Washington Sex Verification Requirements for Female School Sports, Initiative IL26-638
- 27th District
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Purpose: Provide fairness for biological females competing in interscholastic (middle level and high school) sports. We believe that biological males have a physical advantage when they compete against girls. The measure will amend RCW 28A.600.200 and RCW 28A.640.020
How can a biological male be allowed to compete against biological girls?
Eligibility rules for school sports are delegated to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association. The WIAA rules states: “All students have the opportunity to participate in WIAA athletics and/or activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity . . . Athletes will participate in programs consistent with their gender identity or gender most consistently expressed.” WIAA Rule 18.6.0
There is no mention of limiting competition based on biological sex. Eligibility is based on gender identity or expression. Individual and team sports are open to all regardless of biological sex.
What will the initiative do?
The Initiative will require local school district boards of directors and the WIAA to prohibit biological male student-athletes from competing against female student-athletes if the activity is intended separately for female athletes including individual and team sports.
Why is the physical exam so controversial?
Currently, prior to participation in a school sport, the student-athlete must have a physical exam. The Initiative will require the medical provider to medically verify a student’s biological sex.
The Health and Wellness forms on the WIAA site and TSD site do not have a space for the sex of the student-participant for a medical provider to verify and complete.
There are three forms on the WIAA website. The Preparticipation Physical Evaluation History Form which is supposed to be retained by the medical provider. There is a space on this form to check biological sex and another for gender identity or expression. This can be completed by the student, family, or provider. An exam is not a part of this process.
The second form is Preparticipation Physical Evaluation Interim Guidance Form. This is completed by the medical provider. There is no space designated for biological sex. The medical provider retains this form.
The third form is the Medical Eligibility Form which the student provides to the school. Once again there is no designation of biological sex.
As you can see the forms mirror the WIAA Rule. Biological sex is not a part of being eligible.
The opposition claims the medical exam requirement is invasive.
On its face, their assertion is true. If no examination is required for biological sex, you can probably argue that adding an exam is invasive. The ballot measure would require the medical provider to verify biological sex by relying on reproductive anatomy, genetic make-up or normal endogenous produced testosterone levels.
Have there been school districts and individual schools that have sought change?
Yes! The following school districts attempted to amend the WIAA Rule in 2025 with ML/HS #7 which would have limited participation in girls’ sports to biological females. Those districts included Lynden, Blaine, Brewster, Cashmere, Colville, Grand Coulee Dam, Lake Chelan, Lynden Christian School, Mansfield, Mead, Okanogan, Omak, Orville and Tonasket.
The vote was 31 in support and 22 opposed by the 53 member WIAA Assembly. 32 is needed to pass.
The following school districts attempted to amend the WIAA Rule in 2025 with ML/HS #8 by creating a boys, girls, and an open category. Those Districts included Eastmont, Cashmere, Colville, Lynden, Mead, Moses Lake and Thorp.
The vote was 13 in support and 40 opposed.
What about 2026?
Twelve School Districts put forth language limiting participation in girls’ sports to biological females. The WIAA labeled this an advisory vote asserting that passage would violate the current law.
These Districts proposed creating an “open category”. All student-athletes regardless of sex, gender identity or gender expression would be allowed to participate.
There would be a second category called “girls’ category sports” which included bowling, cross-country, flag football, golf, gymnastics, soccer, fastpitch softball, slow-pitch softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.
For a student-athlete to be eligible in the girls’ sports category she would have to produce either an original birth certificate or an affidavit from a licensed physician that she was a biological female.
The districts that proposed this Amendment included Lynden, Blaine, Colville, Eastmont, Kennewick, Lake Chelan, Mead, Moses Lake, Okanogan, Omak, Tonasket, and Lynden Christian School.
The result of the vote was not posted on the WIAA website as of this writing.
Are we obsessed with trans kids?
Advocating for interscholastic sports on a biological sex classification because we want to promote female athletic opportunities is not an obsession with Trans Kids. Promoting equal opportunity for male and female athletes is not an obsession. We want Equal Protection of the law under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect female opportunities in interscholastic athletics. We want fair competition based on biological sex rather than gender identity for female athletes. Biological sex is an immutable characteristic and can be objectively verified. CFR Section 106.41 which codifies Title IX uses the word “sex” in describing discrimination. It uses the word “sex” in describing separate teams for males and females. There is nothing in Title IX or the CFR about other ways of classifying males and females.
