Governor Cox,

I am writing to express my deep outrage and disappointment at your administration’s relentless attacks on transgender Utahns. Your recent policies-banning gender-affirming care for minors, restricting access to appropriate bathrooms and school sports, and undermining basic rights are not only misguided, but actively harmful to thousands of your constituents.

Roughly 1% of Utah adults identify as transgender, meaning your policies directly impact more than 20,000 people in our state, including at least 1,400 transgender youth and their families. These are not abstract numbers; these are real people, your neighbors, your constituents, your fellow Utahns, whose lives and futures you are making immeasurably harder.

What is especially egregious is that these laws do not harm all Utahns equally. Transgender people who are also members of racial, ethnic, or religious minorities are hit hardest by your policies. They already face higher rates of discrimination, poverty, and barriers to healthcare. For these Utahns, your actions multiply the obstacles they must overcome just to live with dignity and safety. When you sign laws that target trans people, you are compounding the struggles of those who are already marginalized, those who are least likely to have access to resources, support, or legal recourse.

Your actions send a clear message: that transgender Utahns, are unwelcome, unworthy, and undeserving of dignity or safety in their own state. The data is clear: discrimination and denial of healthcare lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide among trans youth, especially among youth of color. By signing these laws, you are not protecting children; you are putting the most vulnerable children in harm’s way.

I urge you to reconsider your stance and recognize the humanity of all Utahns. History will remember those who stood on the side of justice, and those who chose cruelty and fear. Right now, you are choosing the latter.

Do better.