I was blissfully unaware of Utah’s dominant political ideology when I came out as transgender in 2019. I was a child who had just told my family I was a boy, and my interests did not lie in upcoming elections or the future of trans rights. If I could go back in time and tell that young boy to be more engaged in his state’s politics, I would. Perhaps it could have prepared him for the next five years of false promises, disingenuous legislative sessions and terrifying elections.
My first interaction with trans rights was in 2022 with the introduction of HB11. In the coming months, I planned to compete in school sanctioned sports, and I was worried this would be impossible. I felt let down by legislators attempting to limit such a small number of teen athletes, but I felt safe with Gov. Spencer Cox, who was willing to fight for us and vetoed legislation banning transgender girls from competing in high school sports. Gov. Cox had said it would be OK. As a young, naive Utahn who had yet to be let down by our politicians, I believed this empty promise.
Over halfway through Gov. Cox’s term, the Utah Legislature advanced onto my healthcare. I spent dozens of hours attending legislative hearings with my family. A year after I started hormone replacement therapy, a decision made by myself, my parents and my doctors, Gov. Cox signed SB16, a bill that indefinitely barred minors from beginning gender affirming treatment. While I was “grandfathered” in and would not have to immediately stop my treatment, I knew that somewhere in the state of Utah there was a child entering the wrong puberty, just as I had, and unable to get necessary medical care.
Anti-trans laws had stripped my childhood innocence away. That was the moment I lost faith in Utah’s elected leaders’ ability to protect me. Gov. Cox had fallen back on his promise; it was no longer OK.
By the 2024 legislative session, I could not bear to enter the Utah Capitol. I was too tired to fight and too exhausted to listen. HB257, a transgender bathroom ban, was introduced almost immediately. It moved quickly through the Legislature and was placed on Gov. Cox’s desk. I had never seen such urgency to pass a bill that would tear transgender students, adults and children apart. I didn’t realize people could be so eager to discriminate. Despite his empty promises from previous anti-trans bills signed, I somehow still had faith in our governor. I still believed he could do the right thing. With 10 days to consider signing the bill, Gov. Cox only took a day. His signature hurt the very people to whom he had once called himself an ally.
Where was the Gov. Cox who had cited transgender suicide statistics when vetoing HB11? Where was the Gov. Cox who said he’d fight for me? Where was the Gov. Cox who had called for unity?
Gov. Cox has lost himself in order to gain political points on the basis of reelection. He is no longer the Utah leader who gave a heartfelt speech about the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. Instead, he is one of many across the country that will utilize so-called “conservative values” to gain cheap political points at the expense of real human beings. He’s substituted values for votes.
Limiting transgender rights should not help strengthen your political campaign. No discrimination should. Transgender issues have never been about politics, they are simply human rights.
After winning the Republican primary, Cox is one step closer to having four more years in office, but at the cost of transgender Utahns. I put my trust in Gov. Cox back in 2022 when he was willing to protect me. Now, I feel I’m nothing more than a tool to his campaign.
I do not need Gov. Cox to go back to a time where he put his compassion towards transgender youth before his political party. I am not asking for an apology. All I need is my life back. I am a friend, student, athlete, son and brother — but, most simply, I’m a person. I am a person, not a pawn. Transgender youth are not political ploys, we are so much more than that.
Leo Pickron is an intern with Alliance for a Better Utah.
Leo Pickron (he/him) is an intern with Alliance for a Better Utah and a rising high school junior in Salt Lake.
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