The organization that oversees Washington state high school athletics says its hands are tied by state law, not its own policy preferences, after a protest by Camas High School runners thrust the state’s transgender athlete rules into national view.
About a dozen female cross-country runners at Camas High School walked off the course Tuesday rather than compete against a male runner who had switched from the boys’ team to the girls’ team mid-season.
In a statement to OutKick, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) said it cannot adopt a policy barring males from girls’ sports even if its own membership votes to do so, because such a change would be “in violation of Washington state law.”
“In the last two years, through the association’s amendment process, three amendments have been proposed to alter the gender-identity participation policies. Those amendments did not meet the 60% threshold to pass. Nevertheless, even if the amendments had met the threshold and passed, the WIAA cannot implement a policy that is in violation of Washington state law and the amendments proposed would have violated state law,” the WIAA said. “If state law changes, the WIAA Executive Board will revise policies as necessary to remain in compliance with state law.”
The WIAA described itself as a membership-driven association whose rules are written by its member schools, and said its gender-identity participation policy, found at Rule 18.16.0 of the WIAA Handbook, has been in place since the 2007-08 school year, adopted specifically to align with state law.
According to the WIAA, Handbook section 18.16.0 directs school personnel to work with a student collaboratively to determine eligibility but sets no timeline for a student switching teams. Separately, section 17.11 sets minimum practice requirements, and section 18.2.1 requires a student be deemed eligible by a sport’s 50% date to compete in the postseason. The WIAA noted it runs state tournaments but does not manage day-to-day league or district events.
A ballot measure looms
Washington voters will decide the underlying policy question themselves on Nov. 3, when Initiative 638 appears on the statewide ballot. The measure would bar students the initiative defines as biologically male from competing in certain female-only school sports categories, in both individual and team events, and would require a signed statement from a healthcare provider verifying biological sex through reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup or naturally produced testosterone levels.
The initiative reached the ballot after state lawmakers declined to act on it during the 2026 session. Earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen and House Speaker Laurie Jinkins said they would not hold hearings on the sports measure or a separate parental-rights initiative.
“I’m certain that we will not be passing either of those initiatives,” Pedersen said, according to the Washington State Standard. “They’ll be up to the voters to decide.”
Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the legislature and control the governor’s office. Gov. Bob Ferguson has come out against Initiative 638.
“Washingtonians should know that I-638 won’t create opportunities for girls, but it will force them into invasive sex verification exams in order to participate in sports,” Ferguson said in a Sept. 29 statement published by the opposition campaign, No Hate in WA State.
Backers of the initiative, led by Let’s Go Washington, dispute that characterization, saying the measure does not require genital examinations and that verification could be handled through the sports-physical process already in place. They say the measure would preserve fair competition and opportunities for girls while leaving transgender students free to compete in categories matching their sex. Opponents counter that the measure would exclude transgender girls and impose new medical and privacy burdens on girls who want to play school sports.
Supreme Court ruling didn’t change Washington law
After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld other states’ restrictions on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports in landmark June rulings, Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said those decisions did not alter Washington law. The agency said Superintendent Chris Reykdal would keep enforcing the state’s current policy allowing students to compete consistent with their gender identity.
“Today’s decision reinforces Washington state’s ability to adopt and implement our own laws in alignment with our values,” Reykdal said in a June 30 statement.
That distinction matters for families pushing for a different rule: a Supreme Court decision permitting other states to restrict participation does not, on its own, change what is allowed in Washington.
The Nov. 3 vote also comes as the state faces other disputes over the issue, including a lawsuit by a female wrestler alleging she was sexually assaulted by a transgender wrestler during a match last December. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in that case.
