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Utah families file lawsuit with ACLU against transgender student athlete ban

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Utah families file lawsuit with ACLU against transgender student athlete ban


Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, left, who sponsored a invoice that bans transgender women from enjoying lady highschool sports activities, speaks on the Capitol in Salt Lake Metropolis on June 16, 2021. Seated subsequent to Birkeland is Sue Robbins, who serves on the Transgender Advisory Council of Equality Utah. The ACLU of Utah introduced Tuesday it filed a lawsuit on behalf of two households in opposition to the invoice handed by the Utah Legislature this 12 months that bans transgender women from enjoying in highschool women sports activities. (Laura Seitz, Deseret Information)

Estimated learn time: 3-4 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The ACLU of Utah and different advocacy teams filed a lawsuit on behalf of two households Tuesday in opposition to the invoice handed by the Utah Legislature this 12 months that bans transgender women from enjoying in highschool women sports activities.

The lawsuit contains two transgender women who attend public faculties — a 16-year-old who needs to play volleyball and a 13-year-old swimmer. The households are submitting the lawsuit anonymously “to guard their youngsters,” the ACLU, Nationwide Middle for Lesbian Rights, and regulation agency Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati mentioned in a press release.

In March, the Republican-controlled Utah Legislature voted to override Gov. Spencer Cox’s veto of HB11, permitting it to take impact this spring. Legislative leaders mentioned at the moment they anticipate to face lawsuits in response — however a mechanism is in place if the regulation will get stayed by the courts.

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If the ban is struck down, HB11 is structured to activate a fee to determine if every transgender little one can compete.

After the Legislature overturned Cox’s veto, the ACLU promised swift court docket motion. The ACLU described the scholars within the lawsuit as sports activities lovers “who wish to take part in sports activities with different women.”

“If HB11 is allowed to enter impact, these youngsters will probably be barred from enjoying the sports activities they love,” ACLU leaders mentioned.

One of many women, given the alias Jenny Roe, mentioned her final season enjoying volleyball was “among the best occasions of my life.”

“I liked my teammates, felt a part of one thing greater than myself, and at last had a strategy to socialize with pals after being cooped up in the course of the pandemic,” the teenager mentioned within the assertion. “This regulation devastated me. I simply wish to play on a workforce like another child.”

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The lady’s mom, given the identify Debbie Roe, mentioned the regulation “appears like an assault on our household.”

“Dad and mom need their children to be glad and to be surrounded by individuals who love and nurture them. This regulation does the other — it tells my daughter that she would not belong and that she is unworthy of getting the identical alternatives as different college students at her faculty,” the mom mentioned.

“The regulation … singles out transgender women as a way to exclude them from women’ sports activities. It bars each transgender lady from competing on a women’ workforce no matter her medical care or particular person circumstances,” the ACLU mentioned within the assertion.

Justice Christine Durham, former chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court docket and senior of counsel at Wilson Sonsini, mentioned within the assertion that the regulation “can not survive constitutional scrutiny and it endangers transgender youngsters.”

The contentious invoice initially handed in the course of the last hours of the 2022 basic session after Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, proposed the all-out ban. The unique model of the invoice proposed by Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, proposed making a fee to determine if every little one can play, which can nonetheless take impact if the ban will get halted.

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Those that help the invoice say they wish to shield equity in women sports activities, whereas critics of the invoice say it would alienate youngsters who’re already struggling.

The Utah Excessive Colleges and Actions Affiliation and faculty districts are protected in state regulation in opposition to lawsuits in response to the invoice. After overriding the veto, the Legislature convened a separate particular session known as by the governor to make modifications to HB11, throughout which lawmakers handed a invoice to indemnify the Utah Excessive Faculty Actions Affiliation and faculty districts in opposition to expensive lawsuits.

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Ashley Imlay covers state politics and breaking information for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has additionally labored as a reporter for the Deseret Information and is a graduate of Dixie State College.

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Voices: Utah’s LGBTQ+ community has faced adversity before. We can do it again.

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Voices: Utah’s LGBTQ+ community has faced adversity before. We can do it again.


Displayed at the Utah Pride Center is a quilt panel honoring Michael Spence, also known as the drag queen Tracy Ross. This display helped me connect the recent news of Donald Trump’s reelection with a reminder of a past defined by marginalization and a future where hard-won rights are again at risk.

During his first term, the Trump administration worked to undermine LGBTQ+ protections. I fear a second Trump administration will roll back rights for LGBTQ+ citizens, particularly for transgender individuals.

But we have been here before. By the 1980s, few states recognized hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals. Homosexuality — or sodomy — was criminalized, and many states enacted policies to block lesbian and gay educators from public schools or discussing their private lives at work. Protections in housing and employment in Utah were only won in 2015.

Today, we face a similar fight, though we now have the historical context and resources to help us resist.

