There is an opinion on why the G.o.P.’s attack on Trans Rights could backfire on the party

SALT LAKE CITY (M16) – Proposed Senate Measures That Eliminate Gender-Affirming Health Care and Allow Private Schools to Pay for Education Outside the Public School System

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Republican governor on Saturday signed bills that ban youth from receiving gender-affirming health care and allow families to receive scholarships to pay for education outside the public school system, both measures that are part of larger nationwide movements.

Cox explained in a statement that his decision was based on his belief that it was prudent to pause “these permanent and life-altering treatments for new patients until more and better research can help determine the long-term consequences.”

“While we understand our words will be of little comfort to those who disagree with us, we sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind these procedures,” he said.

In its letter to Cox, the civil rights organization said it was deeply concerned about “the damaging and potentially catastrophic effects this law will have on people’s lives and medical care and the grave violations of people’s constitutional rights it will cause.

“By cutting off medical treatment supported by every major medical association in the United States, the bill compromises the health and well-being of adolescents with gender dysphoria. The letter said it ties the hands of doctors and parents by preventing them from receiving evidence based treatment for a serious medical condition.

The bill’s sponsor said that government oversight is needed for important health care policy related to gender and youth.

The measure that Cox signed would allow students to go to private schools outside of the public education system. The bill increased teacher pay and benefits to alleviate the teacher shortage.

Some state governments are considering legislation that would allow parents to choose which schools their children attend. The debates have inflamed teachers’ unions and resurfaced concerns about efforts to gradually privatize public education. If enacted, they could transform the nature of state government’s relationship with the education system and deepen contrasts between how going to school looks in many red versus blue states.

The Utah measure allocates $42 million in taxpayer funds to pay for scholarships so students can attend private schools. Over 5,000 students receive $8,000 scholarships, which is double the state’s weighted pupils unit funding. The bill includes a salary of $6,000 for Utah teachers in an attempt to appease the state’s teachers’ union.

Cox said “School choice works best when we adequately fund public education and remove regulations that burden our public schools and make them difficult for them to succeed.”

Transgender Attacks: Senator Thatcher at the 2020 LGBTQ Causal Dialogue Presented at the Interfaith Forum, NYTimes.com

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and [email protected] any questions.

He is most recognized for his work with access to justice, mental-health services, suicide prevention, and school safety. Let’s give Senator Thatcher a QTalks welcome.

QTalks are a series of events for the queer community, run by an LGBTQ rights group called Equality Utah. And Senator Thatcher wasn’t the typical guest.

Since he took office in 2011, Thatcher had made combating hate crimes one of his legislative priorities, along with mental-health initiatives. In his state, some of the most at risk people were trans kids, just like the people that the party now targets in Utah and across the country.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

What was going on? What did you learn from your experiences with the mental health crisis? A case study on transgender youth in the Chicago Cube

Do you know, at the time, my attitude was more that it’s none of my business. It doesn’t matter if I like it or don’t. It doesn’t matter if I understand it or don’t. The question is, what should the government do about it? The answer is nothing. We should not have to deal with you.

That’s why, when I was deciding to get involved in politics, I looked at both parties. I chose to be a Republican because I think the government should do things differently for us. And so for me, I was asked about LGBTQ issues when I was running. My response was always that it was none of my business. It’s none of my business.

There were many things that came together. I need to work on this hate-crimes legislation. That was the start of opening my eyes to what was happening in the LGBTQ community.

I was looking through our data. I was looking through the suicide annual reports. And I was looking at areas where my work had borne fruit, and we had seen some good outcomes. But the one area that was just still staggeringly, heartbreakingly at risk was transgender youth.

Let me know about that. How did you realize that? What conversations were you having, where all of a sudden, you were engaging in the mental-health crisis, and you’re seeing that this is affecting one particular slice of the community disproportionately?

Some people had stories to tell me. They were with me. There was a person that I became close to. And so I called this friend. And I asked you to explain this to me. Let me make phone calls, he said.

I knew it would hurt people, both trans and not. I knew that it was unconstitutional. So I knew it was going to be overturned. One of the conversations I tried to have with the trans community is look, I can’t stop it. I will fight. And I will call it out. But I’m going to lose this fight. You need to be aware of that. It is going to pass. One of the comfort factors that you should take is knowing that it will be overturned.

