St. George • Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community in southern Utah say they feel betrayed by Gov. Spencer Cox’s decision to sign into law HB257, which covers state-owned buildings and public schools and restricts transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms there that don’t align with their sex at birth.
Cox’s signing happened just after members of the St. George-area queer community wrapped up a rally at Utah Tech University’s Gardner Plaza, in support of transgender students. Speakers had asked the governor to veto the bill, which they argued could jeopardize students’ safety and damage their mental health.
Jill Mortensen, a member of Pride of Southern Utah’s board of directors, is one of many in the LGBTQ community who characterize the governor’s decision as an about-face and a betrayal after he vetoed a bill in 2021 that barred transgender girls from participating in girls’ K-12 sports. State legislators responded by overriding that veto.
“Like many parents of trans and nonbinary children in this state, I was cautiously optimistic after his decision to veto HB302, blocking transgender girls from participating in school sports,” Mortensen said. “In a February 2021 press conference, he tearfully remarked, ‘If you have not spent time with transgender youth, then I would encourage you to pause on this issue. We have so many people who are in a very difficult spot right now. These kids are, they are just trying to stay alive.’
“For that same governor,” Mortensen continued, “who once pleaded with lawmakers to protect our vulnerable trans kids, to sign a law that he knows will compromise the safety, dignity and basic human rights of all transgender and nonbinary Utahns, feels like such a betrayal.”
Utah Tech University junior Sarah Ostler also expressed dismay.
“This is so disheartening because we thought we had an ally [in the governor] and he’s kind of turning his back on us,” she said. “... I’ve gotten many phone calls from … friends, family and community members who are crying, and saying, ‘I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m being personally attacked. I’m not safe. I feel like I’m going to go into these restrooms and people are going to come in and harm me.’ "
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the public gather at Utah Tech University in St. George, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, for a rally in support of transgender rights.
In 2016, Cox’s remarks at a vigil in Salt Lake City to honor the victims of a mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay bar in Florida, went viral and made national headlines.
“I’m here because yesterday morning 49 Americans were brutally murdered. ... I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does,” said Cox, then the lieutenant governor.
Attendees argued Cox’s latest action smacks of a cynical attempt to shore up his conservative credentials with the GOP base during an election year.
Utah’s version of Jim Crow?
For Murray resident Brad Warner, who attended the rally with a friend, the Utah Legislature’s bills targeting the transgender community reminded him of the racism once prevalent across the country.
“It’s almost like [the Legislature] is trying to bring back Jim Crow laws,” he said. “Only instead of targeting people of color, they are going after a vulnerable minority who identify as transgender and lack the numbers or the power to protect themselves.”
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in place from the post-Civil War era until the late 1960s that legalized racial segregation and were aimed at marginalizing Black Americans.
Warner was one of about 100 at the UTU event to listen to Mortensen and other LGBTQ advocates and show support for their “trans brothers and sisters.” Aside from flying pride flags, many carried signs with slogans such as “Stop criminalizing our existence” and “Let them be. Let them pee.”
Still, the governor was not without support. For his part, Mike Johnson noted he has friends who are gay but still fully supports the bathroom bill.
“Look,” the St. George resident said, “I might identify as an orangutan or a chimpanzee but that doesn’t mean I’m entitled to live at the zoo. At some point, we need to apply some common sense to this situation, and I think that is what the governor and our legislators are doing.”
Legislators have said the law, called “Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-bullying, and Women’s Opportunities,” is needed to protect women and women’s spaces.
But St. George LGBTQ activist Katheryne Knight said it is “tragic” to see the governor and many legislators support bills that specifically target transgender individuals.
“It is evident that elected officials across Utah are trying to enforce policies that criminalize and punish transgender people without just cause,” she said. “What is also evident is that the solutions proposed in bills like this one minimize discussions that lead to better outcomes and cause further division in our public spaces and communities.”
