Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday signed legislation censuring conservative state Board of Education member Natalie Cline after she falsely claimed a teenage girl was transgender in a social media post.
Cline, 50, has since apologized for the post, which was a screenshot of a flyer for a high school girls’ team in Salt Lake City which was accompanied with a suggestive caption with quotation marks: ”Girls’ basketball.” The girl in question is a minor.
The post – which the censure referred to as a ‘repugnant attack on a student’ – triggered threats against the girl and led state officials, including the Republican Governor Cox, to call for Cline’s resignation.
Both legislative chambers had swiftly passed a resolution condemning the actions of Cline a day after the Utah State Board of Education stripped Cline of her committee assignments and nearly all administrative responsibilities.
The board will no longer allow Cline to attend meetings or place items on the agenda, and her colleagues have asked her to resign by February 19.
The legislative reprimand carries no real punishment but is a formal way for state leaders to express their disapproval.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday signed legislation censuring conservative state Board of Education member Natalie Cline (pictured) after she falsely claimed a teenage girl was transgender in a social media post
In a letter published Thursday in The Salt Lake Tribune, the girl´s parents, Al and Rachel van der Beek, also urged Cline to resign and called for her impeachment
In a letter published Thursday in The Salt Lake Tribune, the girl´s parents, Al and Rachel van der Beek, also urged Cline to resign and called for her impeachment.
‘Ms. Cline did the very thing we teach our children not to do – she blasted social media without fact checking, which ultimately led to a barrage of hateful and despicable comments that were directed at our daughter that lasted for more than 16 hours,’ the letter said.
‘It was one of the most painful things we´ve had to endure.’
The censure received unanimous support in the Senate after passing the House earlier Thursday with only two votes against, one from a Democrat and the other from a Republican.
Both the Legislature and Board of Education have left it up to Cline whether to resign or remain in her role with limited authority. She is up for reelection in November.
Both Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson have donated money to Cline’s Republican challenger in the race for Utah State School Board, Amanda Bollinger.
Cox said he thinks the education board’s forceful censure will effectively have the same impact as impeachment. He said he agrees with the actions of both the board and the Legislature and hopes voters will ‘hold her equally accountable this fall.’
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Cline argued the board was taking away her right to represent her constituents without due process. She wrote that she did not have enough time to read all the materials and formulate a response before Wednesday´s meeting.
Both legislative chambers had swiftly passed a resolution condemning the actions of Cline a day after the Utah State Board of Education stripped Cline of her committee assignments and nearly all administrative responsibilities
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Cline argued the board was taking away her right to represent her constituents without due process. She wrote that she did not have enough time to read all the materials and formulate a response before Wednesday´s meeting
The Tribune reports that as a result of the post, the school has had to provide extra security for the teenager. The newspaper adds that Cline’s comments sparked a deluge of online speculation and threats with some naming the girl publicly.
Among those who commented on Cline’s original post was State Rep. Kera Birkeland, a Republican who has fought for transgender girls to be banned from playing high school sports.
‘Has anyone talked to the student, the parents or the school? Do you know if this KID is a boy or girl? This child is a minor being mocked and called out without any facts or proof,’ Birkeland wrote in the comments.
‘Why do the girls not all walk off the court?,’ one commenter wrote. ‘Wow! Looks like their ringer has really helped improve their stats,’ said another while linking to a page identifying the player and her stats with the team.
Birkeland’s measure was passed in 2022 but was immediately litigated. Since then, there have been similar instances where biological female teenagers have been misidentified as being transgender, according to the Tribune’s report.
Cline’s apology has also been criticized.
‘She does have a larger build, like her parents. We live in strange times when it is normal to pause and wonder if people are what they say they are because of the push to normalize transgenderism in our society,’ she wrote.
Utah Department of Education board member Natalie Cline was elected to her role in 2020 and calls herself advocate for religious freedom
The Van de Beek’s have both called for Cline to resign or be impeached
‘To protect the player, I have removed the post. My deepest apologies for the negative attention my post drew to innocent students and their families,’ Cline added.
The teenager’s parents later sat down with KSL-TV for an interview on Cline’s actions.
‘To look at someone’s outer appearance and make an assumption that they’re either playing in the right arena or not, based on how someone looks I don’t think is appropriate,’ Rachel said.
While her husband called the statement ‘cyberbullying at its finest.’
‘She cut her hair short because that’s how she feels comfortable, she wears clothes that are a little baggy, she goes to the gym all the time so she’s got muscles,’ composer Al van der Beek added.
Rachel went on to say that she ‘butted heads’ with her daughter of her style and what would be considered ‘normal.’
‘As I encouraged her, then she started to blossom and her personality started coming out,’ she said.
The parents described telling their daughter about Cline’s post and the fallout from it.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox strongly condemned Cline’s behavior, calling her an ’embarrassment to the state’
Both Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson have donated money to Cline’s Republican challenger in the race for Utah State School Board, Amanda Bollinger
State Rep. Kera Birkeland, who has spearheaded Utah’s anti-transgender legislations, also called out Cline saying: ‘This child is a minor being mocked and called out without any facts or proof’
‘We just took her in another room and started telling her the truth. We read her the post … we didn’t tell her what people were saying but we started telling her about the support,’ she said.
The family lives in a suburb south of Salt Lake City. They have two other children.
The couple went on to call on Cline to resign and to make a more public apology that goes beyond a Facebook post.
‘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 said.
‘I want all the kids to know it’s OK to be who they are,’ his wife continued.
Cox, who has banned non-biological females from using women’s bathrooms in federal buildings, issued a joint statement alongside Lt. Gov Deirdre Henderson, calling Cline’s behavior ‘unconscionable.’
‘We were stunned to learn of the unconscionable behavior of board member Cline and others toward a high school student today. The last thing our children need is an elected official harassing them on social media.
‘Sadly, this is not the first time that board member Cline has embarrassed the state of Utah and State Board of Education.’
Cline was elected to her role on the board in 2020 and has since then regularly targeted LGBTQ+ groups as well as the Black Lives Matter movement
Demonstrators gather on the steps of the Capitol protesting in opposition to HB257, Utah’s ‘bathroom bill’
‘We urge the State Board of Education to hold her accountable and we commend Granite School District for taking swift action to protect this student’s safety and well-being,’ the statement read.
Cline was elected to her role on the board in 2020 and has since then regularly targeted LGBTQ+ groups as well as the Black Lives Matter movement.
In another instance, she publicly named a teacher who she accused of teaching children that ‘communism is better than our form of government.’
In August 2023, Cline was cleared following an internal investigation by the board of education after she declared that schools in the state were complicit in the ‘grooming of children for sex trafficking.’
According to her official profile on the board’s website, ‘Cline has been deeply involved in the fight for religious freedom, pro-life legislation, and family-friendly education policy for the past decade. She has lobbied and testified locally in favor of parental rights, student data privacy, and the protection of our children’s innocence.’