You start to pay attention to things happening in this community. How was this new understanding that you were having impacting your conversations with Republicans at that time? They were talking to you about your interest in the community.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

The Defenders of Human Rights: When Governor Cox Signed SB16 to Save a Girl in Utah, a Politically Insensitive Test of the Constitution

I’ve been fighting that for a long time. I think the government should do less, and I think we should be left alone. We have the Constitution. We do have the responsibility to protect and preserve rights.

This was going to be problematic because of political and religious reasons when you became interested in this community.

There is a letter in front of me. He pointed out the flaws in the policy-making process and the consequences of the law. But most strikingly to me, what he said was that the issue was overblown considering that at the time, there was a single transgender girl participating in K through 12 female sports in the state of Utah.

I cannot tell you that the bill is unconstitutional, even though I am not an attorney. The law does not allow you to single out a group of people for protection. This isn’t fuzzy.

That narrow group of powerful individuals makes candidates beholden to them. So when the sports bill came up for a vote in March, 2022, just over a month before his party convention, Thatcher’s delegates pushed him to change his stance on transgender athletes in schools.

Thatcher had to deal with an unusual feature of Utah politics when his district got redder. Voters actually don’t directly elect their state representatives. It’s complicated, but basically, there’s a small group of delegates in charge of picking candidates during party primaries.

Regardless, when these new bills were introduced, Thatcher got up to speak again. And he voted no again. But this time, not only did both of them pass, but Governor Cox has already signed SB16 into law. It will be challenged in court.

I want you to know we love you, and we are very fond of you. We’re very much interested in you. We need you to be OK. We want to do everything we can to help you. Cox’s veto letter is drawing national attention. In it, a poignant argument that such laws target vulnerable kids who already have high rates of suicide.

The president of the Senate gave a response to the governor saying that the legislature would vote on whether or not to override his veto. Did you expect that?

I considered changing my vote so I could win with the delegates and show I was conservative, at the urging of several of my closest trans friends. In my world, conservatives do not turn their back on their principles. Voting against the constitution doesn’t mean voting against it. And it does not mean waffling when you know in your heart what the right thing is to do. Mr. President, I cannot support the measure to kill it.

I had one person tell me I would be number 10. Most people aren’t willing to give up their service on a single issue where they can’t make a difference and that’s why I’m not going out on that ledge. And that was the decision that I had to make.

You were facing a difficult electoral map and are attempting to convince Republicans who you thought might be willing to join you. Were there a time when you considered voting for the override?

I consulted with a number of people that I care about, like Equality Utah, the leading voices of the tranny community, and people that I love. Basically, the conversation was about this. The three Republican challengers I have all are insane, and none of them would hesitate for a second to introduce a bill that would hurt your kids and hurt your community. If I do what I think I’m going to do, I probably lose.

And we had that conversation. The person that I respect most in Utah called me up. And she said, don’t be so selfish. We need you in the Senate more than we need you to fall on a sword. It was the last person in the world I thought would ever counsel me to do different than my conscience.

But here’s the thing. She was right. She was correct. From a purely political standpoint, she was right because I went to — our caucus meeting came after voting against the bill the first time. Before the governor vetoed it, after I had voted no, I started meeting with my delegates. I spoke to many of them and all said they were against the position you took on this bill.

Yes. I didn’t have a single delegate say they appreciated your principled stand. They didn’t care. They were so angry that I wouldn’t speak out against transgenderism that they told me, flat out, if you don’t override the governor’s veto, you’re fired.

I’m a deeply religious man. I told him that if he wanted me to vote against my conscience, then he has to give me peace of mind. I’m going to do the wrong thing so that I can do better later. how do you say that is wrong, but I will do the wrong thing? It is my belief that is that slippery slope that you don’t come back from. You don’t realize how steep it is when you step down that slope.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

Reversing the Governor’s Veto of House-Bill 11: Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities. Thank You, Mr. President

House Bill 11, Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities. Thank you, Mr. President. The Senate vote is to reverse the governor’s veto of House Bill 11.

And I had this complete and total feeling of peace with walking onto that floor and standing up and saying, I cannot say that left is right and up is down and black is white.

Not one state that has passed a bill like this has upheld it. So what we’re really doing here, it’s political theater because it won’t go into effect. So we won’t get any of the benefits from passing this bill. But we will get absolutely all of the harms.

