Utah
Utah poised to pass transgender rule on dorms
For the fourth year in a row, the Utah Legislature appears about to pass another bill that targets the transgender community.
A bill that would require transgender students at public universities to live in dorms corresponding with their sex at birth, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, passed Senate on Thursday. It faces just one more vote in the House before receiving final legislative approval.
Opponents blasted HB269 for targeting the transgender community, creating potential litigation and legal concerns, and as government overreach. The bill easily passed the Senate 22-7 in a near party-line vote.
During Wednesday’s debate of the bill, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, criticized the Legislature for using a single case that “blew up on social media” to create new policy.
Riebe was referring to a viral social media post from the mother of a Utah State University student who complained to the school because her daughter was sharing a common space with a transgender resident assistant, who had been randomly assigned to live in the dorm.
“We hear one case blowing up social media, and we’re creating a law — a heavy-handed law — to change policy that’s worked for generations. If we don’t believe social media should be guiding our actions, then this is a bill that shouldn’t be guiding our actions,” Riebe said. “Our universities have done a fantastic job working to make sure every student’s as safe as they can, and I believe that this is overreach, and we should allow our universities to rectify these situations.”
Republican Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, told lawmakers he was concerned that there were no protections for students who live in private housing when it acts as an extension of the universities.
“My concern is that there isn’t a remedy for those individuals that have that (random roommate) assignment,” he said. “Even though it’s private property … I would say 90% to 95% or more of those students all are university-based or at a state entity, and so, having no protections in there makes me a little bit concerned.”
Democrats bring up legal concerns
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, brought up constitutional concerns surrounding the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which requires states to treat people equally under the law.
Escamilla questioned a provision in the bill that would still restrict a transgender person from living in a dorm of their choosing even if they have a birth certificate that has a changed gender marker and undergone surgery.
“If that person had already an amended birth certificate and has gone through that transition of surgery, how is that not an equal protection violation when that person does not match where you’re going to send them?”
Utah House passes bill changing university housing policies for transgender students
Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, answered and said he didn’t know if it was appropriate to do a legal analysis on the bill.
“I would say that it is overall from a legislative standpoint, it is not an equal protection violation, because the designation between male and female has been upheld in court in almost every circumstance, and it is not tied to the genitalia of the person, it is tied to their genetic makeup at the time of birth,” Brammer said.
Escamilla said when someone has gone through the defined legal process of fully transitioning, including surgery and changing the gender marker on their birth certificate, the genetic piece is not clear.
“The impact is so big,” she said. “I do believe there may be an equal protection piece because otherwise, you’re looking at these individuals who have gone through transition … why wouldn’t they not be then seen as that complete person that they are under that new place?”
Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, was the only Republican to vote against the bill alongside Democrats. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states gender necessarily includes gender identity, and therefore any infringement that would be prohibited on gender is also prohibited on gender identity.
In a 6-3 decision in 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that firing people for their sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination, which is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“It is my belief that just like many of the other bills that we have passed that infringed on gender identity, this will also be unconstitutional,” Thatcher said. “But the damage isn’t necessarily the bills that we pass. It’s the messages that we send, and sometimes we pass bills because they are messages.”
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Brammer, in his summation, addressed Thatcher’s concern.
“That was a very narrow decision that was limited only to Title VII employment situations,” he said. “I’ve read the case. It’s not applicable to these situations in any way, and (the justices) were very careful to make sure that it was not, and to a large extent, that’s why the Supreme Court has taken up very similar cases in the sense of transgender surgeries that they’ll be deciding in June.”
The Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on United States v. Skrmetti, a case about medical treatment for transgender children. Utah banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023.
As the bill was discussed again on Thursday, Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, said the last several years of legislation targeted toward transgender individuals have made that community feel isolated.
“It does break my heart on some degree, that every year for the last four years, we have had very targeted legislation toward them,” she said. “They will never be legislated out of existence. They will be adored, loved and treasured by some of us for the rest of all of our lives.”
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.
He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.
MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.
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CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”
Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.
“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.
Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.
“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.
2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:
- Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
- Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
- Does it support a ban from classrooms?
Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.
“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.
MORE | Utah State Legislature:
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.
“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.
The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.
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