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Reflecting on Michael Spence’s life and legacy led me back to Utah’s response during the AIDS crisis. Utah did not begin recording cases of HIV/AIDS until 1983 with Robert Michael Painter and one other person. After about six years of deflecting the problem, President Ronald Reagan helped Congress pass its first substantive federal funding with the AIDS Service Demonstration Grants — of which Utah received $6.4 million for research — and then with the CARE Act, named after Ryan White in 1990. While much of the nation exhorted condemnations and cautionary tales about AIDS, I have found no comments on the epidemic from Governors Scott Matheson or Norman Bangerter. Meanwhile, Utah Bureau of Epidemiology Director Craig Nichols refused to connect advocacy groups considered to be too centered on gay and lesbian rights with federal grant funds. Utahns with AIDS were left on their own and could only rely on the state to count them as a statistic to report.

The lack of government support galvanized Utah’s lesbian and gay community to step up to meet the crisis. In 1985, Dr. Patty Reagan founded the Salt Lake AIDS Foundation (now the Utah AIDS Foundation). Other groups, like the People With AIDS Coalition; AIDS Project Utah; Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Clinic; and ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) worked to support and educate the public. Tensions often rose between leaders and volunteers, with overlapping missions and limited resources, thus creating friction. Yet, the efforts of activists like Dave Sharpton and Sheldon Spears, mobilized a community determined to survive. Sharpton, along with others, founded Horizon House, a sanctuary for those with HIV/AIDS who had nowhere else to go.

Utah’s first public memorial event was a 1989 candlelight vigil that began at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral and passed Temple Square before ending at the Salt Palace, where an enormous section of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed. Religious and civic leaders joined this event, marking a significant moment of public solidarity and inspiring the first Pride march two years later. Another vigil, in 1990, took place in Memory Grove, where hundreds gathered to honor lives lost. These memorials provided a rare, public space for grieving and solidarity amid the ongoing crisis and the humanization of public health statistics. Now annual fundraisers, marathons and walk-a-thons are held across the state.

In my research, I have so far found names for only 366 Utahns who died from AIDS — many who were born and raised in Utah, but were far from home in their last days. Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt remains a testament to lives cut short and our chosen community’s resilience, standing as both a memorial and a reminder of how far we’ve come.

In the face of a familiar future, I recall the strength that Utah’s lesbian and gay community displayed during the AIDS crisis. While we have come a long way, the familiar challenges ahead require a unified response. Utah’s LGBTQ+ community now has more tools than ever: social media, massive fundraising resources and effective grassroots organizing. The COVID-19 pandemic also strengthened our sense of community and readiness.

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As an historian of LGBTQ+ Utah, I am inspired by the strength, unity and resilience that our community has shown throughout history. We have confronted adversity before, from organizing during the AIDS crisis to advocating for marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections — and we can do it again.

Randell Hoffman (he/they) is a historian, preservationist and quilter committed to making history accessible and relevant to diverse communities.

Randell Hoffman (he/they) is a historian, preservationist and quilter committed to making history accessible and relevant to diverse communities. As an independent researcher of Utah’s LGBTQ+ history, Randy focuses on amplifying overlooked narratives and fostering spaces where historical preservation intersects with community empowerment.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.



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5th shutout against Utah HC prompts internal reflection

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5th shutout against Utah HC prompts internal reflection


For the third time this month and fifth time this season, the Utah Hockey Club failed to score a single goal in a game. This time they fell 1-0 to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The band 4 Non Blondes said it best: What’s going on?

“In the first period we had good momentum, we created good offense and then we started to get in the box way too much,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game. “That cost us momentum.”

The third period was full of chances for Utah HC, but they just couldn’t capitalize.

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At one point, a give-and-go created a perfect opportunity for Maveric Lamoureux at the top of the crease, but his shot went off the underside of the crossbar and out.

On another occasion, a power play bid from Nick Schmaltz hit a body in front of the net and bounced just wide. UHC just couldn’t buy a goal.

The Bruins are glad to get a win in their first game under interim head coach Joe Sacco. Additionally, Elias Lindholm scored the game’s lone goal, breaking a 17-game personal goal drought.

It was a big step in the right direction for the Bruins.

How this works

This is a three-part article geared toward three different audiences.

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  • First, we’ll have “Utah hockey for dummies” for all you new hockey fans. Welcome, by the way — we’re glad you’ve taken an interest in the greatest sport in the world.
  • Next, we’ll have a section titled “Utah hockey for casual fans,” aimed at those who have a basic understanding of the sport.
  • Finally, we’ll have “Utah hockey for nerds.” That will be for those of you who, like me, think about nothing but hockey all day, every day.

Feedback is welcome, so let me know what you think in the comments of this article or the comments section on “X.”

Utah hockey for dummies

Before we get into the nitty gritty details of the game, let’s take a moment to appreciate Robert Bortuzzo and Mark Kastelic. You’d think a game with only one goal would be relatively boring, but these two ensured that was not the case.

Bortuzzo and Kastelic fought each other twice. They had been engaged in some confrontation in the previous game between the two teams on Oct. 19 and they got their opportunity to finish their business a month later.

