Anti-trans Utah lawmakers trip over themselves in rush to condemn Natalie Cline
Hits & Misses
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Miss: On the De-Cline
While officials are expressing their righteous indignation over state school board member Natalie Cline's impolitic social media posts, they ignore their own complicity. Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, is a case in point in the drama we'll call "Everyone must be like us—or else." Cline, who has long railed against LGBTQ+ and other marginalized groups, posted a photo of student athletes, one of whom she suspected as being transgender. Cline took it down, issuing a lukewarm apology when she discovered the girl was a girl at birth. But then Birkeland, in an effort to show her superior moral fiber, struck out at Cline by mentioning a commission ruling to ban four trans teens from sports. That information should have been legally protected—even from Birkeland. Despite calls to impeach Cline, the House Speaker says he wants to be fair—whatever that means. It's hard to know when he, the Legislature and the governor all helped spread the red carpet of fear, hatred and discrimination.
Miss: The Banner Yet Waves
Lawmakers are discussing homelessness, gun safety, health care and education, but one issue that keeps poking at them is a flag. It's the Utah State Flag, which recently got a modernized update. To most, the change was of passing interest. To an aggrieved few, it was a sign of the apocalypse or maybe the end of democracy. To say this group doesn't like the new flag is an understatement of immense proportions. First, they tried a referendum. It failed. Then they went the initiative route, a path to citizen lawmaking that legislators have made both difficult and expensive. When it looked like they wouldn't make the signature deadline, they asked the lieutenant governor to extend the deadline and ignore a bunch of laws. Blanding Republican Rep. Phil Lyman tried to help them out with a bill to require a statewide vote, but like his gubernatorial campaign, this, too, is destined for failure. Maybe Restore Utah's Flag should try a contest to see who in Utah could reproduce the old and cluttered state flag.
Hit: Land Grabs
Trust lands are hard to figure out. They generate funding for education but are sometimes bad for the land itself. At statehood, the feds gave Utah millions of acres of land to manage and generate revenue. Basically, the trust lands get swapped or leased to the highest bidder, giving rise to the question of greed over the best use of natural resources. Enter Bears Ears and years of contention over the monument. A recent land swap agreement, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, fell apart after the federal government indicated it might adopt a restrictive land management plan. Goodbye to recreation, grazing and other public uses. Just to muddy the issue, a bill before the Legislature would prioritize hunting over schools. Bottom line is always the question of how well the state would manage public lands and who would benefit. At least the federal government pays the bill for the lands it oversees.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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