WASHINGTON — Washington voters have approved Initiative 638, creating a statewide sex-verification requirement for students who want to participate in girls’ K-12 sports.
The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday evening, saying it had secured enough votes to pass.
READ MORE: WA voters to decide on 3 initiatives this election
It will 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.
The initiative prohibits biologically male students from competing with or against female students in female-only individual or team competitions.
The measure does not include instruction to verify the reproductive anatomy of students looking to play on boys’ sports teams.
The approval of the initiative will change Washington’s existing approach to transgender students and school athletics.
Under current Washington policy, student-athletes are not required to provide medical documentation verifying their biological sex to participate in school sports. The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction says state civil rights laws prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression and that students have the right to be treated consistently with their gender identity at school.
Statement from Let’s Go Washington
“This is a victory for girls like Frances, Ahnaleigh, Sadie, Bayley, Charlie, Sierra, and countless others 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. Voters have your backs. Five years from now, I hope girl athletes don’t know this fight took place, because that will mean that boys know their place is not in girls’ sports.
We saw the ugliest side of the opposition during this campaign: grown adults bullying young girls, spreading lies about the initiative, physically and verbally attacking people who disagreed with them. Tonight is a testament that that evil will not win in our state.
To every female athlete who wondered whether her voice mattered: tonight, Washington heard you.”
Statement from ACLU
“This is a devastating blow to our state’s history of inclusivity and belonging, and our collective goal of making Washington a place where all children can thrive. Washington has long been a place that protected a child’s freedom to be themselves no matter their gender identity. However, this initiative cements discrimination into law and denies an entire group of students opportunities shared by their peers simply because of who they are. Laws that target transgender girls do nothing to support our youth; they only foster discrimination and bullying, and sow division. The ACLU of Washington will never waver in its commitment to transgender people and their right to exist as their full selves, and we will explore all potential next steps to uphold the rights of transgender girls and their access to school sports. Transgender youth are our neighbors, children, friends and family, and like everyone, they have the right to live and play in our communities as their true selves.”