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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox made an emotional plea for compassion toward transgender youth Tuesday in explaining his decision to veto a bill banning transgender students from playing girls' sports. In a letter to the state's Senate president and House speaker, Cox told his fellow Republicans that he was moved by data showing that among 75,000 kids playing high school sports in Utah, only four were transgender, with just one involved in girls sports. ... Cox also cited research on how a sense of belonging could reduce suicide rates among transgender youth, adding that while he struggled to understand "conflicting" science, he sought to employ kindness. (Richards, 3/22)

Utah legislative leaders on Tuesday announced their plan to meet this Friday for an override session minutes after Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a bill that would prevent transgender girls from participating in school sports that match their gender identities. In a letter addressed to Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Brad Wilson, Cox defended his decision to veto the proposed legislation. “I know both of you are committed to these same ideals and that we have worked very hard together to resolve the many issues surrounding transgender student participation in sports. Unfortunately, HB11 has several fundamental flaws and should be reconsidered,” Cox wrote. (Bojórquez and Schott, 3/22)

Gov. Eric Holcomb opposed lawmakers from his own party Monday when he vetoed legislation that would ban transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams at school. Within hours, fellow Republicans began calling on the Indiana General Assembly to override the veto. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Statehouse but only need a simple majority to override a veto. Several have already said they'll vote for the override, which could be acted on as early as May when lawmakers return for a one-day special session to handle technical corrections. (Herron, 3/22)

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday called Texas child abuse investigations into the families of transgender children one of the most “heinous” policies she has encountered in 35 years in public office. During an evening event at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Pelosi also took aim at Texas’ new voting restrictions and near-total abortion ban. But her harshest words came for Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to investigate parents for abuse if they provide their children with gender-affirming health care. “Families embrace their child, and what is the right of the governor of this state ... to intervene in that?” Pelosi said. (Harris, 3/22)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an official proclamation Tuesday declaring a Florida resident the “rightful winner” of an NCAA women’s swimming championship race over transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas — the University of Pennsylvania swimmer whose record-breaking season has sparked national debate over whether trans women should compete on female sports teams — became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA championship last week, placing first in the 500-yard freestyle race at the Division I finals in Atlanta on Thursday. (Lavietes, 3/22)

Small groups of Walt Disney Co. employees across the U.S. took Tuesday off from work and gathered to protest what they described as the company’s continued failure to support LGBT employees. The walkouts mark the beginning of a third week of turmoil inside the entertainment giant as its leadership struggles to contain fallout from its bungled response to a Republican-led education bill in Florida, which many employees said targeted the LGBT community. (Whelan and Sayre, 3/22)

The Florida Democratic Party late Tuesday night abruptly scrapped plans to hold its biggest annual fundraiser at Disney World after the party’s LBGTQ caucus and other top Democrats threatened to boycott the event amid the fight over controversial anti-LGBTQ legislation. Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz, confronting a mounting crisis, acknowledged that he had heard the “feedback” about holding its “leadership Blue” gala at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort, which was blasted as “tone deaf” and led to a growing chorus of opposition. The party had announced the location of a gala on Monday. (Fineout, 3/22)