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Initiative Measure No. IL26-638

Sex Verification Requirements for Female School Sports Initiative

On the ballot

Washington · November 2026 general election · Citizen initiative · Election day November 3, 2026
Topics: Civil rights, Education, Sports and athletics

In plain language

Initiative IL26-638 would require Washington school districts and organizations that oversee interscholastic sports to bar students they define as biologically male from competing in athletic activities designated for female students only. A student seeking to take part in a female-designated sport would have to submit a statement from their healthcare provider verifying their biological sex, based on reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or naturally produced testosterone levels. The requirement would apply to individual and team competitions alike. Current state regulation prohibits schools from discriminating based on gender identity or expression in athletics; the initiative would change that policy statewide.

Fiscal impact

No official fiscal note has been issued for this measure yet.

When the state publishes a fiscal analysis, it will appear here and be listed in the sources below.

What supporters and opponents say

These are summaries of arguments made by the named organizations, drawn from the sources listed below. They are their claims, not this site's, and this site takes no position on the measure.

What supporters say

  • Ahnaleigh Wilson and Frances Staudt, speaking for sponsor Let's Go Washington, say "biological men are competing in girls' sports in Washington State, and it's destroying fairness in girls' sports," and that the measure is meant to protect the roughly 110,000 girls who play middle- and high-school sports in the state.
  • State Sen. Judith Warnick (R) and the Republican Party of Washington back the initiative.

Attributed to Let's Go Washington.

What opponents say

  • No Hate in WA State, the campaign leading opposition, says "only a handful of transgender girls play afterschool sports in Washington," that the measure "will rollback Washington's successful sports policy in place since 2007 and institute a statewide blanket ban," and that it "will subject many girls to invasive, medically unnecessary and harmful genital exams to verify their sex."
  • U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) says the initiative "literally forces these invasive, disgusting exams on every girl who wants to play a sport, just so that they can target a handful of trans kids."

Attributed to No Hate in WA State.

Official ballot language

Reproduced verbatim from the state's certified ballot text.

Statement of Subject: Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 concerns participation in athletics at K-12 schools. Concise Description: This measure would prohibit students it defines as "biologically male" from competing in certain school athletic activities intended for female students only. It would require verification of biological sex by students' healthcare providers. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Sources

Everything on this page traces to these sources. Follow them to read the original documents.

Last updated . How this page is sourced and corrected is described in the correction policy.