Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will now be sent before a panel that will decide on a case-by-case basis whether their participation endangers justice. Republican Utah lawmakers created the commission in a law passed earlier this year as a fallback plan to implement in the event of an injunction against the law. Under the law, the committee would be allowed to ask for and evaluate a child’s height and weight when making decisions about whether a transgender girl would have an unfair advantage. The commission, which is due to convene in the coming weeks, will include politically appointed experts from sports and medicine. When it was proposed, the committee was criticized by advocates for transgender student-athletes — who worried they would feel targeted by having their bodies measured — and by supporters of an outright ban, who argued it did not go far enough. The commission is set to take effect while a court considers a legal challenge to the final ban. The members have not yet been appointed, but will be appointed in the coming weeks, legislative leaders said. The state association that oversees more than 80,000 students who play high school sports said only one transgender girl competed in their league last year and, with school sports already underway, it’s unclear how many will go before the committee and when they will be brought up. its decisions in force. The Utah ruling marked the court’s latest development in a national debate about how to navigate a flashpoint issue. At least 12 Republican-led states — including Utah — have passed laws banning transgender women or girls from sports on the grounds that it gives them an unfair competitive advantage. Trans rights advocates oppose the rules as not just about sports, but another way to demean and attack transgender youth. Similar cases are underway in states like Idaho, West Virginia and Indiana. Utah’s ban took effect in July after its Republican-majority legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican. Utah State Judge Keith Kelly said in the ruling putting the ban on hold that attorneys representing the families of three transgender student-athletes had shown they suffered significant distress “by singling them out for adverse treatment as trans girls.” Transgender girls and parents filed a lawsuit last May, arguing that the ban violates the Utah Constitution’s guarantees of equal rights and due process. The decision was exciting news for the girls and their families, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Lesbian Rights Center, who also represented same-sex couples in a landmark court case against Utah last decade. “The pressure, the pressure he was putting on them was so huge,” Minter said. “It’s just a huge relief to have that burden lifted.” Utah state Sen. Stewart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement Friday that the committee will now make decisions in a way “to protect fair and safe competition while preserving the integrity of women’s sports.” The committee will include a medical data statistician, a physician with experience in “gender identity health care,” a sports physiologist, a mental health professional, a collegiate athletic trainer, a sports association representative, and one rotating member who is a coach or employee in the sport relevant to each case. Minder said he hopes the commission will simply act as a safety net, with the presumption that transgender girls can play unless there is an obvious issue of competitive fairness. “How it’s done is very important,” Minter said. The decision follows a revelation this week by the Utah High School Activities Association that it secretly investigated an athlete — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she had beaten in competition, questioning whether the girl she was transgender. The investigation — which was heavily criticized by Gov. Cox — found she was indeed a woman after reviewing her school records dating back to kindergarten, her spokesman David Spatafore told lawmakers this week. The sequence of events showed how similar Critics of the ban were upset but said they were not surprised by the investigation. They said it highlighted how the impact of the politicization of girls’ sports affected more than transgender student-athletes and subjected all girls to scrutiny in ways they expected. “It creates such a negative atmosphere based on stereotypes about girls and what they should look like,” Minter said. “It’s really harmful to all the kids in the state.” The series of events also outlined how officials can pursue complaints now that youth sports and the associations that govern them are the subject of state laws. Spatafore said the complaint was among several the association looked into in its efforts to comply with the Utah law, which took effect in July.