Even though Thatcher had been prepared to lose his seat following his two no votes on the sports bill, when it came time for the party convention last April, that’s not what happened. He won the nomination again.

They were saying that you’re dead and that they didn’t want Thatcher because he’s a moderate and they don’t want Thatcher because he is a liberal. We’re not going to support you. But it’s a secret ballot. More than 60 percent of them marked their ballot for me even after they told me they wouldn’t vote for me. And so I don’t think it’s as bad as people think. It has not improved even though it is still pretty bad.

After the break, Utah State Republicans double down on anti-trans legislation. Thatcher claims that it will come back to haunt the party.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

A warning to the public: Transgender attacks against the republican party in the 2020 legislative session of the Working Group at the Fermilab High School

I knew the bills were on the way. I believe everyone knew that the bills were coming because we had been discussing them for a year. I did not think it would be as bad as it is.

Even though the political stakes were lower for Thatcher, the personal ones were higher. He’d had a series of strokes at the end of 2020.

I did not want to go back to the legislature, according to my doctor. My doctor wants me to take a year off. My doctor warned me that I could have another episode if I got up and spoke.

You think that logic and facts can change the minds of your Republican peers. Do you think that they are arguing on this issue in good faith, truly?

Yes, my peers and my colleagues. There is something behind it. That is the thing you have to understand. Republicans did not wake up one day and say, hey, we are going to dunk on trans kids. They are being manipulated.

If they want it to be true or if they are afraid of it being true, then they will believe any lie. You would have to think there is an evil force that benefits from pushing specific agendas.

It is. The agenda is arranged in an orderly way. Christian nationalist groups like the American Defence Fund push anti-trans legislation all over the country. You have mentioned you are religious and a Christian.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

Why do transgender attacks in the Republican Party become so powerful in the recent era of social media and religion? A big thank you for sticking up for my kids

I have had people who claim to be Christian reach out to me and tell me that I can’t be a Christian unless I hate certain people. I don’t know what your Christ is. He’s kind of terrible.

The Republican Party has become part of the heart of the GOP because of these laws, which are part of an organized push.

You are a solitary voice on this issue as a Republican. I would like to know why you think the party has gone so deep into something, which is very divisive and powerful for them.

Well, here’s the thing. These kids are coming up because of the popularity of it, they are being told. Bullshit. It is becoming more common because it is safer. It isn’t safe. It is safer.

As it becomes safer for people to come out, more will realize this is someone I care about. This is related to the family. This is a friend. This is a friend’s kid.

My best friend from college has a trans kid. One of my friends from high school reached me out last year, and said they hadn’t spoken in years, and that they have not spoken since high school. But I have five kids and two of them are trans. I would like to give a big thanks for sticking up for my kids.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

Trans-Gender Attacks in the Republican Party: Where do you stand? How do you see yourself sitting in the modern party? What do you think?

And I’m wondering how you see yourself sitting in the modern Republican Party, and what it says about the modern Republican Party that you have faced such blow back with your own beliefs.

There are Republicans that I can’t vote for. But the problem is there is no space for me in the Democratic party that doesn’t believe in smaller government, that doesn’t believe in more individual rights. The other side doesn’t want government to stay within bounds of the Constitution, so I can’t change parties.

The Republican Party has also refused to do that. I still have hope that they’ll come around. If we want that to happen, we have to start electing people with moral fortitude. It can be easy to fall for the flavor of the week if you don’t know what your core principles are. What are we mad about this week? We have to run a bill. I like politics when three-year-olds are playing soccer. Do you ever watch three-year-olds play soccer? They don’t know where the lines are. They don’t know where the goals are. They just want to kick the ball. And it’s just this mass of every single kid on the field, all running around, trying to kick the ball. They don’t care where it goes. They just want to kick the ball as hard as they can. That is politics today.

Absolutely. I want to be clear. Number one, this is not sustainable. It will be hard to come back from this position. But as more and more voters have more and more people in their lives that they care about, this is something that is going to lead to single-voter change.

I think what is going to happen is the first party. We are going to come back to the Constitution. We’re going to be about individual rights. The party that wins the next 10 years will be the one that protects civil liberty.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/opinion/trans-gender-attacks-republican-party.html

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