Utah’s Republican governor and other state officials are calling out a conservative state school board member for insinuating in an online post that a member of a girl’s high school basketball team was transgender, when in fact she is not.

Utah’s Republican governor and lieutenant governor are urging the State Board of Education to take action against a conservative board member whose social media post questioning the gender of a high school basketball player incited a tirade of threats against the girl.

Natalie Cline, who has previously come under investigation for inflammatory comments about LGBTQ+ students, singled out the Salt Lake City athlete in a since-deleted Facebook post that falsely insinuated the girl was transgender. Cline later apologized for provoking a firestorm of vulgar comments after she learned that the girl was not in fact trans.

But the school board member defended her initial suspicions, saying that a national push to normalize transgender identities makes it “normal to pause and wonder if people are what they say they are.”

Many Republican politicians have successfully spread fear about transgender individuals to garner support for athletic bans and bathroom restrictions that threaten to push trans people out of community spaces. The sponsors say such policies are needed to protect women and girls. But as laws banning trans girls from girls’ sports have spread across Republican-led states, false accusations such as this have threatened the safety of both trans and non-trans youths.

  • Audrey0nne
    92·
    10 months ago

    “normal to pause and wonder if people are what they say they are.”

    I do the same thing when someone tells me they are Christian, it’s easier to simply step back and see what their actions really say about who they are.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
      352·
      10 months ago

      “I think we, as Christians, need to-”

      “OH YEAH?! Prove that you were naturally born a Christian! I’m not gonna listen to some trans-religious hypocrite! Also, show me your genitals. Only genitals know the truth of gender and religion.”

    • Stiffneckedppl@lemmy.world
      141·
      10 months ago

      As a Christian myself, I agree. It’s been sickening to me to see the behavior exhibited by people who call themselves Christians, especially in recent years. I don’t blame anyone for having unfavorable opinions about Christians. It’s no wonder, when so many “Christians” who say they follow Jesus look nothing like him. Instead of love, compassion, and integrity they display hate, cruelty, and hypocrisy. It’s like half the church just lost its mind. Christians had such an opportunity during COVID to put on display what being Christ-like is all about, and while some Christians did, as a whole we completely fumbled that opportunity.

      All I can say is that I’m sorry for what everyone is seeing from those people. On behalf of all Christians, I’m so sorry. Just know that we’re not all like that. Not that any of us is perfect, but some of us recognize the complete and utter lunacy of it. And please know that what they’re doing IS NOT what following Jesus is all about. The people with whom Jesus was harshest were the religious people who thought they were being righteous…I think the same would be true now.

      Again, I’m so sorry for all of it!

      • Duranie@literature.cafe
        72·
        10 months ago

        As a non denominational Christian that is sickened by the abuse by power hungry “Christians” I’m out here with you :). I get a raised eyebrow now and then since my boyfriend is a Jewish socialist, but honest to God he displays more characteristics of what we’re supposed to strive for in loving and caring for others than the majority of self proclaimed Christians I meet.