title: “Transgender Kids Can Play Girls Sports In Utah After Ruling Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-10” author: “Pasquale Gomes”
Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will now be sent before a panel that will decide on a case-by-case basis whether their participation endangers justice. Republican Utah lawmakers created the commission in a law passed earlier this year as a fallback plan to implement in the event of an injunction against the law. Under the law, the committee would be allowed to ask for and evaluate a child’s height and weight when making decisions about whether a transgender girl would have an unfair advantage. The commission, which is due to convene in the coming weeks, will include politically appointed experts from sports and medicine. When it was proposed, the committee was criticized by advocates for transgender student-athletes — who worried they would feel targeted by having their bodies measured — and by supporters of an outright ban, who argued it did not go far enough. The commission is set to take effect while a court considers a legal challenge to the final ban. The members have not yet been appointed, but will be appointed in the coming weeks, legislative leaders said. The state association that oversees more than 80,000 students who play high school sports said only one transgender girl competed in their league last year and, with school sports already underway, it’s unclear how many will go before the committee and when they will be brought up. its decisions in force. The Utah ruling marked the court’s latest development in a national debate about how to navigate a flashpoint issue. At least 12 Republican-led states — including Utah — have passed laws banning transgender women or girls from sports on the grounds that it gives them an unfair competitive advantage. Trans rights advocates oppose the rules as not just about sports, but another way to demean and attack transgender youth. Similar cases are underway in states like Idaho, West Virginia and Indiana. Utah’s ban took effect in July after its Republican-majority legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican. Utah State Judge Keith Kelly said in the ruling putting the ban on hold that attorneys representing the families of three transgender student-athletes had shown they suffered significant distress “by singling them out for adverse treatment as trans girls.” Transgender girls and parents filed a lawsuit last May, arguing that the ban violates the Utah Constitution’s guarantees of equal rights and due process. The decision was exciting news for the girls and their families, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Lesbian Rights Center, who also represented same-sex couples in a landmark court case against Utah last decade. “The pressure, the pressure he was putting on them was so huge,” Minter said. “It’s just a huge relief to have that burden lifted.” Utah state Sen. Stewart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement Friday that the committee will now make decisions in a way “to protect fair and safe competition while preserving the integrity of women’s sports.” The committee will include a medical data statistician, a physician with experience in “gender identity health care,” a sports physiologist, a mental health professional, a collegiate athletic trainer, a sports association representative, and one rotating member who is a coach or employee in the sport relevant to each case. Minder said he hopes the commission will simply act as a safety net, with the presumption that transgender girls can play unless there is an obvious issue of competitive fairness. “How it’s done is very important,” Minter said. The decision follows a revelation this week by the Utah High School Activities Association that it secretly investigated an athlete — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she had beaten in competition, questioning whether the girl she was transgender. The investigation — which was heavily criticized by Gov. Cox — found she was indeed a woman after reviewing her school records dating back to kindergarten, her spokesman David Spatafore told lawmakers this week. The sequence of events showed how similar Critics of the ban were upset but said they were not surprised by the investigation. They said it highlighted how the impact of the politicization of girls’ sports affected more than transgender student-athletes and subjected all girls to scrutiny in ways they expected. “It creates such a negative atmosphere based on stereotypes about girls and what they should look like,” Minter said. “It’s really harmful to all the kids in the state.” The series of events also outlined how officials can pursue complaints now that youth sports and the associations that govern them are the subject of state laws. Spatafore said the complaint was among several the association looked into in its efforts to comply with the Utah law, which took effect in July.
title: “Transgender Kids Can Play Girls Sports In Utah After Ruling Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-01” author: “Julia Ruivo”
Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will now be sent before a panel that will decide on a case-by-case basis whether their participation endangers justice. Republican Utah lawmakers created the commission in a law passed earlier this year as a fallback plan to implement in the event of an injunction against the law. Under the law, the committee would be allowed to ask for and evaluate a child’s height and weight when making decisions about whether a transgender girl would have an unfair advantage. The commission, which is due to convene in the coming weeks, will include politically appointed experts from sports and medicine. When it was proposed, the committee was criticized by advocates for transgender student-athletes — who worried they would feel targeted by having their bodies measured — and by supporters of an outright ban, who argued it did not go far enough. The commission is set to take effect while a court considers a legal challenge to the final ban. The members have not yet been appointed, but will be appointed in the coming weeks, legislative leaders said. The state association that oversees more than 80,000 students who play high school sports said only one transgender girl competed in their league last year and, with school sports already underway, it’s unclear how many will go before the committee and when they will be brought up. its decisions in force. The Utah ruling marked the court’s latest development in a national debate about how to navigate a flashpoint issue. At least 12 Republican-led states — including Utah — have passed laws banning transgender women or girls from sports on the grounds that it gives them an unfair competitive advantage. Trans rights advocates oppose the rules as not just about sports, but another way to demean and attack transgender youth. Similar cases are underway in states like Idaho, West Virginia and Indiana. Utah’s ban took effect in July after its Republican-majority legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican. Utah State Judge Keith Kelly said in the ruling putting the ban on hold that attorneys representing the families of three transgender student-athletes had shown they suffered significant distress “by singling them out for adverse treatment as trans girls.” Transgender girls and parents filed a lawsuit last May, arguing that the ban violates the Utah Constitution’s guarantees of equal rights and due process. The decision was exciting news for the girls and their families, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Lesbian Rights Center, who also represented same-sex couples in a landmark court case against Utah last decade. “The pressure, the pressure he was putting on them was so huge,” Minter said. “It’s just a huge relief to have that burden lifted.” Utah state Sen. Stewart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement Friday that the committee will now make decisions in a way “to protect fair and safe competition while preserving the integrity of women’s sports.” The committee will include a medical data statistician, a physician with experience in “gender identity health care,” a sports physiologist, a mental health professional, a collegiate athletic trainer, a sports association representative, and one rotating member who is a coach or employee in the sport relevant to each case. Minder said he hopes the commission will simply act as a safety net, with the presumption that transgender girls can play unless there is an obvious issue of competitive fairness. “How it’s done is very important,” Minter said. The decision follows a revelation this week by the Utah High School Activities Association that it secretly investigated an athlete — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she had beaten in competition, questioning whether the girl she was transgender. The investigation — which was heavily criticized by Gov. Cox — found she was indeed a woman after reviewing her school records dating back to kindergarten, her spokesman David Spatafore told lawmakers this week. The sequence of events showed how similar Critics of the ban were upset but said they were not surprised by the investigation. They said it highlighted how the impact of the politicization of girls’ sports affected more than transgender student-athletes and subjected all girls to scrutiny in ways they expected. “It creates such a negative atmosphere based on stereotypes about girls and what they should look like,” Minter said. “It’s really harmful to all the kids in the state.” The series of events also outlined how officials can pursue complaints now that youth sports and the associations that govern them are the subject of state laws. Spatafore said the complaint was among several the association looked into in its efforts to comply with the Utah law, which took effect in July.
