In a future column, I plan to take some time to tell you about a possible conversation I hope to have with Utah State School Board Member Natalie Cline. Cline has made national headlines lately for her opposition to the LGBTQ agenda being taught in public schools in various parts of the nation, including Utah. I decided to reach out to Cline because everyone had been talking about her, and no one had talked to her. We hope to run that piece in the near future.
Cline had made posts on social media that talk about the trans agenda, CRT, and DEI in our public schools. Cline’s posts were accused of being racist, homophobic, and transphobic by advocacy groups, and the state school board also took issue with the posts.
The July 13 statement from the Utah State Board of Education is below.
Statement on Concerns Regarding Board Member Actions
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) firmly believes that children must be protected from inappropriate sexual material in the school setting.
USBE leadership strongly disapproves of recent social media statements by one board member that schools are “complicit in the grooming of children for sex trafficking” and “brainwashing them into queer, gender bending ideologies.”
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Such an allegation against schools generally are inflammatory, divisive and unfair to Utah’s teachers, who put Utah’s students first every day and interfere with efforts to provide thoughtful solutions to difficult issues. We also condemn any harassment or discrimination against teachers or students based on sexual orientation as provided by Utah law.
USBE applauds the diligent and indispensable efforts of Utah teachers, parents and education leaders to serve and protect our students and to create environments conducive to learning. We will continue to support them in this critical work. (sic)
Related: Guess How Much an Ohio School District Spent to Instruct Educators on How to Hide Kids’ ‘Gender Transitions’ From Parents
As mentioned above, the situation has garnered attention not just from the media in Salt Lake and the region but across the nation. In addition to potentially speaking with me, Cline issued a press release addressing the complaints about her posts and providing additional information about the situation that was not covered by other press outlets. She calls out the board for its “baseless” characterizations and “defamatory” press release above. You can read the statement in its entirety here:
Natalie Cline Press Release 7-18-23 by PJ Media on Scribd
This is a developing story and PJ Media will have more information when it becomes available.
