Washington state school district votes to keep biological males out of girls sports despite state pushback
The Quilcene School District in Washington voted 3-2 to keep sports competition based on athletes' birth gender.
The ruling defies a policy by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), enacted in 2007, that allows transgender students to participate based on their gender identity.
According to Fox 13, board member Ron Frantz said "Title IX is the law," and sports should be kept based on birth gender.
But another member, Vivian Kuehl, said it is "immoral" to keep transgender females out of girls and women's sports, according to The Seattle Times.
The vote was taken May 7. The state's governor, Bob Ferguson, defeated Republican nominee Dave Reichert in November. The state has not had a Republican governor since John Spellman, from 1981 to 1985.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to keep biological boys out of girls and women's sports, but Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said the order defies state law.
"State law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and we will not back down from that," Reykdal said at the time.
Later that month, Reykdal said it would be "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders.
Bills that would prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced in the state but have not passed.
However, the issue became so concerning for residents that the WIAA announced a proposal in December to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in.
In May, a trans athlete competed in a girls cross-country championship and won.
The athlete won the 400-meter heat race in the girls division with a time of 55.59 seconds. The second-place runner finished in 58.83 seconds. In the finals, the trans athlete won with a time of 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner who finished in 56.75.
In February, a civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete.
The complaint said the Tumwater School District in Washington is investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment.
Several other states have defied Trump's executive order on the issue, resulting in Maine temporarily losing federal funding.
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