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Washington Voters Back Trans Athlete Ban by 57%World
Washington state voters have approved Initiative 638, barring transgender girls from girls’ school sports, with about 57 per cent support and opponents conceding defeat.
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Voters in Washington state have approved a ballot measure barring transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams, a major defeat for LGBTQ advocates in a state that normally votes Democratic.
With about 80 per cent of ballots counted on Friday, approximately 57 per cent of voters had approved Initiative 638, while 43 per cent voted against it, and opponents conceded that the gap was too large to overcome. The Associated Press had called the race on November 4.
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The initiative, known as the Defending Equity in Interscholastic Sports Act, will require the prohibition of transgender girls from competing with and against female students in public school sports. It applies to elementary, middle and high school athletics.
Under the measure, girls who want to play school sports must submit a statement from a healthcare provider verifying their biological sex, through reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup or naturally produced testosterone levels.
The political action committee behind the measure, Let’s Go Washington, which is bankrolled by conservative hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, called its passage a huge win for girls in Washington state. Similar ballot measures restricting transgender athletes also passed this week in Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs school-linked youth sports in the state, said earlier this year it was aware of just 10 transgender middle and high school students playing sports, out of some 200,000 students competing statewide.
Opponents of the measure included doctors who said it was not backed by clinical guidelines and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls. Civil rights advocates argued the campaign scapegoated a very small group of people, most of them children, who already face discrimination and bullying.
Libby Watson, campaign manager of the group No Hate WA State, which campaigned against the measure, called the initiative deceptive and said the fight was not over. The measure is expected to face legal challenges, with civil rights groups warning it could run afoul of the state constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
The initiative is due to take effect on December 3, 2026, when election results are certified. In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that states can ban transgender girls and women from female sports teams, and more than half of US states have enacted laws in recent years restricting the participation of transgender students in sports.
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