SEATTLE — The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) opened its voting period Wednesday for policies aimed at changing the participation of transgender athletes in sports.
Under its current rules, the WIAA allows athletes to participate on teams that align with their gender identity. Multiple school districts submitted proposed amendments to the WIAA handbook in 2024, looking to change the policy.
Voting, which takes place through a secure online voting platform, for the two amendments will close April 18. The results of WIAA's voting will be published April 21.
WIAA said in a release Wednesday Amendment No. 7 and Amendment No. 8 will not be implemented if they pass because the agency said it can't implement a policy that "knowingly violates state law."
Proposed Amendment No. 7 would specifically ban transgender girls from participating in girls' sports, or girls' sports divisions with athletes assigned female at birth. The amendment text said the purpose of the rule would be to "maintain fair and equitable participation" by addressing concerns about "potential physical advantages" of trans athletes.
The amendment is supposedly modeled after a program in Alaska that restricts participation in girls' sports but has replaced boys' sports with an open division for all student athletes who want to participate. The amendment itself acknowledges there may be challenges in enforcing the rule, running into privacy and ethical concerns when it comes to verifying the biological sex of athletes.
Proposed Amendment No. 8 would create a third division of sports teams, an "open division," for trans athletes to participate in. The amendment would restrict both boys' and girls' sports to athletes who were assigned that sex at birth, and trans athletes wanting to play on teams according to their gender identity could participate in the open division. This amendment specifically cites the 2024 WIAA Track and Field championship, where a trans female athlete won over a cisgender female athlete in the finals of a race.
Here are the school districts that submitted amendments No. 7 and No. 8 to the WIAA handbook:
Amendment 7:
- Lynden School District
- Blaine School District
- Brewster School District
- Cashmere School District
- Colville School District
- Grand Coulee Dam School District
- Lake Chelan School District
- Lynden Christian School
- Mansfield School District
- Mead School District
- Okanogan School District
- Omak School District
- Oroville School District
- Tonasket School District.
Amendment 8:
- Eastmont School District
- Cashmere School District
- Colville School District
- Lynden School District
- Mead School District
- Moses Lake School District
- Thorp School District
David VanderYacht, superintendent of the Lynden School District, said in December 2024 a transgender female's victory in the 2A state track championship stirred up controversy, leading the school board to direct him to take action.
Along with other school officials, VanderYacht worked to create the two proposals.
“It did create some energy in our community," VanderYacht said. "Some dialogue around fairness and support that ultimately resulted in Lynden School District Board of directors passing a resolution directing me to work within the WIAA amendment process to develop a proposal that would protect the integrity of girls' sports while also honoring the dignity of all student athletes."
WIAA members will also vote on 14 other amendments during this period. If they pass, WIAA said the amendments would be implemented Aug. 1.