WA Superintendent pushes back on Trump admin’s gender identity probe: ‘Almost nothing to do with Title IX’

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) under claims it could be violating federal law based on gender identity policy.

In April, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced, via its website, that it would be partnering with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to create the Title IX Investigations Team, “to ensure timely, consistent resolutions to protect students, and especially female athletes, from the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities.”

The investigation revealed that multiple Washington school districts reported OSPI is requiring school boards to adopt policies allowing males to participate in female sports and use female-only facilities, raising Title IX concerns.

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said he wasn’t surprised to see the federal government coming after them.

“What is unique is that because they’ve gutted the U.S. Department of Education and all the civil rights lawyers, they’re basically handing this stuff over to the Justice Department,” Reykdal told “The Gee and Ursula Show,” on KIRO Newsradio Thursday. “They disagree with Washington state and you know, a dozen other states on how we approach gender and gender identity. This will end up in the courts. There’s no settlement here, per se. It’s our state law versus the president’s political will.”

Reykdal: There hasn’t been issues until Trump

Gee Scott, co-host of “Gee and Ursula,” asked Reykdal how much of what is being conveyed about Washington’s policies on gender identity is true, or simply a result of the administration making note of “buzz words.”

“We can clarify a lot of this,” Reykdal replied, “Our law does not allow people to run around in bathrooms of their choice. Our law is actually about privacy. So a transgender female, somebody who’s born biologically male, gets a private option if they’re not comfortable in a boy’s locker room. And it’s true for every student. That’s what’s missed in all of this. So any girl in a locker room who believes there may be a transgender student or a more aggressive female or something, they can seek a private accommodation. That’s what this law has always been about.”

Rekydal also noted that these are not new laws. Discrimination based on gender identity was banned in Washington in 2006, and students have been allowed to play sports alongside the gender they identify with since 2007.

“It’s (the law) been there forever, which is why we never had a problem with this in 20 years, including sports, until the Trump administration came along and they wanted it to be a political point,” Rekydal said. “But this has almost nothing to do with actual civil rights or Title IX, because we’ve been making this reconcile for almost 20 years now in athletics.”

Reykdal said in dealing with this investigation, OSPI plans to work closely with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.