title: “Transgender Kids Can Play Girls Sports In Utah After Ruling Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-18” author: “Robert Willcutt”
Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will now be sent before a panel that will decide on a case-by-case basis whether their participation endangers justice. Republican Utah lawmakers created the commission in a law passed earlier this year as a fallback plan to implement in the event of an injunction against the law. Under the law, the committee would be allowed to ask for and evaluate a child’s height and weight when making decisions about whether a transgender girl would have an unfair advantage. The commission, which is due to convene in the coming weeks, will include politically appointed experts from sports and medicine. When it was proposed, the committee was criticized by advocates for transgender student-athletes — who worried they would feel targeted by having their bodies measured — and by supporters of an outright ban, who argued it did not go far enough. The commission is set to take effect while a court considers a legal challenge to the final ban. The members have not yet been appointed, but will be appointed in the coming weeks, legislative leaders said. The state association that oversees more than 80,000 students who play high school sports said only one transgender girl competed in their league last year and, with school sports already underway, it’s unclear how many will go before the committee and when they will be brought up. its decisions in force. The Utah ruling marked the court’s latest development in a national debate about how to navigate a flashpoint issue. At least 12 Republican-led states — including Utah — have passed laws banning transgender women or girls from sports on the grounds that it gives them an unfair competitive advantage. Trans rights advocates oppose the rules as not just about sports, but another way to demean and attack transgender youth. Similar cases are underway in states like Idaho, West Virginia and Indiana. Utah’s ban took effect in July after its Republican-majority legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican. Utah State Judge Keith Kelly said in the ruling putting the ban on hold that attorneys representing the families of three transgender student-athletes had shown they suffered significant distress “by singling them out for adverse treatment as trans girls.” Transgender girls and parents filed a lawsuit last May, arguing that the ban violates the Utah Constitution’s guarantees of equal rights and due process. The decision was exciting news for the girls and their families, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Lesbian Rights Center, who also represented same-sex couples in a landmark court case against Utah last decade. “The pressure, the pressure he was putting on them was so huge,” Minter said. “It’s just a huge relief to have that burden lifted.” Utah state Sen. Stewart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement Friday that the committee will now make decisions in a way “to protect fair and safe competition while preserving the integrity of women’s sports.” The committee will include a medical data statistician, a physician with experience in “gender identity health care,” a sports physiologist, a mental health professional, a collegiate athletic trainer, a sports association representative, and one rotating member who is a coach or employee in the sport relevant to each case. Minder said he hopes the commission will simply act as a safety net, with the presumption that transgender girls can play unless there is an obvious issue of competitive fairness. “How it’s done is very important,” Minter said. The decision follows a revelation this week by the Utah High School Activities Association that it secretly investigated an athlete — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she had beaten in competition, questioning whether the girl she was transgender. The investigation — which was heavily criticized by Gov. Cox — found she was indeed a woman after reviewing her school records dating back to kindergarten, her spokesman David Spatafore told lawmakers this week. The sequence of events showed how similar Critics of the ban were upset but said they were not surprised by the investigation. They said it highlighted how the impact of the politicization of girls’ sports affected more than transgender student-athletes and subjected all girls to scrutiny in ways they expected. “It creates such a negative atmosphere based on stereotypes about girls and what they should look like,” Minter said. “It’s really harmful to all the kids in the state.” The series of events also outlined how officials can pursue complaints now that youth sports and the associations that govern them are the subject of state laws. Spatafore said the complaint was among several the association looked into in its efforts to comply with the Utah law, which took effect in July.
