Salt Lake students protest law banning trans-female athletes in schools

Thousands of students at Salt Lake City schools staged walkouts in May in protest of the Utah Legislature’s law banning transgender girls in high school athletics.

Hundreds of students at West High left class and protested in front of the school on April 5.

Ray Curfew, a 14-year-old who is in 8th grade at West, declared to the crowd, “I am a proud trans man!” and hid his face with emotion after the crowd responded with a roar. Curfew is a figure skater who said that the Legislature’s actions made him feel confused about what level of skating he should participate in. “I want this to go away,” Curfew said. “I just want people to do what they please.”

Student speakers also mentioned Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and recent attempts in Utah to remove LGBTQ-related bookd from school and public libraries.

Rain and freezing cold hail didn’t stop students at East High from walking out of class on April 15 in support of trans girl athletes.

Even as they got drenched, they proudly carried Pride flags and gave rousing speeches against HB11.

One held a sign that read “HB 11 is bullshit.” Students and teachers shouted, “Trans rights are human rights” and “Let them play.”

Openly gay Sen. Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City, joined the East High students, asking the crowd to vote when they turn 18 and to support candidates they believe in.

“If you feel like you are not represented in the legislature, you’re right,” Kitchen said. “The way to get over that is to get involved.”

Kitchen also asked the crowd to stand up against those who bully LGTBQ students.

“We can do better. You all have the power to show up for each other,” he said.

In pouring rain, more than 200 Clayton Middle School students walked out on April 22, chanting “Let them play” and “Trans rights are human rights.”

To 13-year-old Caroline Drake, who helped organize the demonstration, the downpour highlighted how sincerely the students felt about showing solidarity with their transgender peers.“

A lot of people came out and then got soaked and had to go back and try to dry off. But a lot of people stuck with it,” she said, staying outside for over an hour. “I was really proud of all of the people there. I think the rain just shows how important [trans rights] are to us.”

“We could not believe that our legislature just doesn’t support so many kids,” she said. “The stupid thing is, is that it only affects these four kids in the entire state, because there are only four kids that play on their school sports teams that are trans. And so we were all just kind of dumbfounded by how crazy they must be to have to pass this bill that bans these kids from doing what they love.”