Washington HS athletics unable to change trans-participation policy, official says

Washington appears to be the latest state that is getting set for a showdown over its decision to allow biological males to play in girls’ and women’s sports despite President Donald Trump’s executive order in February.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)’s Representative Assembly proposed two amendments to its policies that would keep girls’ sports to biological females only and potentially offer an open division if student-athletes were interested.

However, WIAA commutations director Sean Bessette said in a statement to The Seattle Times on Tuesday that the proposals would violate state law.

“The WIAA has been told by the Attorney General’s office, the Office for Civil Rights, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction that proposed amendments ML/HS #7 and ML/HS #8 would be a violation under current Washington state law, affirming our attorney’s legal review,” Bessette told the paper. “The WIAA remains committed to following state law, and those amendments focused on gender-identity participation would not be implemented on August 1 if they were to pass under current state law.

“If state law were to change, the WIAA’s Executive Board has the authority and would need to alter the Association’s rules accordingly.”

The proposals will be voted on by the 53-person representative assembly but no changes will be made to the rules. The proposals titled ML/HS #7 and ML/HS #8 are strictly advisory votes only.

“Amendment would not be implemented under current State Law. Participation in girls’ sports would be limited to biological females,” the ML/HS #7 proposal read on the athletics organization’s website.

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“Amendment would not be implemented under current State Law. Athletic programs would be offered separately for boys, girls, and an open division for all students interested,” ML/HS #8 read.

Washington state law requires local educational agencies to allow transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports “that most closely aligns with their gender identity,” according to the WIAA.

The Kennewick School Board filed a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against Washington state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal this week. The complaint included a plea for “urgent” federal intervention against the state’s ongoing policies that defy Trump’s order.

Reykdal previously claimed it was “inaccurate” to say there are only two genders during a video address in late February.

“It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls,” Reykdal said. “There’s a continuum. There’s a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth.

“Our state laws make clear that children get to identify and participate based on the gender in which they identify. We’re going to uphold that law.”

Reykdal also insisted in that address that Trump does not have the authority as president to issue a ban on trans athletes in girls’ sports but conceded the U.S. Congress does.

Another school district in Washington opted to take matters into its own hands and defy the state government in late February. 

The Tumwater School District’s board of directors voted 3-1 Feb. 27 to ban trans athletes from playing for girls sports teams after a nationally publicized controversy involving one of its school’s girls basketball teams.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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