JACKSON THOMPSON: Seattle school board authorizes legal challenge to ballot measure protecting girls' sports
The 7-0 vote authorized Superintendent Ben Shuldiner to take legal action regarding Initiative 638, which bars biological males from competing in designated girls’ school sports.Two student representatives also recommended approval in separate advisory votes, according to the meeting transcript.Board member Joe Mizrahi acknowledged his opposition to the measure before arguing that the decision before the board concerned its legal responsibilities, rather than members' personal votes."As a father of three daughters who play sports, I was opposed to 638," Mizrahi said.He said the district had received messages from people urging it to protect students and others asking it to support the initiative and respect the election result.JACKSON THOMPSON: DEMOCRAT-APPOINTED JUDGES HAND LETITIA JAMES WIN OVER COUNTY TRYING TO PROTECT GIRLS SPORTS"I believe that what we’re doing tonight is actually both protecting students and respecting the will of voters because yes, voters supported the initiative 638 and we do take that seriously," Mizrahi said.
"But our democracy also produced all those other laws.""We can’t say we’re respecting democracy if we treat the most recent vote as a reason to ignore all the other laws that are on the books."Initiative 638 passed in last week's election with more than 55% support, according to local reporting.It is scheduled to take effect Dec.
3.Monday’s authorization did not itself suspend the measure, and district leaders had not announced a specific legal filing or timetable following the meeting, KUOW reported.Mizrahi argued that existing protections involving privacy, equal access and discrimination remained in place despite the initiative's passage.
His remarks presented the board's rationale for seeking judicial review; they did not establish that a court had found the measure unlawful."It raises serious questions about equal protection, student privacy, and whether we’re creating additional barriers for female student athlet...