Restrictions on Transgender student athletes, seen in other states around the country, are popping up now in Washington State. Recently, Sen. Phil Fortunato (R-31) prefiled Senate Bill 5012, which would separate athletes based on their gender identities and chromosomal makeup (see below). At the same time, a large number of public schools are seeking to make amendments to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's handbook to limit who can play for which teams.

"The WIAA's policies on gender identity participation must follow Washington state law, and the current rules do so," Sean Bessette, the WIAA's director of communications, told the SGN.

The WIAA encourages all students to participate in athletics regardless of their gender identity or expression, and while most sports programs are offered separately for boys and girls, "athletes will participate in programs consistent with their gender identity or the gender most commonly expressed," according to the WIAA handbook.

A total of 17 Washington schools submitted proposals for Amendments 7 and 8, with some districts pushing for both. The proposed Amendment 7 would prohibit Transgender girls from participating in girls' sports or girls' divisions with athletes that were assigned female at birth. Proposed Amendment 8 would create an entirely new division of sports teams: an open division strictly for Transgender athletes.

The school districts advocating for the amendments are: Blaine, Brewster , Cashmere, Colville, Eastmont, Grand Coulee Dam, Lake Chelan, Lynden, Mansfield, Mead, Moses Lake, Okanogan, Omak, Oroville, Thorp, and Tonasket, as well as the Lynden Christian School.

"The WIAA has a membership-led year-round amendment process...and every proposed amendment was submitted by 5+ member schools or the WIAA Executive Board," Bessette said. "The language and content for each amendment will be discussed and finalized by the WIAA Representative Assembly during Winter Coalition in late January."

Bessette explained how 53 school leaders (35 high schools and 18 middle schools) make up the Representative Assembly, which is responsible for voting on the proposed amendments.

"For an amendment to pass, 60% approval is needed from voting members of the Representative Assembly. A total of 32 votes are needed for a middle-level/high-school amendment to pass, while 21 votes are needed for a high-school amendment to pass, and 11 votes are needed for a middle-level amendment to pass," Bessette said.

Many who sit on the Representative Assembly receive guidance from their league or WIAA district on how to vote on amendments, said Bessette, adding how the proposed amendments will be voted on on April 9-18, and any passed amendments will become effective on August 1.

"The two proposed amendments surrounding gender identity participation will continue through the process," Bessette added. "If a passed amendment violates Washington state law, the WIAA will be unable to implement the amendment."


A look at SB 5012

Prefiled in the state legislature on December 3, SB 5012 would group interscholastic activities into five groups in order for students to participate:
• Students with XX chromosomes who identify as a woman or girl
• Students with XX chromosomes who identify as a man or boy
• Students with XY chromosomes who identify as a woman or girl
• Students with XY chromosomes who identify as a man or boy
• Students who do not meet the above criteria

These groupings do not apply to K-6 students.

Although Sen. Fortunato refused to comment, the bill's text states that "a student's eligibility for a particular grouping may be determined by any medical documentation that demonstrates the chromosomal makeup of the student."

Students and school districts that are harmed by a violation of the groupings are entitled to injunctive relief, which, according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell, "restricts a party from conducting certain acts and requires them to behave in a certain way... when there is no other remedy at law and when irreversible harm will occur if relief is not offered." According to the bill's text, relief may include monetary damages — like those for psychological, physical, and emotional harm suffered — and reasonable attorney costs and fees; those seeking civil actions must have initiated them within two years of the alleged harm taking place.

"No penalty may be imposed on a student or students unless the student or students knowingly violated the rules or unless a student gained a significant advantage or materially disadvantaged another student through a rule violation," states the bill text.