On the first bout, Bortuzzo left the bench for the purpose of fighting. As Conor Geekie learned in the preseason, that’s not allowed. Geekie got a one-game suspension and I’d expect the same for Bortuzzo.

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Utah hockey for casual fans

Karel Vejmelka was Utah HC’s best player Thursday, and it wasn’t even close. That’s a major positive point for Utah as Connor Ingram did not accompany the team on this road trip due to an upper-body injury.

Vejmelka will guard the net for the immediate future with Jaxson Stauber backing him up. Tourigny is not worried about giving Vejmelka the net.

“He’s played 50 games twice in his career, so it’s not like he’s a rookie goalie,” Tourigny said before the game. “He did it in the past and he’s capable of doing it again.”

It’s clear that Vejmelka thrives on high shot volume. He stopped all 15 shots he faced in the first period on Thursday, and then stopped 15 of the 16 that came in the ensuing periods.

Thursday’s performance comes after he made headlines against the Carolina Hurricanes last week when he stopped 49 of 50 shots.

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Ingram’s injury is considered day-to-day. He should be back soon, but the net may belong to Vejmelka anyway. Vejmelka has been the much better goalie over the last handful of games.

Utah hockey for nerds

On their last 25 power plays, Utah HC has scored just one goal, and with the amount of penalties they’ve been taking, they’re not putting themselves in a position to succeed.

Let’s break this down, piece by piece, starting with the power play.

Utah HC seems to have no problem setting up in the zone on the power play. They move the puck well and they even get lots of high-quality shots. Why isn’t the puck going in?

Tourigny believes it’s a question of urgency.

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“The guys have to realize (that) if we want to score goals, we have to get in the dirty areas,” he said. “We need to get there with passion. Not just get there — get there with burning desire to score goals.”

As far as the penalties go, they need to be more disciplined. Sure, there are necessary penalties and yes, accidents happen, but taking eight minor penalties in one game is a recipe for disaster.

“I don’t know,” Schmaltz said after the game when asked about accountability for how many penalties the guys were taking. “I feel like we’re beating a dead horse a little bit on that topic.”

The Bruins only had one power play goal, but keep in mind that spending almost an entire period shorthanded significantly limits the amount of scoring chances you get.

Schmaltz also pointed out that when the other team gets so many looks on the power play, their top players are extremely involved in the game while your top players sit on the bench.

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What’s next?

Utah HC gets a day to regroup before visiting Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

As good as Crosby is, he hasn’t been enough to drag the Penguins into the fight. They’ve struggled in a number of areas on the ice, prompting all sorts of trade rumors — even some involving Crosby, who has been a Penguin since 2005.

Utah HC’s job going into Pittsburgh is to get back on track. They need to find ways to score (especially on the power play) and they need to be disciplined away from the puck. If they do this and continue to get solid goaltending, they could receive a much-needed confidence boost.

The game starts at 5 p.m. MDT and will be streamed on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.





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Jazz Silver Lining Revealed by ESPN

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Jazz Silver Lining Revealed by ESPN


While it hasn’t been the most pleasant start for the Utah Jazz during their 2024-25 campaign, amounting to a 3-11 record through their first 14 games, there are still a few glaring signs of optimism to takeaway that shine through in the mix through the beginning of this season, largely thanks to the reps and development opportunities given to the young talent on the roster so far.

Of those young players having a solid role in the rotation to start this season, one of the most appealing in the small sample size has been first-round rookie Isaiah Collier, who’s made an eye-catching first impression since arriving in Salt Lake City.

During ESPN’s most recent batch of power rankings, the Jazz didn’t see much increase from last week, jumping from only 29th to 28th. Still, writer Tim MacMahon gave fans some reason to be excited about this roster moving forward– that being Utah’s rookie point guard.

“Rookie guard Isaiah Collier is only 1-of-12 from 3-point range, but he’s providing evidence that he can make a positive impact,” MacMahon said. “Collier, whose debut was delayed two weeks due to a hamstring injury, has a plus-10 rating in 108 minutes over his first six games. His tenacious, tough defense has made a favorable impression. Entering Tuesday, the Jazz were allowing only 104.5 points per 100 possessions with the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Collier on the court, the lowest defensive rating among Utah players.”

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In ESPN’s rankings, the Jazz placed ahead of two teams in the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards, and are right on the heels of the New Orleans Pelicans at 27th, who, like Utah, have also struggled in the Western Conference this year with a 4-11 regular season record.

Collier was limited to start this season as he suffered a hamstring injury during training camp, but since his return, he’s begun to show some impressive traits on both sides of the ball during his first seven games on the floor. In 18 minutes a night, the USC product is averaging 4.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 steals.

As mentioned by MacMahon, the offensive side of the ball still has some distance to make up in order to be an effective and consistent two-way threat. At just a. 8.3% clip from long range, he’s not much of a threat beyond the arc just yet, but with a long season ahead, there’s a ton of room to recover those shooting splits.

In the meantime, Collier has emerged as a solid contributor as an offensive facilitator and perimeter defender in the backcourt– two areas which this roster can definitely benefit from.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter/X.

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