Are there differences within sports that account for physiological differences between the sexes?
Yes. In volleyball the net is strung at 7’11 5/8” for men and 7’ 4 ⅛” for women. Should it surprise us that volleyball may not be safe for females competing against males considering the power a male can generate with a shorter net? Female competitors recognize this. Five schools with women teams (Southern Utah, Boise State, Utah State, University of Wyoming and University of Nevada) decided to forfeit against San Jose State University because San Jose had a male player.
Here are a few examples from Track and Field. The 100-meter hurdle height is set at 39” for males and 33” for females. The 300-meter hurdle height is set at 36” for males and 30” for girls.
The weight of a shotput is 12 pounds for boys and 8.8 pounds for girls. The discus is 3.5 pounds for males and 2.2 pounds for females. The diameter for a discus for males is 8.2 inches and 7 inches for females.
The weight for a javelin is 800 grams for a male and 600 grams for a female.
Lacrosse had different requirements for male and female competitors. Males are required to wear helmets, gloves, shoulder pads and elbow pads. Females wear goggles, gloves and a soft-shell helmet.
Even in basketball, there are differences. The circumference for a men' s ball is 29.5” and the weight is 22oz. The circumference for a woman’s ball is 28.5” and the weight is 20oz.
Males in Track and Field will have an advantage in competition with females because males in general possess more speed, strength, endurance, and power than a female track athlete. This is the result of males having twice as many Type II muscle fibers
known as fast twitch muscles. In 2019, 10,000 males including those under 18 ran faster 400-meter times than the 3 fastest recorded women times for that year.
The advantages males possess that give an advantage over females in Track and Field will be a safety issue for women in Lacrosse. Imagine a male going full speed with his body mass and colliding with a female player.
Males are going to have an advantage in jumping, throwing and explosive activities because males have a more even muscle distribution between the lower and upper body, a narrower pelvic and longer limbs.
Do puberty blockers and testosterone suppressants level the male advantage?
The answer is “no” according to the amicus curiae brief submitted by the American College of Pediatrics to the U.S. Supreme Court in Bradley Little v. Lindsay Hecox.
The brief submitted by American College of Pediatrics states that sex is an immutable characteristic. Sex at birth is not assigned but observed. Transitioning to a different sex is biologically impossible.
Physiological advantages that males in general possess over females in athletic competition manifest in utero and continue after puberty blockers and testosterone suppressants.
Puberty blockers and testosterone suppressants may cause the male to be less competitive with other males, but he still has an advantage over females. The mean speed of males, who were on cross sex hormones and a year of testosterone suppression, was 9% faster than females.
Suppressing testosterone cannot undo a male body shaped by genes and early development. Males have a higher exposure to testosterone before birth and through mini puberty (one to three months old). Females have increased estrogen which results in more body fat. Males have more skeletal mass, a narrower pelvis, and longer upper and lower body limbs. The males are able to generate more power and speed with these biological characteristics. Males have more lung volume and stronger muscle contraction.
Have there been studies of youth competitions before puberty?
The writers in the brief cite an Australian study that included 9-year-olds (Footnote 44). Males were faster by 9.8% than females in the short sprints and 16.6% faster in events greater than a mile. In addition, males had a more powerful grip by 13.8% and were able to do 33% more push-ups in 30 seconds than females.
A study by Gregory A. Brown, completed in 2024, was cited by the authors on page 21 of the brief. The study analyzed the results for the National Junior Olympics and the USA Track and Field Youth Outdoor Championships for 8-year-olds from 2016 and 2023. In the 100 meters, males were faster by 4.0%, in the 200 meters by 4.7%, in the 400 meters by 5.3% and 800 meters by 6.7%.
Conclusion
Male athletes have a physiological advantage over female athletes beginning in the womb. This advantage cannot be altered by medical interventions. Females should only compete against females. To insist on opening female competition to males puts female athletes at a competitive disadvantage and jeopardizes their physical safety in some sports. It denies opportunities for female athletes under Title IX.
Below is the link for the brief for more in depth analysis of the law and the biology:
