Two proposed rule changes dealing with transgender student-athletes in Washington did not pass, but the issue certainly didn’t end with those votes.
The first proposal, labeled ML/HS #7, stated that “participation in girls’ sports would be limited to biological females,” according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association website. The second proposal, ML/HS #8, stated that “athletic programs would be offered separately for boys, girls, and an open division for all students interested.”
The WIAA’s Representative Assembly, a 53-person group of school administrators from across the state, took advisory-only votes on each after the WIAA, the state’s governing body for high-school and middle-school sports, determined earlier this month that changing the rules would contradict state law.
Results were announced Monday, with ML/HS #7 receiving 31 votes in support and 22 against, falling one vote short of reaching the 60% threshold to pass. ML/HS #8 received 13 votes supporting it and 40 votes opposing it.
Danni Askini, co-founder and executive director of the Seattle-founded Gender Justice League, said Tuesday she was happy that the proposals did not pass, but was “a little concerned at the vote count, and I’ll be honest, a little disappointed.”
“How many of the people that were voting know or have talked to a transgender young person?” Askini said. “I think that a lot of what’s happening is scapegoating and fearmongering with no relationships.”
Lynden High School Superintendent David VanderYacht, whose district was one of 14 to sign on to submit ML/HS #7 and one of seven to sign on to submit ML/HS #8, said the “results are an indication of why this is an important conversation for communities to have.”
“I kind of wonder what the narrative would be, or what the discussion would be, if we would have had one more vote (on ML/HS #7),” he said. “Would there have been a greater willingness for the majority of the state and people in decision-making positions to continue the conversation? I was encouraged by the majority in support of (ML/HS #7) and I think it led to a lot of discussion across communities, and I hope that we continue to have this conversation.”
VanderYacht said the issue comes down to “two things that are true but are in conflict with one another: participation for all and fairness in competition.”
“We all benefit from being in community and involved in activities aligned with the peer group for which they most closely connect with,” he said. “Sports and activities are excellent vehicles for young people to make connections and be in relationship with others.”
But addressing fairness in competition, he said: “It is clear to our girl athletes that competing against other athletes who have gone through male puberty is unfair. They asked us to address it, and the Lynden School Board is attempting to do so in a manner that respects and honors the dignity of all students.”
Askini said that while she understands people’s individual concerns about trans people’s participation in sports, she said, “this is largely about excluding trans people from public spaces.”
“If there’s concern about quote-unquote unfair advantages, there are a lot of ways to solve these issues on a one-on-one level, between parents and students, to find a way to allow trans young people to be a part of their community, to play sports and feel included and present, and also to address concerns about fairness and competition,” Askini said.
“Our position is that making a statewide policy of exclusion is using a nuclear weapon to solve an issue that’s only affecting five transgender young people who are participating in sports (in Washington) that can be solved in an informal fashion, with currently existing processes as opposed to excluding a whole category of people from participation.”
Askini said she expects there will be a push to get the issue on the state ballot, and she is concerned about the spotlight that would be on five transgender high-school athletes in the state. WIAA executive director Mick Hoffman told The Times in February the organization knew of only five transgender athletes in the state.
The WIAA was the first state association in the nation to craft a policy on transgender athletes in 2007 and allowed students to participate consistent with their gender identity.
“I think what that gets lost when people make this an intellectual exercise and ideological debate … is that one side is five children and the other side is thousands and thousands of adults that are pushing a moral panic and an ideological sense of exclusion,” she said.
VanderYacht said he would like to see the proposals submitted again to the WIAA, but said what he would really like is for lawmakers to come together “and say, what is best for transgender student athletes and what is best for our biological girls that are competing in sports.”
“Can we get past the accusations and the simplicity of things, and really get into the complexity of this circumstance?” he said. “Is there a path that is more workable?”