And So It Begins ...

Last year, at a sporting event in Utah—the kind of event as well as the competitors name have not been released and you’ll see why—one competitor utterly outshone the rest of the field in a girls’ state-level competition.

And suddenly, because it’s all the rage, you know, the  parents of the competitors who placed second and third—AKA  the losers—filed a complaint with the Utah High School Activities Association calling into question the gender of the winner.

You know, because it was actually a boy who beat their precious darlings in the event because no “girl” could ever be better.

Still, David Spatafore, the Utah High School Activities Association’s [UHSAA] legislative representative, addressing the Utah Legislature’s Education Interim Committee said the association—without informing the student or family members about the inquiry—asked the student’s school to investigate.

The school examined the student’s enrollment records and found that, all the way back to the records from the student’s kindergarten, that the student was female.

Spatafore would not reveal the sport, the classification of play nor the school the student attended, but did say the association has received other complaints, some saying that the “female athlete doesn’t look feminine enough.”

Utah passed its own anti-trans hate bill in the 2022 General Session. The legislation, sponsored by Republican … because, of course … Representative Kera Birkeland bans transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.

And apparently any girl who bests the darlings of bigots in a high school sporting event is immediately questioned about being a “real” girl when in fact, those little darlings simply aren’t as good.

Still, though nothing came of it in this case, hate is winning in Utah. And this is the future of this country in this time of hate; a young girl who is better at sports than other young girl’s will instantly have her identity and her gender questioned.

Ah America ….

JoeMyGod

No Pink Cleats EVER!!!!!

High School Player Suspended for Pink Cleats @ Yahoo! Video

Most people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month; most people know that because pink is everywhere. Women on TV are wearing pink; there are T-shirts emblazoned with pink ribbons. Even in the sports world, there is pink. Major League Baseball players wore pink wristbands, as did some NFL teams, who also donned pink-edged hats, and in some cases, pink cleats. 

Pink was the new Black for October.

But in Mississippi, the Land of Constance McMillen and Homophobia, the message was never received. At least not by Mendenhall High School football coach Chris Peterson.

It seems that asshat and ALLEGED homophobe Peterson kicked one of his players, Coy Sheppard, off the team because Sheppard wanted to wear pink cleats in practice after a game in October when he wore the pink. Sheppard was ridiculed by coaches--which is another way of saying bullied--for wearing the pink cleats in the previous week's game, but he wore them to practice anyway,

And now, Coy Sheppard, a senior who relies on academic credit from playing football to help fulfill graduation requirements, might not receive his diploma on time. 

For pink cleats and homophobic coaches.

Now Sheppard has filed a lawsuit against the Simpson County School District, and all the coaches and school officials, rather than admitting they made a stupid mistake over something as inconsequential as the color of shoes, are saying Coy Sheppard was kicked off the team for failing to follow his coaches' instructions, not for the color of the shoes. District official Tom Duncan says, "It had absolutely nothing to do with lack of support for breast cancer awareness."

But the pink cleats have everything to do with Breast Cancer Awareness. They were a gift from Coy Sheppard's great grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, and the cleats were worn to honor her, and his grandmother, also a breast cancer survivor. 

Joey Sheppard, Coy's father: "I do understand and we don't condone being disrespectful to the coaches, but he was standing up for what he thought was right." In fact, Joey Sheppard says Coy used "five or six different colored shoes throughout his last two years of kicking for Mendenhall," but it wasn't until he got the pink ones that became an issue.

And, hoping to be reinstated to the team, and ensure that he could graduate with his class, Coy Sheppard tried to apologize, but the coaches gave him the cold shoulder, ending his career because of a pair of shoes.

And before anyone jumps the gun about Coy's lawsuit, all he wants is ti be placed back on the team, and that any monetary damages be given to the American Cancer Society. 

But, like in the case of Constance McMillen and her prom, the school district doesn't seem to want to back down. They are backing the coaches all the way. Tom Duncan: "This young man was defiant and I don't know many coaches in the state that wouldn't do the same thing."

And that's the problem.

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