Washington Voters Will Decide on Girls' Sports Eligibility Measure This November

Washington voters will decide this November whether schools must verify a student's sex before allowing them to compete in girls' interscholastic sports.

Initiative IL26-638, titled "Fairness in Girls' Athletics," qualified for the November 3, 2026 ballot after the group Let's Go Washington, led by Brian Heywood, submitted 445,187 signatures on January 2, 2026, according to Wikipedia's summary of official filings. The Washington Secretary of State's office completed signature verification on January 22, and Secretary Steve Hobbs notified the state legislature the same day.

Under state law, lawmakers had the option to approve the measure outright, reject it, propose an alternative, or simply let the session end without acting. They chose the last option. When the legislative session closed on March 12, 2026, without action, the initiative was automatically certified for the November ballot.

What the Measure Would Do

If passed, the initiative would require students to undergo a physical examination before participating in interscholastic sports, with documentation of the student's sex, according to KOMO News as reported by Breitbart. The measure defines eligibility for girls' teams around what it calls "biological males" and would bar students it defines that way from competing in some female-designated athletic activities.

Supporters say the policy protects fair competition for girls, pointing to physiological differences between males and females that affect athletic performance. This argument is made by groups like Let's Go Washington and echoed in similar ballot fights and legislation in other states.

Critics, including opponents cited by Wikipedia's sourcing, argue the measure could introduce intrusive eligibility checks into routine school physicals and risks "forced outing" of transgender students. Opponents quoted by Breitbart's account of the KOMO report say the law would "marginalize" what they describe as a small group of trans-identifying students.

Supporters are correct that male puberty produces measurable strength, speed, and lung-capacity advantages relevant to competitive sports, a point that has driven similar policy debates nationwide. Opponents are correct that mandatory physical documentation of sex at birth, tied to sports eligibility, creates a new administrative process that could expose a student's transgender status to coaches, staff, or classmates who didn't previously know. Whether that risk is significant in practice or manageable through privacy safeguards in implementation is exactly the kind of question voters will be weighing this fall. The available reporting does not establish how the state would actually enforce documentation requirements while protecting student privacy.

A Broader Campaign Fight

Opponents of the measure officially launched their campaign in mid-to-late June, according to Washington State Standard reporting carried by OPB, with "heavy backing from unions and the ACLU." That campaign is also fighting a related measure on parental rights, per the same report.

That companion measure, the "Parents' Bill of Rights," would restore provisions of a parental rights law the state legislature had repealed, according to KOMO's reporting as relayed by Breitbart. It would require schools to notify parents before offering medical services to their child, except in emergencies. It would guarantee parents the right to review education records, textbooks, and curriculum. And it would require schools to notify parents within 48 hours of any report alleging sexual misconduct by a school employee.

Let's Go Washington is backing both measures, according to Wikipedia's summary of the group's filings.

A third initiative on November's ballot would repeal Washington's new tax on high earners, sometimes called the "millionaire tax," before it takes effect. A "yes" vote would block that tax from ever going into force, though it would leave other parts of the underlying tax law intact, including sales-tax exemptions for diapers and over-the-counter medications, per KOMO's reporting.

What's Next

All three measures are locked in for the November 3, 2026 general election. Campaign spending and advertising on the sports measure and the parental rights initiative were already ramping up as of the OPB report in late June, with the ACLU and labor unions organizing opposition.

No court challenge to the ballot placement of either measure has been reported. For Washington voters, the outstanding question is less about the legal mechanics, which are settled, and more about implementation: how a school physical exam process would document sex, who would have access to that information, and what safeguards, if any, lawmakers or the initiative's drafters intend to build in if voters approve it.