Proposals to ban boys from girls’ sports in WA state fail after Dems launch legal threats

State law currently requires educational agencies to allow students to participate in interscholastic sports "that most closely aligns with their gender identity.” The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) previously announced two proposed bylaw amendments that would limit participants in girls’ sports to students who were born as females and prevent male students who now identify as female from competing in girls' sports following multiple headline-grabbing victories by biological males competing in girls' events in Washington.

One of the proposals, Amendment ML/HS No. 7, would have limited participation in the girls category to only biological females, and then have a "Boys/Open Category" which would have allowed all interested students “regardless of sex, gender identity, or gender expression.” The advisory-only amendment received support from 31 members, missing the approval threshold by one vote.

The other proposal, ML/HS No. 8, stated, “athletic programs would be offered separately for boys, girls, and an open division for all students interested.” It only received 13 votes in favor, but 40 against.

Earlier this month, Sean Bessette, WIAA communications director, said he had been told by the state’s Attorney General Nick Brown and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, both Democrats, as well as the state’s Office for Civil Rights, that the proposals would violate state law.

Following the votes, 15-year-old Frances Staudt, who was allegedly punished by her school district for refusing to play a basketball game against a biological male athlete, told KOMO News, “Our school administrators and the WIAA have failed us. They say they are here for all students but they are clearly not here for the girls. Girls and women, including myself, have worked and trained way too hard to allow biological boys and men in girls and women’s sports.”

A civil rights complaint was filed with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against the Tumwater School District in Washington on behalf of Staudt.

Staudt told the outlet that though the administration at her school tried to silence her for taking a stand, she refuses “to be silenced or punished for speaking the truth,” adding that young women need to make sure their voices are heard.

The advisory-only votes went down in flames the same day the WIAA declared girls’ flag football an official sport in the Evergreen State. Many noted the irony of the timing and implications, that likely biological males would soon invade the new activity.

Last year, a biological male won the state girls' 400-meter race by over a full second, leading the team to a state championship. The following month, the losing team’s coach slammed the state rules that allow biological males to compete in female-designated sports, telling the Independent Women’s Forum that his team would have won the state championship if it were not for the inclusion of male athletes.

Last month, Reykdal, who has presided over a disastrous decline in the Evergreen States’ academics where it was recently revealed that 71 percent of the State’s eighth graders aren’t proficient in math and 69 percent aren’t proficient in reading despite record spending, threatened to withhold funds from the La Center School District which refused to hide students’ gender identities from parents.

Last week, the US Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel initiated an investigation into Reykdal’s office for possibly violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by targeting the district.

Earlier this year, Reykdal claimed in an interview, “It is quite simply inaccurate to say biologically that there are only boys and only girls," in response to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that there are only two genders. He added, "DEI is not a harmful thing, it's a good thing," in response to Trump’s executive order banning it.

The day after President Donald Trump signed the Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order, Reykdal said in a statement claiming that the move “directly contradicts state law” and “requires educational institutions to agree to discriminate against trans female athletes in order to continue receiving federal funds.” Reykdal continued, “The 47th President of the United States is disregarding the rule of law by attempting to unilaterally impose an attack on the specific student groups that anti-discrimination laws aim to protect,” adding, "Our state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and we will not back down from that."