{"id":1424,"date":"2022-03-23T17:14:51","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T17:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/utah-governor-cites-suicide-rates-for-transgender-youth-in-vetoing-sports-ban-bill-i-want-them-to-live-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2022-03-23T17:14:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T17:14:51","slug":"utah-governor-cites-suicide-rates-for-transgender-youth-in-vetoing-sports-ban-bill-i-want-them-to-live-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/23\/utah-governor-cites-suicide-rates-for-transgender-youth-in-vetoing-sports-ban-bill-i-want-them-to-live-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah governor cites suicide rates for transgender youth in vetoing sports ban bill: \u2018I want them to live\u2019 – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox made an emotional plea for compassion toward transgender youth<\/a> Tuesday in explaining his decision to veto a bill banning transgender students<\/a> from playing girls’ sports.
In a letter to the state’s Senate president and House speaker, Cox told his fellow Republicans that he was moved by data showing that among 75,000 kids playing high school sports in Utah, only four were transgender, with just one involved in girls sports.
“Four kids and only one of them playing girls sports. That\u2019s what all of this is about. Four kids who aren\u2019t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day,” he wrote. “Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few.”
Cox also cited research on how a sense of belonging could reduce suicide rates among transgender youth, adding that while he struggled to understand “conflicting” science, he sought to employ kindness.
“I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly,” Cox wrote.
\u201cFor that reason, as much as any other, I have taken this action in the hope that we can continue to work together and find a better way,” he added. “If a veto override occurs, I hope we can work to find ways to show these four kids that we love them and they have a place in our state.”
The veto made Cox the second Republican governor<\/a> to go against fellow GOP state lawmakers on the issue this week.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed a similar statewide ban on Monday. Holcomb said Indiana\u2019s Legislature had not demonstrated that transgender kids had undermined fairness in sports.
Eleven states<\/a> \u2014 Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia \u2014 have implemented bans targeting transgender athletes.
In Utah, legislative leaders announced plans to convene on Friday to discuss overriding the governor. Cox called for a special session that would allow the Legislature to amend the bill and provide funding for school districts and youth sports organizations that anticipate facing lawsuits.
Two-thirds of lawmakers are needed to override the veto.
\u201cDoing nothing is taking a step backward for women. Finding a solution to this complicated issue is necessary to maintain fair competition now and in the future,\u201d Utah Senate President Stuart Adams said in a statement.
Cox has said the bill invites lawsuits that could bankrupt the state\u2019s high school athletics governing body.
Republican House Speaker Brad Wilson countered that, \u201cOne of the things we care a lot about is competitive and safe women\u2019s sports. And if there is a cost to the state of Utah to preserve and protect that, that clearly is policy that lawmakers are comfortable with.”
Zo\u00eb is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.
© 2022 NBC UNIVERSAL<\/p>\n

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ProfileSectionstvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC NewsUtah Gov. Spencer Cox made an emotional plea for compassion toward transgender youth Tuesday in explaining his decision to veto a bill banning transgender students from playing girls’ sports.In a letter to the state’s Senate president and House speaker, Cox told his fellow Republicans that he was moved by data showing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}