https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/02/cis-teen-requires-police-protection-after-gop-official-implies-shes-transgender/

Cis “tomboy” athlete requires police protection after GOP official implies she’s transgender
Even transphobic Republicans are disgusted by the official's actions.

A Republican elected official in Utah has endangered the safety of a cisgender girl basketball player after falsely implying on her social media that the player was transgender. The official’s claim has surprisingly angered transphobic Republicans — including the state’s governor — and resulted in police having to protect the girl from people angered by the social media post.

On Tuesday, Utah Department of Education board member Natalie Cline (R) posted an image on her Facebook page of a Granite School District high school Instagram post showing two girls’ basketball team players. Cline, who has a history of publishing anti-LGBTQ+ posts, implied that one of the larger-bodied players was trans, writing, “Girls’ basketball…” The Daily Beast reported.

The larger-bodied athlete is not transgender. Her parents have said she’s a “tomboy.”

“She cut her hair short because that’s how she feels comfortable. She wears clothes that are baggy. She goes to the gym all the time, so she’s got muscles,” her father Al van der Beek told NBC News.

Nonetheless, the post caused a “firestorm,” Cline said, as multiple people shared it online and left “disgusting” comments, the girl’s father told KSL-TV.

Cline later deleted the post and apologized, but blamed transgender people and their allies for her post.