The state of cultural compromise

Utah seems determined of late to make itself the worst argument for federalism when it comes to social policy. Gov. Spencer Cox recently announced he would veto legislation designed to protect women’s sports from the ongoing transgender contagion affecting the nation’s schools. The Republican governor was upset that the legislature discarded his preferred approach to create a “School Activity Eligibility Commission” made up of experts who would make case-by-case decisions based on whether the participation of a biological male would be unfair to the female competitors.

Cox argued that the commission would have been a “first in the nation” chance to avoid the culture fight of banning men from women’s sports outright. However, Utah found itself trapped in the quicksand of conceding too much, and the state legislature wisely moved ahead, leaving the governor’s proposal behind.

In addition to being concerned with the potential for corporate boycotts, such as the NBA stripping Salt Lake City of its hosting of the league’s 2023 All-Star Game, Gov. Cox has consistently adopted the therapeutic framing of the LGBT community that legislation to protect women’s sports amounts to discrimination and trauma toward the transgender community. “I think there’s still much that we can do to protect women’s sports and … to send a message to trans kids that there’s a place for them and they belong,” he said last year. “These kids are … they’re just trying to stay alive.” If you buy into that argument, there is no way to deny any demand made by activists.

The governor’s approach might look like well-intentioned empathy, but it actually hurts these very same children by retelling them the lie that they were born in the wrong body and that relief comes not by time and truth but from irreversible decisions such as taking puberty blockers, transitioning with cross-sex hormones, and even mutilating their bodies with surgery. The advocates of such vile self-abuse are not loving kids with gender dysphoria—they are encouraging them toward even greater pain and loss.

Gov. Cox’s proposal is also completely unworkable. The legislature, elected by the citizens of Utah, would delegate to a commission the role of deciding which biological males could play female sports. The appointments would skew away from concerned parents and citizens and toward “experts” in the mental health and medical community, supposedly with expertise in gender-identity healthcare. That would ensure the commission’s likely capture by the proponents of affirmative care and LGBTQ revolutionaries.

The commission would be tasked with setting a baseline range of physical characteristics at a specific age, allowing participation if the “tale of the tape” fell within the range. Height, weight, bone density, wingspan, and other characteristics would all be considered, and the athletes would head to a combine of sorts to measure their eligibility. No wonder the proposal has not attracted the left’s support. One transgender affirming pediatrician interviewed by the Associated Press concluded that these “verify that you are girl enough” policies cause trans children to “shake in their proverbial boots.” Thankfully, the Utah legislature went forward with the straightforward ban.

This is not the first time that the state has attempted to lead the way with an alternative that promised to head off a cultural battle. Utah is the birthplace of the so-called “Fairness for All” compromise that allows political elites to pose as defenders of religious liberty, even as they negotiate a surrender to LGBTQ demands. It was enacted in 2015 and is now being exported as the model approach.

At the federal level, that push is led by U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, with the active support of Mormon leaders. However, the bill’s conception of religious liberty is so limited that it only applies to religious organizations and not to people practicing their faith in their communities. It also presumes that only people of faith need protection from a society that makes no distinction based on biological reality—leaving out, for example, medical professionals who do not want to participate in a gender transition or parents who do not want to send their daughter into a department store restroom that males use.

States should ignore Utah’s repeated efforts to forestall the necessary cultural battles over these issues. Utah’s reluctance—symbolized by its governor—reveals a naivety that will be injurious to all. There is no reason to believe that such compromises are durable. The state may fear the loss of revenue and the rise of boycotts, but its strategy simply will not work.

Thankfully, there are better examples. In Iowa, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed legislation joining her state to 10 others with statutory protections for girls and women. And there will be more, as Americans continue to demand their leaders take seriously the problems they are witnessing in their schools and communities and insist on an agenda that protects their way of life—and even the reality of what it means to be male and female.