The battle over trans kids continues in 2022. Utah lawmakers drafted a proposal to create a commission of inquisitors picked by the state to evaluate trans people's bodies if they were interested in playing sports alongside members of their gender identity.
Utah Republicans, led by Governor Spencer Cox, would appoint a panel of medical professionals to examine children looking to enroll in their school's extracurricular activities. These panelists would then make decisions on the eligibility of the athletes.
Trans advocates are calling this a nightmare for trans children.
Please contact your legislators and let them know this bill is a disaster for trans kids. This is a poorly crafted solution in search of a problem that has the real potential to harm children. Ask them to vote against HB11. #utpol #ProtectTransKidshttps://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/02/14/panel-would-evaluate/\u00a0\u2026— Shireen Ghorbani \ud83d\udc83\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\ude09 (@Shireen Ghorbani \ud83d\udc83\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\ude09) 1644989567
This is an effort to kill off girls' sports too. What parent is going to permit the school to give their child a pelvic exam??— Samster Smithy (@Samster Smithy) 1644957871
I thought Republicans were against pedophilia?— Na\u00efna (@Na\u00efna) 1644956693
Random men wanting to look at the bodies of children who want to play sports seems inappropriately abusive.— J. Nasty, Flaming Queer (@J. Nasty, Flaming Queer) 1644959089
This "idea" is just the latest attack on the rights of trans children perpetrated by Republican-controlled states. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed a bill banning all transgender women athletes from competing at the youth and college level in the state.
But having the state inspect kids' bodies? Many feel that takes the anti-transgender derangement to a whole other level.
“When we start talking about these ‘Verify that you’re girl enough, or verify that you’re boy enough’ [policies], these kiddos, they shake in their proverbial boots,” said Utah pediatrician Jennifer Plumb, parent of a trans child.
H.B. 11 is just another way of blocking trans kids from playing sports in Utah because banning them outright didn\u2019t work. The process these kids would have to go through just to play sports is humiliating and unfair. https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0011.html\u00a0\u2026— Honey Olivia (@Honey Olivia) 1644959794
You see Spencer Cox can pretend he cares about Trans youth and cry those crocodile tears all he wants. But that Transgender Phrenology Sports Bill just got forwarded today and it just proves to me even further that Utah just doesn't care about the LGBTQ+ community. Utah is trash.— Dapper Cardinal (Fancy Bird) (@Dapper Cardinal (Fancy Bird)) 1644963054
Utah wants a gatekeeping board to decide if someone is femme enough of a trans girl to be in girls sports. They see this as being transphobic enough as a treat. This is where centrism gets you.— Summer Solstice (@Summer Solstice) 1644955441
yeah because what kids needs is rando strangers staring into their underwear. jfc\n\nUtah Republicans demand government panel to evaluate trans kids\u2019 bodieshttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/02/utah-republicans-demand-government-panel-evaluate-trans-kids-bodies/#.YgwLZ4lipxE.twitter\u00a0\u2026— \u2693\ufe0fImani Gandy DeBarge \u2693\ufe0f (@\u2693\ufe0fImani Gandy DeBarge \u2693\ufe0f) 1644956564
The lawmaker who sponsored the proposal, Rep. Kera Birkeland, has sponsored past bills in the state legislature to ban trans youth from playing sports, citing her experience as a junior varsity basketball coach.
“To those that think that I’m just trampling on women’s sports, or that this is a solution looking for a problem: All three of my daughters have played (against) transgender athletes. So this is happening in our state.”
However, there is already a (less invasive) review process in place in the state of Utah for transgender athletes, and only 3 students of an eligible 85,000 athletes have gone through it.
The measuring of trans kids in sports bill is getting national attention and that's good.\n\nBut we still need Utahns to call their state representative and senator. I made this thread yesterday explaining how to do it.\n\nPlease take time TODAY. https://trib.al/tTH3QQl\u00a0https://twitter.com/slignot/status/1493754564306096128\u00a0\u2026— April Gardner (@April Gardner) 1645033996
The obsession the Republican Party has over transgender students and their bodies is pathological.https://www.them.us/story/utah-anti-trans-sports-bill-analyze-trans-kids-bodies?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=spotlight-nl&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=thematic_spotlight_021622_1&utm_medium=email&bxid=5cec2409fc942d3ada036b62&cndid=22740476&hasha=4f70e6fc691aa336b7b72c141c5b00fe&hashb=93c1861426d56fc5116ca7590441677678e4e9e6&hashc=9f9a360de415e85004c297ac694542fb6a4ffaf60dfaeb6de851733d9647717b&esrc=Refresh03092020&sourcecode=thematic_spotlight&utm_term=Thematic_Spotlight\u00a0\u2026— clay \ud83e\udd94 (@clay \ud83e\udd94) 1645025682
Go ahead and customize.\n\nNot in Utah? Check your own state because there's probably at least one anti-trans bill there too.\n\nTransphobes are a small but vocal and organized group. They're used to swamping representatives so it's so important you act now.— April Gardner (@April Gardner) 1644973817
How many trans athletes are competing in HS sports in Utah? I thought all of this was already found to be a complete non-issue.— Sir Havoc III (@Sir Havoc III) 1644854135
I see that ghoul Kera Birkeland has handed another discriminatory transgender sports bill to the Utah legislature. Looks like she still can't cite a single instance of trans people doing anything in our state to necessitate such a bill.— Adam survived(?) 2021 (@Adam survived(?) 2021) 1644861854
Several civil rights and liberties organizations in the state are attempting to work with the Utah legislature to change or veto the bill.
"We just don’t believe it is necessary for the Legislature to identify the specific physical characteristics that the commission consider to determine whether an individual teenager is allowed to play a particular sport,” said Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah.
No updates have been made to the language of the bill as of yet.
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