A Utah high school dug into a student athlete's records to check if she was transgender after she 'clearly outclassed' her opponents in a sports competition

• Parents of two students who lost to an unnamed athlete filed a complaint and questioned her gender.
• The school checked the student's records dating back to kindergarten to determine her gender.

A Utah high school dug into a student athlete's records to check if she was transgender after the parents of two students, who both lost to the athlete in a competition, filed a complaint to the state's high school sports association.

The school went as far back as kindergarten to find that the student was always registered as female, David Spatafore, a legislative representative for the Utah High School Activities Association, said during a committee meeting with the state legislature on Wednesday.

The investigation was opened after the student-athlete won first place in a state-level sports competition. According to Spatafore, the student "clearly outclassed the rest of the teams."

Parents of the second- and third-place students then filed a complaint to the Utah High School Activities Association on the day of the outcome.

The name of the sport and school were not disclosed in order to protect the identity of the student.

Neither the student nor her parents were notified of the complaint, Spatafore said.

Spatafore disclosed the investigation when the Utah state legislature was discussing ongoing lawsuits against HB11, a bill that banned transgender girls from participating in girls' interscholastic sports. The bill passed the state House and Senate earlier this year in February and March, respectively.

Spatafore said that his association has already received and investigated other complaints, including one that said a "female athlete doesn't look feminine enough."

"Quite frankly, this is new ground for us," Spatafore said at the meeting. "I'm not going to say that we have it down pat, because I have no clue. I don't think any of us in the office have a clue if we have it down pat."

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed the bill on March 22. In a press statement, he said the bill was pushed through without public input and would "likely bankrupt the Utah High School Athletic Association and result in millions of dollars in legal fees for local school districts with no state protection."

The state legislature overrode the veto just days after, and the bill went into effect in July.