UPDATE: Bill banning transgender athletes from girls sports passes Utah House
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — UPDATE: (Wed. Feb. 17, 3 p.m.) House Bill 302, titled "Preserving Sports for Female Students" passed the house with a 50 to 23 vote.
Discussion of the bill was spirited. If passed the bill would ban transgender girls from participating in sports for girls in elementary and secondary schools.
It is opposed by the ACLU of Utah and Equality Utah. It will now move to the Utah Senate for debate. Utah House Democrats said in a statement that the bill "needlessly targets youth who are already marginalized and vulnerable to mental anguish and suicide."
The statement also said:
If this bill is enacted, Utah may lose out on collegiate championships, the NBA All-Star game, and the winter Olympics
North Carolina passed a bill that in government buildings people could only use restrooms or facilities corresponding to the sex identified on their birth certificate. The NCAA pulled championship events from the state of North Carolina. The NBA pulled its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte.
The state legislature repealed the bathroom portion of the law and the NBA awarded Charlotte the 2019 All-Star Game and the NCAA ended its ban against championship events in the state.
2News will continue to follow this story.
ORIGINAL STORY FOLLOWS:
Another transgender measure at the state Capitol could be even more controversial than a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports, and a GOP gay activist said on Friday that fear of “backlash” has prompted lawmakers to hold up the bill.
“They are afraid of getting this bill out of the Rules Committee,” said Ryan Woods, president of Utah Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT group in the party, “because they know they’ll receive backlash.”
House Bill 92 would make it “unprofessional conduct” for doctors to perform sex reassignment surgery on minors or provide “puberty inhibitors” to them.
“We support this bill because it is not so much about transgender rights and LGBT issues, as it is about protecting children,” said Woods. “We would never allow a parent to give a child a tattoo. We have age limits on smoking, drinking, voting.”
RELATED: Utah high school activities association seeks legal shield over transgender bill
The Log Cabin Republicans position sets it apart from Equality Utah and the Utah Pride Center.
2News reached out but did not hear back on Friday from Troy Williams, Equality Utah executive director. Still, in an interview last week, he said his organization is firmly against the bill. Williams said:
This legislation represents a fundamental misunderstanding of transgender health care. We don’t want the government getting in between a doctor and parents and patients.
“HB92 seems to be looking away from a problem instead of toward a problem,” said Rob Moolmam, director of the Pride Center, “and the problem is teenage suicide. We should be able to help them in a way that keeps them alive.”
2News sent a text message and called the chair of the House Rules Committee for comment—-but no reply from Rep. Tim Hawkes, R-Centerville.
House Speaker Brad Wilson, in response to a 2News question, said he has not directed the Rules chair, or committee as a whole, to hold controversial measures.
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