Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal spoke in defense of transgender athletes in girls sports in an address Thursday, claiming it was “inaccurate” to say there are only two genders.
“It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls,” Reykdal said.
“There’s a continuum. There’s a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth.”
“That’s not a debate we’re going to have today. I just want to remind you of our civil rights obligations. Our state laws make clear that children get to identify and participate based on the gender in which they identify. We’re going to uphold that law.”
Reykdal served three terms as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 22nd district.
While criticizing President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that prohibits schools from allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports, Reykdal cited a statistic of how many transgender athletes there are in his state.
“Out of nearly a quarter million kids participating in interscholastic athletics and activities in the state of Washington, roughly five to 10 youth have identified themselves as trans participating in those activities,” Reykdal said.
“If we can’t accommodate the needs of five or 10 people — whether there’s privacy access for and a privacy opportunity for all students, that’s what our laws and rules say — if we can’t do that then who are we?”
Reykdal insisted Trump did not have the authority as president to issue a ban on trans athletes in girls sports but conceded the U.S. Congress does.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a bill in Congress that would carry out similar requirements as Trump’s order and has already passed in the House of Representatives.
It hasn’t gone to a vote in the Senate yet.
“Until Congress changes the law or our state legislature changes the law, we’re going to follow the current law and the current civil rights framework of this state, and that’s what it tells us to do,” Reykdal said.
Washington’s high school athletes are allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy states that each athlete will participate in programs “consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed,” and there are no medical or legal requirements.
Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women’s sports have been introduced but not passed.
However, the issue became so concerning for residents, that in December the WIAA announced a proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in.
“In order to maintain fair and equitable competition, participation in girls’ sports and girls’ divisions of sports is restricted to students who were assigned female at birth. The purpose of this policy is to offer clarity with respect to the participation of trans and gender-diverse student-athletes. Additionally, this policy encourages a culture in which student-athletes can compete in a safe and supportive environment, free of discrimination,” the proposal said.
That proposal came weeks after the Central Valley School Board, which oversees schools in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington, voted to send a message to the WIAA over the issue after debate at a school board meeting.
The resolution, “Supporting Equity and Safety in Female Sports,” claims the entire board is comprised of female members who have either competed in athletics themselves or have daughters who competed in athletics.
One of the women, an unidentified current cross-country runner, shared her experience during that hearing.
“When I ran cross-country for Greenacres Middle School, a boy who was biologically male but identified as female competed on the girls team,” she said.”
While I respect everyone’s right to participate in sports, the situation made me question the fairness of competing (with) someone who had the physical advantage associated with male biology.”
In May, a trans athlete competed in a girls cross-country championship and won.
The athlete won the 400-meter heat race in the girls division with a time of 55.59 seconds.
The second-place runner finished at 58.83 seconds.
In the finals, the trans athlete won with a time of 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner, who finished with 56.75.
This week, a civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete.
The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for “misgendering” the opponent and violating the district’s policies against bullying and harassment.
According to the document, prior to a game, Staudt asked the school’s principal and athletic director whether a player was a biological male.
The administrators then allegedly confirmed they were notified the player was transgender but denied her pleas to have the player removed.
Staudt removed herself from the game.
President Trump’s Department of Education has already launched Title IX investigations into the state high school athletic conferences in California, Minnesota and Maine for their refusal to comply with his executive order.
