Transgender

Lawmakers have only 45 days to write, debate and pass laws each year in Utah. The last couple of days of the session are always a mad rush of legislation.

The Human Rights Campaign says at least 150 bills targeting transgender people have been introduced this year — including gender-affirming care bans for minors that have been enacted in South Dakota and Utah.

The Utah State Board of Education asked lawmakers to put a pause on new “sensitive materials” legislation since last year’s law is still so fresh.

Lawmakers front-loaded some of the most controversial legislation at the beginning of the session.

The Republican state senator believes parental rights trump a student’s right to privacy.

Utah lawmakers moved swiftly this session to ban gender-affirming care for minors — and the governor signed it the next day.

Gov. Spencer Cox, who had not taken a public position on the transgender care measure, signed it a day after the Legislature sent it to his desk.

The bill on its way to Gov. Spencer Cox prohibits transgender surgery for youth and bans hormone treatments for minors. He now has 10 days to decide what to do with it.

The House bill passed on Jan. 26 is different from what passed through the Senate earlier in the session, so another vote is needed there.

The bills affect transgender health care and gender identity. They now head to the Utah House of Representatives.

Lawmakers will also discuss school safety, teen centers and transgender students.

“This session, we will have the foresight to find lasting solutions to Utah’s and the West’s water crisis,” Senate President Stuart Adams.