High‑profile fight over girls’ athletics moves closer to Washington ballot
Jan 23, 2026, 1:58 PM
The goalkeeper guards the net as girls take part in a high school soccer match. (File photo: AP)
(File photo: AP)
An initiative that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports in Washington public schools has officially collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, the Washington Secretary of State’s office said.
“Secretary of State Steve Hobbs delivered official notification to the legislature on Jan. 22 that signature verification has been completed and certified for IL26-638, concerning participation in athletics at K-12 schools,” the office said.
State lawmakers now have until the end of the current legislative session to take action on the proposal. If the legislature does not act, the measure will appear on the November ballot.
Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, the group behind the initiative, discussed the proposal during an interview earlier this month on “The Jason Rantz Show” on Seattle Red 770 AM.
“About 49% of the people who signed the initiative were either independent or Democrat, and 49% were Republican,” he said. “I had enough people that were moderate or left talk to me beforehand who said, ‘Look, I’m not voting for a Republican. I hate Trump, but, man, the Democrats have gone crazy on this one. I’m with you.'”
Supporters of the measure argued it is necessary to preserve fairness in girls’ athletics. Opponents said the proposal would have negative consequences for female students.
“Our coalition rejects any attempts to bully, including efforts by one mega-millionaire to replace our state’s longstanding policy on trans girls in sports with a statewide blanket ban,” the group Washington Families for Freedom wrote in an online statement. “Heywood’s measure would make all female students less safe and could put girls as young as 11, who want to participate in school sports, at risk of unnecessary genital examinations or having to undergo expensive genetic testing.”
According to the language of the initiative, “A student who elects to participate in individual or team competition activities intended for female students… shall provide, as part of the required routine sports physical examination, a health examination and consent form or other statement signed by the student’s personal health care provider that verifies the student’s biological sex, relying only on one or more of the following: The student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
