SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A female high school athlete won the state championship — then the parents of the girls who finished in second and third place claimed the girl was transgender.
She wasn’t.
The complaints and ensuing investigation are now happening in the wake of Utah’s H.B.11, which bans transgender females from competing in high school sports.
“One of the statements was that she didn’t look feminine enough. So what’s feminine enough?” asks Sue Robbins, a transgender advocate with Equality Utah. “Are we going to now start attacking all women? This is what’s happening.”
“If you start criminalizing transgender bodies, all women’s bodies are going to be judged,” added Robbins. “Because every time someone’s successful, then everyone will start complaining that she must be transgender to be successful.”
Details about the investigation surfaced Wednesday during the Utah Legislature’s Education Interim Committee meeting.
After the state competition, the complaints from parents were directed toward the Utah High School Activities Association. On Wednesday, David Spatafore with UHSAA told the committee that the school was asked to conduct the investigation.
“This is new ground to us,” said Spatafore. “And I’m not going to say that we have it down pat, because I have no clue.”
Spatafore says the girl was never notified about the investigation, which involved going through her records dating back to kindergarten.
Her name, sport and school are not being publicly released at this time.
