A statewide ban on transgender students competing in girls’ school sports has passed in Washington state with 56% of voters supporting it. The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday evening, saying it had secured enough votes to pass. The ban would be the first of its kind in Washington state and would require all girls looking to participate in sports to undergo medical testing — through a genital exam, a hormone test or a chromosome test — before being able to participate on a girls school sports team.
“To all trans girls participating in school sports in Washington, we want you to know that you belong: on the field, on the court, on the team. We stand with you and will continue to fight for a day when you can play sports without controversy,” said Libby Watson, the campaign manager for No Hate in WA State, which has led opposition to the ban.
Let’s Go Washington, the conservative group behind the initiative, celebrated its early lead in an emailed statement Tuesday night: “This is a victory for girls... who have been told time and again by the majority party that their voices and opportunities don’t matter. The opposition was working overtime to tell these girls that their experiences were made up and didn’t matter. Tonight, those girls see that well over a million Washingtonians stand with them and care that their sports are safe and fair.”
At least half the states in the country have some kind of restriction on trans girls in sports. But Washington would be one of the first to require medical testing to verify birth sex. Other states with bans require only proof of birth sex via a birth certificate. It will also become one of just a few Democratically led states to have a ban like this in place. Colorado is also poised to pass a ban on transgender students in sports, along with Arizona and Nebraska.
For nearly 20 years, Washington has had no restrictions on trans students participating in sports. Current state policy allows students to participate on teams that align with their gender identity, without additional proof. I-638 would apply to sports regulated by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which says it knows of around 10 trans kids playing school sports in the state.
Those who support this initiative say a ban is necessary to protect fairness and competition in girls’ sports. They claim allowing trans girls to compete against cisgender girls is unfair. They say trans girls have physical advantages that make them faster and stronger, despite a lack of research into school-age athletes and conflicting data on the nature of these advantages and the age when they begin to appear.
Debate around transgender students participating on girls school sports teams recently flared in Camas, after a cross country runner who competed on a boys team switched to competing on a girls team. Supporters of a ban point to this case as a reason for why regulations need to be in place.
Opponents of the initiative say it will marginalize trans students and will require all girls across the state to undergo unnecessary medical testing to play sports. They also worry the increased amount of testing for girls in particular will discourage girls from participating in sports.
On election night, Watson said No Hate would be looking at avenues to fight the ban. But she added the ban could signal a shift nationally regarding transgender rights.
“I think it’s a very scary canary in the coal mine for future policies in Washington against the LGBTQ+ community and a dangerous signal for conservative movements across the country,” Watson said.
At the Democratic Election Night Watch Party at Stoup Brewing, Attorney General Nick Brown also reacted to early Initiative 638 results.
“It’s still early to see how those are going to end up, but my job as attorney general is to defend Washington state laws from challenges,” he said. “I assume there’ll be legal challenges to all those, but we’ll digest those once they come.”
Lawyers with the ACLU have promised to fight the ban with discrimination lawsuits if it passes.
