Utah education official censured for suggesting teenage girl is transgender

The Utah State Board of Education has called on Natalie Cline to resign

Natalie Cline (Utah State Board of Education)

A Utah education official has been censured after she falsely suggested a 16-year-old girl was transgender in a social media post.

In a since deleted Facebook post, Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline shared a flier for a girls’ high school basketball team in Salt Lake County, writing along with it, “Girls’ basketball…”, seemingly suggesting one of the players was not female.

As a result of the post, the teenager targeted by Ms Cline was subjected to a “barrage of hateful and despicable comments,” her parents, Al and Rachel van der Beek, wrote in a Salt Lake Tribune op-ed.

“Ms. Cline’s post about our daughter was extremely damaging and exposed her to baseless and cruel public ridicule,” they wrote. “Ms. Cline’s conduct is inexcusable and would be unjustifiable even if it had factual basis — and it did not.”

Ms Cline apologized in a lengthy Facebook post, but also defended herself, saying “we live in strange times” and noting that the girl “does have a larger build, like her parents.”

On Wednesday, the Utah State Board of Education announced that Ms Cline had been officially censured, and had called on her to resign.

She has also been removed from committee assignments, and is now prohibited from attending board advisory committee meetings and placing items on agendas.

“The Board would like to extend its deepest apologies to those harmed by this conduct, in particular the student who was targeted because of Member Cline’s post,” the board said in a statement. “No individual, especially a child, should be subject to such comments and judgment. We hope that the actions taken today can provide support for the student and the family.”

Governor Spencer Cox also denounced Ms Cline’s actions, saying she had “embarrassed the state of Utah.”

“The vast majority of Utahns agree that Natalie Cline’s behavior was unacceptable. I’ve spoken with the student’s parents and I’m heartbroken for this family,” Mr Cox said in a statement. “We agree with the actions of both the State Board of Education and Legislature, and we hope the voters will hold her equally accountable this fall.”