SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah transgender girls will participate in women’s sports as the new school year begins after a judge on Friday overturned a ban pending legal challenges from their parents. You will be given the opportunity.
Instead of an outright ban, transgender girls will go before the National Board of Political Appointees who will decide on a case-by-case basis whether they are eligible to participate. The law passed prior to this created the commission as a fallback plan to be implemented in the event of an injunction against the
The law allows the commission to ask and assess a child’s height and weight when making decisions about whether a transgender girl has an unfair advantage. It will be convened and will include medical data statisticians, physicians with experience in gender identity health care, sports physiologists, mental health professionals, college athletic trainers, representatives from sports associations, and rotating committee members. increase. Members who are coaches or officials of the sports involved in each case.
The Utah ruling marks the latest court development in the national debate on how to navigate the flashpoint issue.
At least 12 Republican-led states, including Utah, have passed laws banning transgender women or girls A sport based on assumptions gives them an unfair competitive advantage. Trans rights advocates counter that the rules aren’t just about sports, they’re another way to insult and attack transgender youth.Idaho, West Virginia, Indiana, etc. But similar lawsuits are ongoing.
Utah’s ban took effect in July after the state’s Republican Congress overturned a veto by Governor Spencer Cox.who is also a Republican.
Utah Judge Keith Kelly said in his ruling that attorneys representing the families of three transgender student-athletes who filed the lawsuit were to “single them out for their unfavorable treatment as transgender girls.” , said it indicated that they were in great pain.
A transgender girl and her parents filed a lawsuit last May, claiming they violated equal rights and due process guaranteed by the Utah Constitution.
The ruling was heartening news for the girls and their families, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
“The pressure and burden that this put on them was huge,” Minter said. “Having that weight lifted is just a huge relief.”
Republican Utah Senator Stuart Adams said in a statement Friday that the committee would make decisions in a way that “protects fair and safe competition while preserving the integrity of women’s sport.” .
Minter said he hopes the committee will make a fair decision, keep the process confidential, and come up with a good solution. He hopes the commission will act as a mere safety net, postulating that transgender girls will be allowed to play as long as there are no obvious issues with the fairness of the competition.
“How it is done is very important,” Minter said.
The ruling follows revelations this week that the Utah High School Activities Association secretly investigated female athletes. — without telling her or her parents — after receiving complaints from the parents of two girls she lost in a competition asking if the girls were transgender. After scrutinizing her school records dating back to kindergarten, it determined she was indeed a woman, association spokesman David Spatafor told lawmakers this week. and his family were not informed of the investigation to avoid embarrassment and to “keep the matter confidential,” he said..
At Thursday’s monthly press conference, Gov. Cox said the parents’ complaints about the girl being investigated had crossed the line.
“Oh my god, we live in this world and we’ve been underdogs looking for reasons why our kids lost,” he said. But he said, “Making up such claims is pretty disturbing to me.”
Spatafore refused to reveal the student’s grade, school, or sport to protect her identity. He said he had not been informed of the investigation because his parents could be contacted “if necessary.”
Spatafor also said the association has investigated other complaints involving transgender athletes in an effort to comply with Utah law that went into effect in July. When you don’t look feminine enough” etc. No complaints have been confirmed.
Prior to the ban, Utah had one transgender female athlete registered on a high school team last year, Spatafor said.
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