SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature passed a resolution to censure controversial Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline over an incendiary social media post targeting a student athlete.
House Concurrent Resolution 18 was filed and passed both chambers on Thursday before being quickly signed by Governor Spencer Cox. It is the first time in state history that a sitting state office holder has been censured by the Utah State Legislature.
"Natalie Cline recklessly used her social media platform to bully a child," said Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, who sponsored the resolution.
Cline, an outspoken social conservative, has been condemned on Utah's Capitol Hill for a Facebook post she made insinuating that a high school student athlete is transgender. She is not. As a result of the social media post, the girl's family has received harassment that continues to this day. At one point, the girl was receiving security protection.
The resolution stops short of impeachment, which is something some in the House and Senate had been pushing for. But lawmakers lined up to condemn Cline's behavior.
Rep. Susan Pulsipher, R-West Jordan, said elected officials' "actions do matter."
"What has happened here? Cannot be tolerated," said a visibly emotional Rep. Dan Johnson, R-Logan, a retired school principal.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-West Jordan, pointed out to his House colleagues that Cline is the school board member for his district. He rallied lawmakers in support of the censure.
"We have to spend our time with someone who has taken such reckless action that there is no other option for us to take out this time and call out what we see is real evil," he told the House.
It passed the House on a 71-2 vote. Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, told FOX 13 News he believed the resolution went too far and voters should decide Cline's fate.
"I'm not a big fan of condemnation and I felt like this one had enough political implications, motivation I felt the legislature should respectfully decline to participate in that," he said, acknowledging that his colleagues felt otherwise.
Rep. Brett Garner, D-West Valley City voted against the censure motion because it didn't go far enough.
"I feel like this resolution was an endorsement of Board member Cline's actions. Her continued actions. Not a censure at all," he told reporters after the vote.
House Democrats were frustrated there was no impeachment. Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said their efforts to introduce articles of impeachment were ignored.
"[Cline's] refusal to acknowledge and address her actions through resignation is very disappointing and censorship can only do so much," Rep. Romero said.
In the Senate, the resolution passed unanimously. Senate Majority Whip Ann Millner, R-Ogden, condemned Cline for what she did and said they need to stand against bullying.
"No child should be bullied especially by adults let alone by an elected official in a position of trust. Not only was this girl targeted, but her family, her basketball team and her entire school," she told her Senate colleagues.
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said her caucus would support the resolution. However, she warned her colleagues that if Cline posted anything similar in the future she would not hesitate to seek impeachment.
"We are glad we could come together on this and stand united in censuring an individual that has a lengthy history of hateful and discriminatory rhetoric including homophobic, transphobic and racist comments," Sen. Escamilla said.
Cline has declined to comment to FOX 13 News on the post and the outrage over it, pointing instead to another Facebook post where she apologized for negative attention her post drew to "innocent students and their families."
"When legislation is created targeting the transgender community, people will try to judge bodies to assume who’s in that community," said Sue Robbins with Equality Utah.
“This year, we passed a bill that is wrapped around bathrooms and other privacy spaces, and we will see people try to be the enforcer and judge other people's bodies to determine whether they belong in a space or not,” she said. “We've warned the legislature about this before they pass the bill.”
Natalie Cline’s social media post is grounds for impeachment, said Jeff Merchant, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Utah.
“This is a situation where we had a member of the state School Board engage in cyberbullying against a student, and the legislature decided to slap her on the wrist,” he said.
Al Van Der Beek, the father of the student who was targeted by Cline, sent the following statement to FOX 13 News:
“It’s not the resolution we were hoping for, but it’s a step in the right direction. We’ll wait and see if Ms. Cline follows through with what her peers on state board, the governor, members of the legislation and thousands of parents recommend she does and resigns. It might send a bigger message if the people of Utah have had their eyes opened a little more as a result of this and don’t re-elect her. Our state and our children deserve to be represented by people we can trust and that don’t undermine and bully our children.”
Utah political leaders have repeatedly called for Cline to resign. House Speaker Mike Schultz said he and other members of House GOP leadership met with Cline last week, whom he said has "dug in" and refused to resign from office.
"I was really disappointed with Natalie's comments," the Speaker told reporters of the meeting. "I think Natalie, unfortunately, feels like she's the victim in this and it's sad."
Speaker Schultz said he also has been speaking with the family of the girl targeted in the social media posts, and he wanted to do what is best for her and her family. Asked by FOX 13 News why he didn't pursue impeachment, Speaker Schultz candidly said the House did not have the two-thirds majority to proceed.
He also suggested impeachment would become a national media circus and he didn't want Cline to have the platform.
"I don’t think that’s what’s best for the girl, for the family or honestly, I don’t think it’s right to give Natalie Cline a national platform to speak from," he said. "And that would do that. In a couple short months, the voters will hold her accountable at the ballot box."
On Wednesday night, the Utah State Board of Education met and voted unanimously to strip Cline of her duties and censure her. Cline refused to attend the meeting.
Under Utah law, the board cannot remove her from office. The House of Representatives in the Utah State Legislature could impeach her from office.
At his monthly news conference on Thursday, Governor Spencer Cox said he supported impeachment of Cline in the House of Representatives, but said the state school board's actions did "effectively impeach" her.
"Whether or not she's impeached probably is immaterial at this point because that's in effect what happened. She's not participating in meetings, she's not able to participate on committees, she doesn't have authority to put agenda items on," the governor said. "That's effectively what has happened."
But absent impeachment, there is a chance that Cline can be re-elected. As FOX 13 News reported last week, Gov. Cox and Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson both personally donated to the campaign of Amanda Bollinger, who is challenging Cline for the Republican nomination for school board.
The governor acknowledged the possibility that voters could send Cline back to the state school board for another term. In other states, he pointed out, the state school board is appointed by the governor.
The American Civil Liberties of Utah blasted state political leaders for creating a climate that allowed the Cline situation to happen thanks to a series of bills over the years targeting transgender people.
"And despite warnings of the consequences from kids, parents, teachers, medical professionals, and advocacy groups, we are seeing tragic and embarrassing results where adults are targeting children. We can’t be surprised when policy violence leads to community violence and leadership violence," the group said in a statement, later adding:
"Until state officials repudiate these laws, we will all suffer the legal and social consequences they have created. It doesn’t have to be this way. We call on Utah’s lawmakers to repeal all laws attacking the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Utah that have created an environment of dehumanization, exclusion, and bullying."
