Voters should reject the initiative on the November ballot that would ban roughly 10-12 transgender Washington girls from competing in school-sponsored sports.
IL 26-638 would unfairly target a few students to appease those who want to dictate to schools just who is worthy of participating in competitive sports and who isn’t.
The Times editorial board recommends voters say “no” to fearmongering and vote “no” on an initiative that would only exclude more student athletes from sports.
Participation in school-sponsored sports helps develop confidence, work ethic and leadership skills. Those are worthy qualities for all students.
In 2007, Washington became the first state to allow transgender athletes to participate in sports in categories that are consistent with their identity.
In 2025, fresh off a presidential victory in which he used transgender people as political scarecrows, President Donald Trump issued one of his many overreaching executive orders that banned transgender girls and women from competing in sports in institutions that receive federal funding. Some states followed suit and issued bans as well, as did the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The U.S. Supreme Court this summer gave more authority to states to ban transgender girls in sports in two decisions it rendered, West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox.
But Washington stood up to Trump’s order because the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s policy was inclusive of all students and consistent with state law.
IL 26-368 would send Washington back to the days of “femininity certificates,” when amateur women athletes, including Olympic athletes, had to carry proof that they had passed visual exams and chromosome testing that proved they were women. Under this proposed initiative, parents of girls as young as 12 could be subject to this violation of privacy.
The ballot initiative states that athletes “must provide, as part of the required routine sports physical examination, a health examination and consent form or other statement signed by the student’s personal healthcare provider that verifies the student’s biological sex, relying only on one or more of the following: The student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”
Aside from the humiliation and violation of privacy, testing for genes and hormones isn’t cheap, which would keep girls without means out of competitive sports.
If this were strictly a “Washington problem“ it would be worth dissecting and studying as a pressing and compelling issue to be resolved by the electorate, informed with science. But it is not.
The initiative, backed by the conservative PAC Let’s Go Washington, is part of a national movement to disenfranchise and dehumanize the transgender community.
What better way to solicit broad support for their cause than to insert it in the world of sports, an activity that supposedly brings people together? But in this case, it’s tearing people apart and all based on fear.
Transgender athletes have been a controversial topic for years. It’s one that goes beyond just who can compete against whom. Like this initiative, the debate touches on whose lives matter, who should be counted and whose humanity is valued.
As one parent of a transgender high school athlete told The Times of her daughter: “I want her to feel successful. I want her to feel loved and accepted.”
A “no” vote on Initiative 26-368 would make that ring true for all young athletes.
Editor’s note: The Seattle Times occasionally closes comments. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences in relation to this editorial, please submit a Letter to the Editor of no more than 200 words to be considered for publication in our Opinion section. Send to: letters@seattletimes.com
