SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — GOP lawmakers in Utah pushed through a ban on transgender youth athletes playing on girls teams Friday, overriding a veto and joining 11 other states with similar laws amid a nationwide culture war.
Highlights
- Utah lawmakers override a ban on transgender youth athletes playing on girls teams Friday, overriding a veto.
- Lawmakers successfully flipped 10 Republicans in the House and five in the Senate who had previously voted against the proposal.
- Utah business leaders also sounded the alarm that the ban could have a multimillion-dollar economic impact for the state, including the possible loss of the NBA All-Star Game next year.
- The NBA’s Utah Jazz called the ban “discriminatory legislation” and opposed it in a statement.
- Utah has only one transgender girl playing in K-12 sports who would be affected by the ban.
- There have been no allegations of any of the four transgender.