{"id":35563,"date":"2022-03-24T20:18:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T01:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=35563"},"modified":"2022-03-24T20:18:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T01:18:59","slug":"dont-trip-over-your-metaphorical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2022\/03\/24\/dont-trip-over-your-metaphorical\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Trip Over Your Metaphorical &#8230;."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I cannot help but feel that Utah&#8217;s government, along with some other States, is fulfilling one of the requirements of a liberal democracy is an exceedingly clumsy and, perhaps, <em>ineffective way<\/em>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"teaser-content\">\n<section>\n<div class=\"\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">Utah Gov. Spencer Cox became the second Republican governor in the past week to veto a bill that would have barred transgender athletes from competing in girls\u2019 sports, writing an impassioned letter to state GOP leaders on Tuesday explaining his decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">Cox cited \u201cfundamental flaws\u201d in the legislation, known as H.B. 11. But chief among the governor\u2019s concerns were the mental health impacts such a bill could have on transgender youths in the state, he wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">Cox\u2019s decision to veto the bill highlights divisions within the Republican Party on the efficacy and morality of bills restricting the lives of young trans people. GOP leaders in Utah said <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JStuartAdams\/status\/1506359893434920962?s=20&amp;t=7BQl_Zm5lo_BCgzhhSJ0gg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they plan to override Cox\u2019s veto<\/a>, which would require approval from two-thirds of the state\u2019s lawmakers.\u00a0<em>[<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/2022\/03\/23\/utah-cox-transgender-athlete-veto\/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_most&amp;carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3665712%2F623c957b3e6ed13ade38f97c%2F59ee10d9ae7e8a504fd8ecd3%2F39%2F72%2F623c957b3e6ed13ade38f97c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>WaPo<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">It definitely feels like Governor Cox is trying to weigh the alternatives, but is caught between Charybdis and Scylla. First, from the right:<\/p>\n<div class=\"\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Brad Wilson said they would call a veto override session to consider the bill on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">\u201cWe must work to preserve the integrity of women\u2019s sports and ensure it remains safe and fair for all,\u201d Adams <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JStuartAdams\/status\/1506359893434920962?s=20&amp;t=7BQl_Zm5lo_BCgzhhSJ0gg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">I have sympathy for both sides in this poor excuse for a debate, but that absolutist statement leaves me thinking this is nothing more than red meat for the base. Meanwhile, on the other side, there also doesn&#8217;t appear to be much attempt to see both sides, at least from <em><strong>WaPo&#8217;s<\/strong><\/em> article, which isn&#8217;t going to be comprehensive, no disrespect:<\/p>\n<div class=\"\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\" data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">This legislation, whether it passes, has a profound impact on the mental health of trans and nonbinary children, said Amit Paley, chief executive of the Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ teens and young adults.<\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">\u201cPeople literally debating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-politics-and-policy\/sen-rick-scotts-gop-manifesto-denies-existence-transgender-people-rcna17339\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whether trans and nonbinary people exist<\/a>\u00a0and whether they are deserving of the same respect and support as other young people \u2014 the mere fact of those debates have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/\/www.thetrevorproject.org\/blog\/new-poll-illustrates-the-impacts-of-social-political-issues-on-lgbtq-youth\/__;!!M9LbjjnYNg9jBDflsQ!SMwWVG_wsQ0X99ksg3L9JzuI9akq_X0EQcADbXFX6wFwxzR0KRdinPoh7mvQEONcZxPf$\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a negative impact<\/a> on the health of young people,\u201d Paley said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">And, in the light of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2022\/mar\/21\/lia-thomas-victory-at-ncaa-swimming-finals-sparks-fierce-debate-over-trans-athletes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">backlash<\/a> drawn by swimmer Lia Thomas by fellow competitors who feel the competition is unfair, it&#8217;s clear that Paley is so committed to the transgender that taking his arguments as being compelling simply means we&#8217;ve forgotten about the non-transgender.<\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">I&#8217;d feel much more comfortable if a real debate, disregarding absolutism from either side, were to take place. Right now it feels like a proxy war for political foes, with statements carefully phrased to make those who disagree into, depending on the audience, bizarre perverts on the one hand, or bigots on the other.<\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\">Conclusions pre-supposed and terrible punishments inflicted on those who weren&#8217;t around for the debate that didn&#8217;t happen, with names like Dawkins, Rowling, and Atwood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I cannot help but feel that Utah&#8217;s government, along with some other States, is fulfilling one of the requirements of a liberal democracy is an exceedingly clumsy and, perhaps, ineffective way: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox became the second Republican governor in the past week to veto a bill that would \u2026 <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2022\/03\/24\/dont-trip-over-your-metaphorical\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35564,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35563\/revisions\/35564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}