More than a dozen school districts across Washington state submitted a proposal to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association handbook that would limit males in female sports.
The fourteen school districts, whose efforts are led by Lynden School District superintendent David VanderYacht, offered the proposed policy changes to the secondary school athletics governing body for a vote next spring, according to a report last week from the Seattle Times.
The policy amendments would include provisions that limit participation in female sports to “students assigned female at birth” in order to maintain “fair and equitable competition,” as well as create athletic programs “separately for boys, girls, and transgender students.” The latter policy would launch “an open division for all students interested” in state athletics programs.
VanderYacht remarked in a statement to the Seattle Times that “the adults in leadership positions must have the courage to engage respectfully to find a path forward that upholds fairness and integrity of girls’ sports while honoring the dignity of transgender student-athletes.”
The proposals come after Washington Democrats passed policies to enshrine transgenderism into state law. Washington Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill last year which removes the requirement for licensed shelters to notify parents that their child is housed in the facility “when a young person is seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.”
Inslee also signed a “pride month declaration” two years ago which condemned “states throughout the nation” for passing laws that restrict the activities of “transgender athletes.”
Several states have indeed banned students from competing in sports leagues with members of the opposite sex, while many have passed laws in recent years to protect surgical and hormonal interventions purporting to alter the sex of children who claim to identify as transgender.
Surveys indicate that a large percentage of Americans believe self-described transgender athletes should not be permitted to compete in sports leagues opposite their actual sex.
