Utah
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.
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.”
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.
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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Utah
Utah T-Mobile customers experience service outage
An apparent service outage has affected T-Mobile customers in Utah.
Customers went on social media Tuesday to note that their service has been disrupted. People posting on X reported outages stretching from St. George to Ogden.
The website TechRadar reported Tuesday that T-Mobile had experienced some 19,500 outages in a less than an hour, according to the online tool Down Detector. Most of the outages — which are affecting both T-Mobile and Mint Mobile customers — were in Utah locations, Down Detector found.
Just after 2 p.m., the company said there was a “brief mechanical issue that impacted connectivity” but it has since been resolved.
“We apologize for the inconvenience,” the company said in a statement.
Click here to read full story from the Salt Lake Tribune
Utah
Mountain Bike Mania: Pedaling Utah Tourism
SALT LAKE CITY — A growing number of Utah high schools have about as many mountain bike racers as football players. That surprising development becomes obvious at the starting line of weekend races.
“We are the largest youth cycling organization in the nation,” said Dallen Atack, board president of the Utah High School Cycling League.
Just 10 years ago, there were 320 riders. Now more than 7,500 students compete.
“I love being out there all the time,” said Morgan High School rider Blair Erickson.
Riders aren’t the only ones who love high school mountain biking.
“They have an incredible impact on our community,” said Maria Twitchell, director of Visit Cedar City, Brian Head Tourism Bureau.
“It bolsters the community because they have to eat and get gas and stay,” said Dennis Jorgensen, mountain bike organizer in Richfield.
Mountain bike races held among the ridges of Richfield, the peaks of Price and the vistas of Vernal bring thousands of visitors who likely wouldn’t otherwise come to these small Utah towns.
“From fast food to sit down, our restaurants are full,” said Price Mayor Michael Kourianos.
In Richfield, traffic and hotel parking lots are filled with cars carrying valuable cargo.
“Any time you drive down main street, you see a van or car with bikes on the back of it, and that didn’t use to be the case,” said Carson DeMille, chairman of the Richfield Trail Committee.
What’s become clear in city after city, is that on race weekends, huge open fields have become paydirt:
- $1,000,000 in Price
- $1,800,000 in Cedar City
- $500,000 in Richfield.
So no surprise, small towns all over Utah are racing to build tracks of their own.
Tracks have existed for a number of years in Richfield, Cedar City, Vernal, Price, St George, Manti, Beaver Mountain, Eagle Mountain and Soldier Hollow.
More recently, trails have come online in Mantua, Herriman and Beaver. And new trails have come or are coming to Tooele, Panguitch and Gunnison. Morgan has a track in the works.
The cities of Price and Herriman are working on second tracks.
“It’s pretty competitive. We don’t really talk about it, but on our end, we try to take care of those race directors,” said Lesh Coltharp, director of Tourism and Events for Uintah County.
Ahead of the races, big open fields of dirt turn into mini cities of high school staging tents. There’s a reason these races are more suited to rural Utah than established ski resorts and trail areas.
“We do have specific standards on how long the course needs to be,” said Michelle Lyman, race director for region 2.
They need broad tracks that are 4-6 miles, about 500 feet in elevation, with nothing too steep or too narrow.
But the number one requirement:
“We need to have at least 1,000 parking spaces to hold one of our races,” Atack said.
Many cities combine private, county and BLM lands with donations, county and state grants to build their tracks.
It’s more than just economics that fuels mountain biking mania. Unlike most high school sports, everyone gets to compete. No one sits on the sidelines.
“Nobody rides the bench, is one of our favorite mottos of the league,” Atack said.
These tracks provide a valuable source of recreation and opportunity for kids, especially in small towns.
“I knew that if we could get these kids riding it would change their lives,” said Dennis Jorgensen, of Richfield.
“We’re building athletes. And those athletes turn to lifetime users and recreationists and come back year after year and bring their kids,” added Maria Twitchell, of Cedar City.
In many cities, trail maintenance can also become a part-time, high school job.
Since mountain biking isn’t a high school-sanctioned sport, the need for parent volunteers is great. They require a 1:6 coach-to-student ratio, just to ride on the trails.
“This is a sport where parents can practice and ride right alongside their kids, support them in the day,” Lyman said.
So, while mountain biking is changing the face of high school sports for thousands of families, it is also putting Utah towns on the map for tourism.
“Word of mouth continues to grow, so the impact is much larger than we anticipated,” said Amy Myers, Sevier County tourism director.
“When the community benefits,” Jorgensen said, “We all benefit.”
Utah
Community clothing swaps help families make ends meet in Utah County
OREM, Utah — Stepping up to help each other make ends meet, the Orem community is helping families get things they need this winter through a clothing swap.
Monday evening at Lakeridge Junior High, families picked out items and filled bags with clothes, jackets, shoes, books and more.
“It’s a blessing to be here, to be able to have them get the clothes they need and be able to give back too,” said Alyssa Dixon, a mom of three. “As a single mom, it’s really hard to support and especially for how expensive prices are, with inflation, gas prices, everything going on, it is really hard to do that extra thing of clothes they want and clothes they need.”
All the items are donated by others in the community. The free clothing swap was hosted by the Alpine School District’s outreach team.
“It’s for everybody in the community,” said Alyson Madsen, the community outreach coordinator for the Alpine School District. “Whether you have school-aged kids or not.”
Families brought clothes their kids outgrew or don’t wear anymore, and got to pick up new ones.
“It feels pretty good because you don’t have to pay for it,” said Lia Atondo, an eighth-grader at Lakeridge.
Last year, the swap was only at one school. This year they expanded to more schools because they saw a need and have been collecting donations since September.
“It’s filling a need,” added Madsen. “It’s filling something that ordinarily they couldn’t get on their own for their own family. And it makes me emotional sometimes because it’s just something that we can provide that they can’t for themselves.”
Kids get to pick out their own clothes, which helps them feel more confident, with the opportunity to express their own style. Plus, staying warm in the winter is now one less thing these families need to worry about.
“Going through the battles of life, it’s just super helpful,” added Dixon.
There’s another clothing swap this Friday at Orem Junior High School that’s open to the public. And if you want to help, they need more winter coats. Donations can be dropped off at the school before or during the event from 6-8 p.m.
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