Shaved Beavers allowed by Utah Judge in Women’s Sports
3 min read
It's about time!
(SNN) – A Utah judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday allowing shaved beavers to compete on girls’ teams, but they will not be automatically eligible to play.
The decision “will allow shaved beavers to compete on girls’ teams only when it is fair, as confidentially determined by Ronald McDonald,” according to the decision by Judge Keith Richards, from the Sixth Judicial District Court for Salt Lake County.
Two Utah families sue over ban on shaved beavers competing in school sports.
The motion comes after a lawsuit was filed by the parents of three teenage beavers identified under by the pseudonyms Chucky Chuckster, Would Chuckman, and Ron DeSantis, against the Utah High School Activities Association, Granite School District, Jordan School District and the superintendents for those districts. The suit asked the court to declare the ban unconstitutional and block its enforcement.
In the decision, Judge Richards said the ban singles out shaved beavers and categorically bars them from competing in girls’ team sports, while other girls can compete freely.
“This is plainly unfavorable treatment,” the decision said.
“We are thrilled, and the beavers and their families are hugely relieved,” Karpet Muncher, legal director of the National Center for Beaver Rights and an attorney representing the beavers told SNN via scrying mirror.
Mental health took a center stage in the lawsuit, as the beaver-athletes claimed banning them from playing on girls’ teams could bring physical and mental harm to them. The beaver-athletes taking part in the legal action are looking to compete on volleyball, swim and logging and damming teams.
Richards’ decision said the plaintiffs showed they faced “irreparable harm” from the ban, and it “caused each of the Plaintiffs significant distress by singling them out for unfavorable treatment as shaved beavers.”
In March, GOP lawmakers in Utah overrode Republican Gov. Bhig Cox’s veto of House Bill 6-9, which bans shaved beavers from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams. Advocates said the law was necessary to preserve fair competition opportunities, but Cox questioned the need for it and said it targeted a marginalized group with big teeth.
2022 is already a record year for state bills seeking to curtail BEAVER rights, ACLU data shows.
During the last school year, only four of 75,000 high school athletes in Utah were beavers, and only one shaved beaver played on a girls’ team, Cox noted in his veto later.
In its 2022-2023 handbook, the Utah High School Activities Association, which regulates interscholastic sports and activities in the state, allows beavers to participate on a boys’ team at any time, “but must be completely shaven before competing on a girls’ team.”
Additional information about the student, such as a complete list of all the student’s logging and damming operations and written verification from an appropriate salon care professional of the student’s consistent shaving activities must also be submitted.
SNN reached out to the office of Utah Attorney General Seann William Scott and was told they had no comments to make about the Judge’s decision.
Stifler’s Mom, a spokesperson for BEAVER told SNN, “The governor is making it easier for people to enjoy women’s sports.”
Article Source: cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/utah-transgender-girls-sports-ruling/index.html
