Father: bullying targeting his daughter by Utah state school board might have led to her suicide

Natalie Cline, a member of the Utah State Board of Education. Image Salt Lake Tribune

In a since-deleted Facebook post, Natalie Cline, a member of the Utah State Board of Education since 2020, posted a photo of the high school basketball player on Tuesday and falsely implied the student is transgender, writing: “Girls’ basketball…” reports CNN.

The intense bullying of the cisgender student could have resulted in her taking her own life if not for her caring and supportive family her father said in a statement.

“What if our daughter didn’t have that strong character and have our support, and community support to where she internalized this? Worst case scenario, she could’ve ended her own life,” Al van der Beek said in a statement to KSL TV.

Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson condemned Cline for her social media posts in a joint statement Wednesday. They urged the state’s board of education to hold her accountable. They also praised the Granite School District “for taking swift action to protect this student’s safety and well-being.”

Following the joint statement, the Utah State Board of Education said in a news release Thursday it can vote on actions to reprimand or censure a member, but it does not have the power or authority to unseat them. The board’s leadership is “very concerned” about Cline’s post and “the harm it has caused to students and families in Utah. We are deeply saddened by the events that may have taken place and will be taking prompt action regarding this matter as determined by the full Board.”

The hypocrisy expressed in the school board statement is mind-blowing. Do they only care about cisgender students? What about the UTAH population that isn't cisgender? Is it ok to bully trans and non-binary students causing their death? Because, obviously, that is what the school board implied.

Tragically, more than half of transgender youth do not have supportive families.

The just released results of 92,329 Transgender and non-Binary people surveyed in 2022 indicated that among 16- and 17-year-old respondents who said that some or all of their immediate family knew that they were transgender, 27% said their family members were “supportive” of them being transgender, and 17% said they were “very supportive.” 

Fifteen percent (15%) said their immediate family was “unsupportive” of them being transgender, 14% had “very unsupportive” immediate families, and 28% reported that they were “neither supportive nor unsupportive,” in other words, they didn't know.

Related: AP: Kansas attorney general sends directive to schools to out trans kids despite having no legal requirement.