Veto of transgender athlete ban rejected
15 Utah Republicans flip their votes to enact measure on girls sports teams
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers voted Friday to override GOP Gov. Spencer Cox’s veto of legislation banning transgender youth athletes from playing on girls teams.
Before the veto, the ban received support from a majority of Utah lawmakers, but fell short of the two-thirds needed to override it. Its sponsors on Friday flipped 10 Republicans in the House and five in the Senate who had previously voted against the proposal.
Cox was the second GOP governor this week to overrule lawmakers on a sports-participation ban. Business leaders are sounding the alarm that it could have a multimillion-dollar economic impact for the state, including the possible loss of the NBA All-Star Game next year.
But the ban won support from a vocal conservative base that has particular sway in Utah’s state primary season. Even with primaries looming, however, some Republicans stood with Cox to reject the ban.
“I cannot support this bill. I cannot support the veto override and if it costs me my seat so be it,” said Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher.
With the override of Cox’s veto, Utah becomes the 12th state to enact some sort of ban on transgender kids in school sports. The state’s law takes effect July 1.
Leaders in the deeply conservative Utah say they need the law to protect women’s sports. As cultural shifts raise gay and transgender visibility, the lawmakers argue that, without their intervention, more transgender athletes with physical advantages could change the nature of women’s sports.
Utah has only one transgender
girl playing in K-12 sports who would be affected by the ban. There have been no allegations of any of the four transgender youth athletes in Utah having a competitive advantage.
Friday’s deliberations came after more than a year of debate and negotiation between social conservatives and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocates. Republican sponsor Rep. Kera Birkeland worked with Cox and civil rights activists at Equality Utah before introducing legislation that would require transgender student-athletes to go before a government-appointed commission.
The proposal, although framed as a compromise, failed to gain traction on either side. LGBTQ advocates took issue with Republican politicians appointing commission members and evaluation criteria that
included body measurements such as hip-to-knee ratio.
Then, in the final hours before the Legislature was set to adjourn earlier this month, GOP lawmakers supplanted the legislation with an all-out ban.
Birkeland, who is also a basketball coach, said conversations with female student athletes compelled her to continue her effort.
“When we say, ‘This isn’t a problem in our state,’ what we say to those girls is, ‘Sit down, be quiet and make nice,’” she said.
Lawmakers anticipate court challenges similar to blocked bans in Idaho and West Virginia, where athletes have said the bans violate their civil rights. They’ve also argued the bans violate privacy rights, due to tests required if an athlete’s gender is challenged. The ACLU of Utah said on Friday that a lawsuit was inevitable.
Utah’s policy would revert to the commission if courts halt the ban.
That looming threat worries school districts and the Utah High School Athletic Association, which has said it lacks the funds to defend the policy in court. Later Friday, lawmakers are expected to change the bill so state money would cover legal fees.