Two amendments that would restrict transgender students’ access to girls sports will be voted on by the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Representative Assembly in April.
Lynden School District spearheaded one of the two amendments first considered at WIAA’s Winter Coalition on Monday, Jan. 27. The amendment was modeled after Alaska’s program that changes boys sports to an “open division,” and restricts girls sports to biological girls. Several other Whatcom County school boards have signaled support for the amendment — Lynden Christian, Blaine and Meridian all signed on or passed resolutions.
A second amendment, proposed by Eastmont School District, would restrict girls and boys sports to only students assigned that gender at birth, but create a separate, open division for students who want to participate in sports not aligning with their biological sex.
The WIAA is a private, nonprofit (501)(c)(3) organization and rule-making body with a mission to “create equitable playing conditions between high school sports teams in Washington.” The body’s representative assembly, made up of 53 high school and middle school administrators from across the state, dictates the rules of the organization.
Currently, WIAA’s Handbook allows for full participation for trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse students in the division of the gender they “most consistently expressed,” in accordance with state discrimination laws.
Lynden Superintendent David VanderYacht said the amendment is intended to protect the “integrity of girls sports,” recognize biological differences between men and women, and protect trans student-athletes.
“My heart was broken watching a transgender female athlete win a state championship among her peers and then stand on a podium in which her peers did not accept her,” he told assembly members Monday. “They stood silently while they clapped for their other peers. We’re in an environment that we need to protect our transgender student-athletes.”
At the beginning of the meeting, some representatives attempted to quickly withdraw both amendments on the basis that they may not be legal under the state’s discrimination laws. But an eventual motion to table both amendments failed, meaning they will proceed to a vote by the assembly, scheduled for April 9 to April 18.
VanderYacht argued against efforts to withdraw or table the motions, urging people to not “shy away” from this discussion.
“If we don’t have it, it’s going to be had anyway, and it’s not going to be done by educators who have the interests of students at their heart,” he said.
WIAA leaders at the meeting said their legal counsel advised the association to not implement anything they deem to be unlawful, but that an amendment like this, if passed, would be “available for implementation” if laws changed.
Two bills have been filed in the Legislature on the issue, which could potentially make this amendment legal. One bill, with three sponsors, proposes five separate divisions for high school sports — for women, trans women, men, trans men and nonbinary students. Another, with five sponsors, focuses on protecting competitiveness in girls sports.
Both have been referred to the Senate’s Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.
Opposition from civil rights organizations
Human rights organizations have come out in opposition to the proposed amendments. ACLU Washington called the amendments “inequitable, discriminatory and untenable” in a letter to the WIAA on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Staff attorney Adrien Leavitt argued that the amendments “further the nationwide trend of exclusion and bullying of transgender youth.” Leavitt argued these kinds of policies can also harm cisgender girls, by potentially subjecting them to “highly invasive and traumatizing sex testing.”
In Alaska, where a similar program to Lynden’s amendment has been implemented, the impacts on girls, boys and transgender student participation has been minimal, said Billy Strickland, the Alaska School Activities Association executive director. He said to his knowledge, only two trans athletes competed in Alaska in the last 10 years.
However, ACLU Alaska has been opposed to the policy, arguing it may be unconstitutional and is “discriminatory toward trans students in high school across the state of Alaska,” Communications Director Meghan Barker said.
“There were Alaskans speaking very clearly that it was unwanted and not helpful to Alaska students already facing other challenges,” she told CDN. “This issue isn’t even close to the top of things impacting students in Alaska.”
Lynden School Board member Khush Brar, who took a lead role in Lynden’s efforts on the amendments, said that “protecting the rights of females in female sports isn’t equivalent to restricting transgender athletes in sports because unlike the female athletes, transgender students have the option to play in whichever category they identify with, which may change at every sports meet.”
She argued that the amendments are “feasible as well as legal” in an email to CDN.
VanderYacht said the legal environment is complex right now, and it is unclear how federal changes and court interpretations will impact girls sports. The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to ban trans girls and women from girls sports in federally funded schools. If this became law, it would modify Title IX.
As for the rest of Whatcom County schools, Bellingham Public Schools has not signed on in support of either amendment. Spokesperson Dana Smith said the district is “committed to supporting our students’ rights and to following Washington state’s gender inclusive schools laws.”
Mount Baker School Board will discuss all proposed WIAA amendments in March, school board president Russ Pfeiffer-Hoyt said, and Nooksack Valley School Board has not discussed the issue, board president Ty Elmendorf said. Ferndale School Board does not anticipate discussing the issue, president Kevin Erickson said.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
