The move came just one day after Indiana's governor also overruled legislators on the matter.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a ban on transgender students playing girls’ sports on Tuesday, becoming the second Republican governor to overrule state lawmakers who have taken on youth sports in a broader culture war over how Americans view gender and sexuality.. Holcomb said Indiana’s Legislature had not demonstrated that transgender kids had undermined fairness in sports.“I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting.
“We can not ignore the scientific facts that biological boys are built differently than girls. Doing nothing is taking a step backward for women. Finding a solution to this complicated issue is necessary to maintain fair competition now and in the future,” Utah Senate President Stuart Adams said in a statement.
Banning transgender kids from competition, their advocates argue, would have little impact on sports but would send a wider, deeply painful message to already vulnerable kids that they don’t belong in an important piece of American school culture.But supporters of a ban argue, amid growing transgender visibility, more players could soon be in girls leagues around the country and eventually dominate and change the nature of girls sports.
For one Utah woman whose 13-year-old transgender child loves sports, it was brutal. “I still don’t think they understand what it means and how much those kids have to overcome, to even get to the point of competing,” said the mother, who The Associated Press agreed not to name to avoid identifying her daughter.
On the final night of the legislative session, Cox became red and his voice shook as he spoke about the effect lawmakers’ proposal could have on transgender youth, referencing the demographic’s disproportionately high suicide rates and the small number of trans players participating in Utah. Lawmakers may attempt to insulate schools and the association from lawsuits as part of their attempt to override Cox’s veto.The sponsor of the legislation, Republican Rep. Kera Birkeland, said she once preferred a commission but eventually came around to social conservatives’ view that a ban was more clear-cut, especially because the transgender community shuddered at the idea of subjecting a small subset of kids to review and scrutiny.
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