A veto letter from Governor Spencer Cox caught the national attention with a painful argument that such laws target vulnerable trans children who are already at high risk of suicide.
Business leaders also sounded the alarm that the ban could have multimillion-dollar financial consequences in Utah, including the possible loss of the NBA All-Star Game next year. The Utah Jazz called the ban “discriminatory legislation” and opposed it.
Prior to the veto, the ban was backed by a majority of Utah lawmakers, but did not reach the two-thirds required to circumvent it. His supporters on Friday ousted 10 Republicans in Parliament and five in the Senate who had previously voted against the proposal.
Cox was the second GOP governor this week to reject a law ban on participating in sports, but the proposal won the support of a conservative voice base that has a strong influence on Utah’s qualifying season. However, even with these races approaching, some Republicans have sided with Cox in rejecting the ban.
“I can not support this bill. I can not support the circumvention of the veto and if it costs me my position let it be. I will do the right thing, as I always do,” said Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher.
Bypassing Cox’s veto, twelve states have some sort of ban on trans children in school sports. Utah law takes effect July 1.
Some time ago, efforts to regulate the participation of trans children in sports failed to gain traction in government buildings, but in the last two years groups such as the American Principles Project have launched a well-coordinated effort to promote legislation across the country. . Since last year, bans have been imposed in at least 25 states, according to the National Conference of Legislatures. This week, lawmakers in Arizona and Oklahoma passed bans.
“You start these struggles and introduce them to politics,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project. “You go through it in some states and it starts to take on a life of its own and become organic. We helped start this fight and we help make it happen, but a lot of it comes from the local level.”
Leaders in deeply conservative Utah say they need the law to protect women’s sports. Lawmakers argue that more trans athletes with potential physical benefits could eventually dominate the field and change the nature of women’s sports without legal intervention.
Utah has only one trans girl playing in K-12 sports that would be affected by the ban. There have been no claims that any of the four trans young athletes in Utah have competitive advantages.
The Visit Salt Lake group, which hosts conferences, shows and events, said the bypass could cost the state $ 50 million in revenue. Utah-based DNA testing genealogy giant Ancestry.com also objected.
Salt Lake City is set to host the NBA All-Star Game in February 2023. League spokesman Mike Bass said the league was “working closely” with the Jazz on the issue. The team is partly owned by NBA all-star Dwyane Wade, who has a trans daughter.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. The American Principles Project focused strategically on early legislation in crowded, financial states where companies and organizations would lose significant investments if they left. With a precedent of quiet economic reaction, the group expects smaller states to receive similar treatment.
Utah lawmakers said concerns about the NBA’s economic recovery and departure from Salt Lake City were premature, and noted that Texas and Florida had not faced a boycott.
“I hope the NBA and other teams understand that our intention here is to protect women’s sports and keep women’s sports safe and competitive. And if they have ideas on how to do it better, we’ll be happy to talk to them.” he said. Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson.
Utah has historically been one of the nation’s most conservative states. But an influx of new residents and tech companies combined with the growing influence of the tourism industry often sets the stage for intense debate on social issues in the state hosting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On Thursday and Friday, both pro- and anti-ban protesters gathered in the Utah Capitol.
Friday’s debate came after more than a year of negotiations between social conservatives and LGBTQ supporters. Republican MP Kera Birkeland partnered with Cox and Equality Utah activists before enacting legislation requiring trans-student athletes to appear before a government-appointed committee.
The proposal, although framed as a compromise, failed to gain traction on both sides. LGBTQ supporters disagreed with Republican politicians appointing committee members and evaluation criteria that included body measurements such as hip-to-knee ratio.
In the last hours before the legislature was postponed earlier this month, GOP lawmakers replaced the legislation with a total ban.
Birkeland, who is also a basketball coach, acknowledged that the proposal caused a great deal of emotion, but said that discussions with female athletes forced her to continue her efforts.
“When we say, ‘This is not a problem in our state,’ what we are saying to these girls is, ‘Sit down, be quiet and do good,'” he said.
Lawmakers expect legal challenges similar to the banned bans in Idaho and West Virginia, where athletes have said policies violate their political rights. They argued that the bans violate their privacy rights, due to the examinations required if an athlete’s gender is challenged. The Utah ACLU said Friday that a lawsuit was imminent.
Utah policy will return to the commission if the courts lift the ban.
The lawsuit threatens school districts and the Utah High School Athletic Association, which has said it has no resources to defend politics in court. Lawmakers also amended the ban Friday to provide dollars to taxpayers to collect fees from potential lawsuits and to isolate the districts and the union from liability.
