Davis County Courthouse and administration building pictured on Sept. 1, 2020. State leaders are exploring the possibility of giving judges a 10% raise in salary. (Colby Walker | KSL NewsRadio)
DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Trevor Lee, a Republican candidate for Utah’s House of Representatives, owned up to comments he made about transgender people.
Lee, who recently ousted sitting lawmaker Rep. Steve Handy at the Davis County Convention, used a disparaging abbreviation for transgender individuals on The Modern Conservative Podcast with Jon Harvey when referring to the trans-athlete bill that governor cox vetoed.
Host Jon Harvey was disparaging Governor Spencer Cox over transgender issues when he added that Cox had been named as one of the nation’s top governors.
“Was that before or after he vetoed a bill for tr—-y’s,” Lee interjected.
Lee told KSL NewsRadio Monday, that he did not know the word was offensive.
“Honestly, I had no clue that it was disparaging when I used it,” Lee said.
In addition, he said most people that he knows are not aware the word was offensive.
“It’s a word that I’ve used in pop culture [and] that I’ve used my whole life – and that’s not an excuse – but I know it’s something now that others may feel strongly about, so I’ve erased it from my vocabulary. It’s gone,” Lee said.
In a Facebook post made before his interview with KSL, Lee argued that there is a double standard when it comes to name-calling.
“Right-wing extremist, insurrectionist [and] nazi, our side gets called that all the time. No one censors them. No one tries to doxx them and tell them stuff and I think that is. It’s just wrong,” Lee told KSL NewsRadio when asked about his post.
Lee was also asked what his message was to those in the trans community that heard his comments and may be offended by them.
“I think that they should vote for people that are okay with free speech and I would enjoy their vote,” he said.
Lee also made more comments on the podcast, among them, saying it was “embarrassing” that there are now black and brown stripes on the transgender flag. The conversation had turned to Critical Race Theory.
As for the disparaging word referring to transgender people, Lee said he won’t be using the word “tr—y” again. But he stopped short of apologizing for using it.
“Do people have to apologize for stuff that they’re not sure of all the time? Things and words that are constantly changing in our culture — I mean that’s a scary road to go down,” Lee said.