Transgender kids wouldn’t be required to report certain body measurements to play sports in Utah, but their participation would still be up to a government-appointed panel of experts under a proposal moving through the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Rep. Kera Birkeland, a Republican who coaches junior varsity basketball, said Wednesday that she was in the process of removing a list of physical attributes from her proposed “School Activity Eligibility Commission,” which would have used criteria such as bone density, hip-to-knee ratio, and oxygen saturation to determine eligibility.
The list of physical attributes provoked an outcry from parents of transgender kids and LGBTQ advocates, who fear student-athletes would feel body-checked and targeted by the commission.
