing ground.
References
Thank you to Phil and our Research Team, led by Mandy, whose work allows us to deliver robust investigations and well-sourced reporting.
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