Western states pass ballot measures to ban trans athletes from girls sports
Voters in four western states approved ballot measures this week barring transgender athletes from girls’ sports.Washington and Arizona both passed measures to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls’ teams, while a similar proposal in Colorado was narrowly leading Thursday as votes continued to be counted.Nebraska voters also overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment enshrining the state’s existing ban on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.In deep-blue Washington, Initiative 638 passed with 56.6% of the vote, , according to the secretary of state’s office.Just four of the state’s 39 counties voted against the measure.The initiative ends a policy the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has followed since 2007, allowing transgender students to compete on K-12 teams matching their gender identity.Under the measure, students assigned male at birth will be barred from competing on girls’ school sports teams.Girls seeking to participate will need a signed statement from a health care provider verifying their biological sex, based on reproductive anatomy, genetics or natural testosterone levels.The measure is set to take effect Dec.
3, though opponents could sue to block its implementation.Arizona’s Proposition 318 also passed, winning 58.9% of the vote.Unlike Washington’s initiative, Prop.318 was referred to voters by the state Legislature.
It requires public schools, private schools and athletic associations to designate teams as male, female or coed based on the sex recorded on a student’s original birth certificate.The measure also bars transgender students from using locker rooms, restrooms and other athletic facilities that do not match their sex at birth.It effectively revives a 2022 state law that a federal appeals court blocked in 2024.Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes had refused to defend the law in court.“This is a historic week for girls and common sense.
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