Kera Birkeland

Kera Birkeland is an American politician, educator, and coach from Utah. She currently serves as the representative for Utah House District 4. She is on the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, House Education Committee, and House Judiciary Committee.[2] Birkeland replaced Logan Wilde in April 2020, and was elected to a full term in 2020, with 64 percent of the vote.[3]

Kera Birkeland
Birkeland at the 2022 Hazlitt Summit hosted by Young Americans for Liberty Foundation
Member of the Utah House of Representatives
Assumed office
April 16, 2020
Preceded byLogan Wilde
Constituency53rd district (2020–2023)
4th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Born
Kera V. Yates[1]

1982 or 1983 (age 40–41)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLars Birkeland
Children5
ResidenceMorgan, Utah
Alma materBrigham Young University

Prior to election, she competed in the 2012 Mrs. Utah pageant and served as a delegate at the Republican National Convention in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, representing Ted Cruz. She expressed distaste toward Donald Trump at the time.[4]

In January 2021, Birkeland introduced a resolution to honor Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell over retired player Shaquille O'Neal, as well as to make 'Spida' (Mitchell's nickname) the state arachnid of Utah. The resolution passed.[5] During the 2021 legislative session, Birkeland lead efforts and introduced a bill to ban female transgender athletes from high school sports in Utah.[6] This was vetoed by Republican Utah Governor Spencer Cox but passed with a supermajority in the legislature in a subsequent vote after proponents flipped ten votes in the state house and five in the senate.[7] The law currently faces ongoing litigation led by the ACLU of Utah.[8]  In August, a state judge issued an injunction stopping enforcement of the ban, but left the rest of the bill in effect, meaning that transgender girls can seek permission from the commission to play on girls high school sports teams.[9]

References
  1. "Kera Yates Birkeland (@kera_birkeland) • Instagram photos and videos".
  2. "Rep. Birkeland, Kera - Utah House of Representatives". house.utah.gov. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  3. "Utah State House - District 53 Election Results". usatoday.com. USA Today. November 3, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  4. "Meet the RNC Delegate: Kera Birkeland". Cleveland Magazine. July 12, 2016.
  5. Larsen, Andy (January 26, 2021). "Resolution 'honoring Donovan Mitchell over Shaquille O'Neal' passes in Utah House of Representatives by 67-5 vote". sltrib.com. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  6. "Transgender athlete bill to return for 2022 Utah Legislature". AP News. AP. May 26, 2021.
  7. Winslow, Ben (March 22, 2022). "Utah's governor vetoes transgender sports bill, legislature will override". KSTU.
  8. "Roe v. Utah High School Activities Association (2022)". ACLU of Utah. June 1, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  9. "2022 in the news: Here are the top Utah stories of the year". Deseret News. December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.


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