This is a teenager targeted by adults based on that she played a sport too well, had a bigger build than some other girls, and was not pretty enough for this school board member due to the board member being anti-trans. Yes to protect minors from all that sexualization of mentioning LGBTQIA people exist and rainbow flags these people attacked a minor for not being as pretty and girly as they thought she should. This is what happen with bathroom bills baring trans people. Bystanders attack cis women who they don’t think are pretty or feminine enough. They base who can use a bathroom on looks. Hugs. Scottie.
Gov. Spencer Cox denounced the official, Utah State School Board member Natalie Cline, saying she has embarrassed the state.
A Utah state school board member is facing widespread condemnation and calls to resign after she shared a post on social media that appeared to suggest a 16-year-old girl on her school’s basketball team is transgender.
Natalie Cline, a member of the Utah State Board of Education, posted earlier this week on Facebook a flier for a high school girls’ basketball team in Salt Lake County, suggestively writing: “Girls’ basketball…” The post has since been deleted.
The teenager’s parents said the post invited a swarm of cyberbullying directed toward their daughter, whom they said is not trans and described as a “tomboy,” and are calling for Cline’s resignation.
Cline shared a photo of the 16-year-old basketball player on social media and appeared to question the girl’s gender.Utah State Board of Education
“Here’s a person that is supposed to be in a position of leadership that advocates for our children’s safety, well-being, their privacy, and she’s the one who has instigated this post that has led to all this hate,” Al van der Beek, the girl’s father, told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City.
Cline apologized on Facebook on Wednesday, acknowledging that her post created a “firestorm” around the teenager and that “derogatory comments about the player were made.”
She also defended her intent saying that the girl “does have a larger build, like her parents,” and did not suggest she would resign.
“We live in strange times when it is normal to pause and wonder if people are what they say they are because of the push to normalize transgenderism in our society,” she wrote on Facebook. “But that is definitely not the case with this student, and I apologize again that the conversation around the post turned personal, that was never the intention, and again, I removed the post as soon as I realized what had transpired.”
“In a world that sometimes uses children as human shields to push radical agendas, it has become increasingly difficult to trust and to know how to protect children without hurting children when children are the targets and victims in so much of the chaos and confusion swirling around us,” Cline’s post said.
Cline did not immediately return a request for further comment.
The online uproar and ensuing backlash come as the debate over whether trans people should be allowed to participate in competitive sports leagues that match their gender identities continues to be a politically explosive issue in schools, elite sport and legislatures nationwide.
It is also the latest example of how the issue of gender roles and norms has roiled the country, even outside of the trans community.
“She cut her hair short because that’s how she feels comfortable, she wears clothes that are a little baggy, she goes to the gym all the time so she’s got muscles,” Al van der Beek told KSL.
Rachel van der Beek, the girl’s mother, also defended her daughter’s appearance.
“I would try to kind of maybe guide her into being what was more normal or what the world sometimes pictured a girl should look like, and that’s when we would butt heads and we would totally disagree,” she said. “As I encouraged her, then she started to blossom and her personality started coming out.”
Cline’s lengthy written apology did little to quell her critics.
Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, both Republicans, denounced Cline on Wednesday, saying she had “embarrassed the state of Utah and State Board of Education.”
“We were stunned to learn of the unconscionable behavior of board member Cline and others toward a high school student today,” they said in a joint statement. “The last thing our children need is an elected official harassing them on social media.”
“We urge the State Board of Education to hold her accountable and we commend Granite School District for taking swift action to protect this student’s safety and well-being,” they added.
Local reports have alleged that Cline — who was elected to her first term on Utah’s state school board in 2020 — has made controversial remarks regarding LGBTQ people in the past and has previously faced calls to resign.
Equality Utah, a state LGBTQ advocacy group, called Cline’s post “callous and cruel” and also called for her resignation.
“America has a tragic history of moral panics leading to the humiliation and expulsion of minorities from public life,” the group’s leadership said in a statement posted on X. “Hysteria often leads to violence.”
The controversy comes as trans athletes’ participation in sports has become a political lightning rod in recent years.
In the last handful of years, it has prompted 25 states to pass laws that restrict trans athletes’ participation in sports, including 11 that enacted the limitations last year, according to LGBTQ think tank the Movement Advancement Project.
Elite sporting bodies around the world, including USA Swimming, the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA, have also struggled to grapple with the issue, creating new guidelines around trans athletes that have often spurred backlash. Last month, a lawyer for trans swimmer Lia Thomas — who has become the de facto face of the debate — confirmed that Thomas is asking the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to overturn the new World Aquatics rules that effectively ban trans competitors.
Cline isn’t the first to face backlash for appearing to falsely suggest someone is trans.
