Voters in Washington state are set to decide on a highly contentious ballot initiative this fall that would bar transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams by introducing rigorous sex-verification requirements for student athletes from kindergarten through high school. Initiative IL26-638 would require young athletes to certify their sex assigned at birth through genetic screening, testosterone level testing, or physical examinations of their reproductive anatomy during routine annual sports physicals.
According to the official text of IL26-638, the initiative purports that “the integrity and fairness of women’s interscholastic sports necessitates that students compete in athletic activities consistent with the gender assigned at birth. … Leveraging the existing physical examination process to verify biological sex ensures equity, safety, and competitive balance in sports intended exclusively for female students, while respecting the rights and opportunities of all participants.”
The measure is being heavily financed by Brian Heywood, a conservative hedge-fund manager whose political action committee, Let’s Go Washington, has raised nearly $3.3 million as of July. Speaking on local radio station KUOW, Heywood argued that allowing transgender girls to participate in girls’ sports occurs “at the expense of female athletes and their safety.” Heywood asserted that “this is not OK,” maintaining that “boys are welcome to play in whatever sport they want within the confines of their biological teams.”
However, civil rights advocates, legal experts, and student athletes have forcefully denounced the proposal as an invasive violation of privacy that targets all female athletes. Opponents point out that Washington’s existing athletic physical forms do not mandate sex-verification exams, and the ballot measure leaves critical operational questions unanswered—including who would administer or pay for the physical exams and how schools would enforce the requirements.
Libby Watson, campaign manager for No Hate in WA State, characterized IL26-638 as “the most extreme measure of its kind in the country in the mechanisms by which it forces all girls to have their sex assigned at birth verified by a health-care provider.” Highlighting the financial disparity between campaigns, Watson noted that “Brian Heywood and Let’s Go Washington have millions of dollars, mostly given by Brian Heywood himself. It’s a really expensive misinformation campaign that we’re up against. We know that both IL26-638 and the initiative around the state’s parental-rights law are beatable, but we need the resources to do that messaging.”
Legal experts also argue the ballot measure serves broader political agendas rather than addressing a genuine athletic issue. Chris Erchull, a senior staff attorney at GLAD Law, explained that “sex testing is, in its nature, an extreme and unworkable concept.” Erchull adds: “The sad and cynical truth is that people are funding these ballot initiatives because they want to drive Republican voter turnout for a midterm election. It is just like in 2006, when Republicans poured money into ballot initiatives to oppose marriage equality.”
For student athletes who would be directly impacted by the measure, the mandate represents an unwarranted barrier to youth sports participation. Maria, a recent high school graduate and basketball player who has been actively organizing against the initiative, recalled her own experience with routine sports physicals. “I have never had to take any clothes off. I’ve never felt uncomfortable or violated,” Maria stated, sharing that she likely would have quit sports altogether if forced to undergo such examinations. “I honestly don’t know if I would be able to do these tests. It would also make me question, If I do it, are all my teammates going to, too? Or would I just play with the three or four girls who are willing to or have access to do it?”
Reflecting on her community advocacy work, Maria voices deep concern over the broader impact on young girls entering sports: “I haven’t met a single person who has thought this was a good initiative, and I think for good reason because it just has no place in school sports. It breaks my heart. For me to encourage young girls to play sports and become passionate about it, just for more obstacles and barriers to be put in their way—It just feels so wrong. This measure is rooted in such hate. It is villainizing children. It is controlling both girls’ autonomy and anatomy.”
As the election approaches, Washington voters will join those in states like Arizona and Colorado in deciding the future of transgender inclusion in interscholastic athletics.
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