In June, a woman sued a local movie theater in New Jersey after her son was kicked out of the theater. The lawsuit alleges that the movie theater manager yelled “this is not a transgender bathroom” while kicking the mother and her son out of the theater.
On Wednesday, the van der Beeks said Cline’s apology did not go far enough.
“What if our daughter didn’t have that strong character and have our support, and community support to where she internalized this?” Al van der Beek told KSL. “Worst case scenario, she could’ve ended her own life.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Read the full article. In 2021, Cline also faced calls to resign over allegedly racist and anti-LGBTQ posts on Facebook. Cline has said that public schools “brainwash children into queer gender-bending ideologies.” This time even Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who recently signed an anti-trans bill, is calling her out.
We are pleased to see state leaders calling on swift action to address Natalie Cline’s abhorrent behavior. The Utah Legislature is right to pursue impeachment. https://t.co/vUnxqctjLzpic.twitter.com/OUat0MfVk3
Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline should be forced to resign. Immediately.
She posted pictures of a minor child, without the parents' permission, and then questioned the child's gender? Now the child is under protection because of threats those posts caused.
Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson denounce behavior of Utah School Board Member Natalie Cline. Read the full statement here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XLZbfT4450
No School Board member should ever share any photos of any students without the student’s permission, particularly with identifying information like a name, regardless of intention or accuracy.
Given that this student is now being harassed, resignation isn’t good enough, though it’s a start. Resignation doesn’t undue the harassment the student has faced, nor makes her whole. The School Board member should be subject to civil action — and would be wise to immediately negotiate with the student’s family for a settlement. And should the student experience actual physical harm from it, the School Board member should also face criminal consequences.
The fact that the student isn’t actually trans shouldn’t make a difference. The School Board member shouldn’t have done this even if the student was trans.
I don’t think it’s legal to share images of minors without parental consent anyway. So yeah, this is probably actionable. And for a school board member to shame any student, no matter who it is, even if they had done something bad (which this student did not and even what she claims about the student isn’t something to be shamed for) even that would be inappropriate. It’s bad enough we have cyberbullying from other children. But from an adult and from one that holds and important position? That’s horrible. She should be shamed and get the fuck sued out of her.
Just going to get worse and worse. They want transgender people beaten to a pulp. That is their goal. Oh, and if you think the rest of us queers are any safer….
even Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who recently signed an anti-trans bill, is calling her out. – anti-trans bills legalise bigotry, harassment, and discrimination by putting a target on the backs of trans people. You own that Cox. There’s blood on your hands. And yes, the school board bitch needs to resign.
I think it was Dan Savage (probably among many others) who called this over a decade ago when these “bathroom bills” were starting…while this will be terrible for trans people who just need to pee (like we all do) the majority of people who are harassed in all that are going to be cisgender people who are a little butch or fem. And here we are. She shouldn’t be harassed, trans or not, but she’s getting this without even being trans. She’s not the first and won’t be the last. They don’t care who they hurt and after all with that crowd the cruelty IS the point.
Psst: The bigots want to hurt women in general too, this is just another excuse, like all the homophobia and breeder cultism and rape cculture always have.
Why is so interested in a minor’s genitals? THAT’S the question to be SCREAMED at her in public NON-STOP. I’d call her a cunt, but cunts have depth & warmth. This used anal tampon has neither.
My personal trainer shared with me that the person leasing the commercial space next door to his gym had been smearing what appeared to be his own semen on the door handles of women that work out there. Got him on video doing it. Several women had complained. SLPD took a report and reviewed the evidence and said they did not have the resources to pursue the case at this time due to budget cuts, naming the mayor as the reason behind the cuts. Cute, right? And all the while conservatives in Ewetah are spun up good about protecting women and girls from evil trans persons that might go tinkle or play high school sports.
Husband and I have both seen him coming and going when we are using the gym facility. He’s a dumpy little man, probably feels he deserves some attention from the women that come and go throughout the day. I think that he is jealous of my trainer who is built like a Norse god and has built a thriving business. The landlord cancelled his lease on a technicality when he saw the video footage. As a result the gym is expanding. Not the beat down the dude deserves but picking his business up and moving it with 30 days notice is a expensive undertaking.
Impeachment is the nicest thing that should happen to Ms. Cline. If the child whose picture she posted is NOT transgender, her parents should sue. If she is, can the child herself go after Ms. Cline for the threats and intimidation she has been made to suffer? I certainly hope so.
Utah has an anti-trans students in sports law on the books. It was originally vetoed by the Governor but the legislature overrode it. Ironically, the law says the results of the decisions of the panel, even without the names included are to remain secret from everyone but the school and the student’s parents. But the author of the bill seems to have violated her own law by saying how many students have been denied access to sports because of their law.
Posting a picture of a minor on Facebook by an adult in political office for the purposes of harassment should be grounds for removal from that office.
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
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