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# Measure to require "biological sex" verification for all WA girls’ sports athletes on November ballot
- URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-measure-1l26638-school-athletics-biological-sex/
- Published: 2026-10-15T23:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T00:15:42.000Z
- Description: If passed, the hedgefund-millionaire-backed ballot measure would enact one of the nation’s strictest examination requirements for girls’ athletics.
- Author: Erin Sellers
- Tags: Election 2026

The state athletics association knows [of fewer than 10](https://www.kuow.org/politics/2026-06-04/transgender-ballot-initiative-could-require-genital-exams-for-wa-secondary-school-students?ref=rangemedia.co) transgender athletes competing in sports across the entirety of Washington. Voters will soon be asked to decide if those athletes — and every other girl athlete in the state — should have to undergo a biological sex verification process in order to compete in school sports. 

Let’s Go Washington, the conservative political action committee funded by multimillionaire and hedgefund manager Brian Heywood, has marketed the initiative as a necessary measure to “protect fairness in girls’ sports,” by keeping transgender girls from competing against their cisgender peers. 

The ballot measure will appear on ballots in November under the label “No. IL26-638,” stating that it would prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” from competing in girls’ sports and “require verification of biological sex by students’ healthcare providers.”

That means that any girl wanting to play sports — not just transgender girls, or those accused of being transgender — would have to have her biological sex verified by a doctor before competing. According to the ballot measure, doctors would have to add an additional step to verify the student’s sex during routine sports physical examinations, relying on at least one of the following: “the student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”

If passed, this would stand as one of the [most restrictive](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/washington-state-trans-girls-sports-ballot/?ref=rangemedia.co) school trans sports bans in the country because it requires sex verification from every single student wanting to play girls’ sports, rather than just those who have faced eligibility challenges from opponents. The ballot measure comes before voters as part of a [national push](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/trans-athletes-sports-ballot-measures/?ref=rangemedia.co) to use citizen initiatives to overrule progressive legislatures that have thus far refused to ban trans girls from girls’ sports, with Colorado and Arizona facing down similar proposals. Measures in Maine and Nevada were withdrawn after signature challenges and legal delays. 

This is how the [measure](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7327) will look on your ballot:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-34f95389-7c7c-48ac-9f53-63d5b0d13c10.png)

### What would this change?

Supporters of the ballot measure have argued that little would change from the normal physical examination process girls already go through to participate in sports.

Dr. Erica Li, a Spokane-based pediatrician who writes Substack articles against “transgender medicine,” and a vocal [supporter](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Argument%20Prepared%20By) of the measure, [told *Vox*](https://www.vox.com/politics/501579/transgender-washington-midterms-ballot-measure-girls-sports-athlete?ref=rangemedia.co) that it would not “pose any barriers to any female” seeking to participate in school athletics. 

“A doctor will simply check a box on a physical form that already exists to confirm a child’s sex,” the frequently asked questions section of Let’s Go Washington [reads](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-638). “They can use existing medical history knowledge, the existing medical history form, or any other method the doctor and patient deem is best to check the box on the sports physical form.”

Dr. Libby Loft, a board-certified family physician in Spokane who has performed physical exams for students, thinks this argument is disingenuous. 

“ It is not currently part of the process of a physical exam for a sports physical to do any examination of a girl's genitals,” Loft said. “ If you want a measure that says your doctor can just check a box, then write a measure that says that.”

RANGE found no existing box to check upon review of the [form](https://wiaa-dna4aga5arc0gyeb.westus2-01.azurewebsites.net/results/Forms/PPE-Physical-Examination-Form.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the state athletics organization currently requires for sports participation. Doctors may not have standard processes to verify a student’s sex during physical examinations since they are not required to say what gender a student is when filling out the current form. 

The actual language of the measure would require an additional and potentially invasive process, during which doctors would have to physically verify a student’s reproductive anatomy, or administer tests to determine genetic makeup or naturally-produced testosterone levels. Birth certificates would not be considered qualifying verification material. 

The current physical examination process requires medical providers to test for things like a healthy heart rate, vision issues and musculoskeletal weaknesses, said Kelsey Gellner, a nurse practitioner and Washington State Nurses Association board member. Sometimes, they’re done by primary care providers, but often, students are seen by providers at pharmacies like CVS, urgent care offices or even school gyms at free clinics with volunteer providers. Students usually keep their clothes on for these, said Gellner, who has volunteered to do physical screenings.

“There's nothing invasive,” she said. “You can do this entire examination while they are wearing their clothes.”

If the measure were to pass, that could change: Doctors could be required to view and verify girls’ genitals.

“ I don't think the folks who wrote this understand science and anatomy the best, but reproductive anatomy is not on the outside of a girl's body,” said Loft. “It would be very invasive to try to determine somebody's gender or sex based on an internal pelvic exam, and totally inappropriate.”

There are other options identified in the measure — DNA testing to identify chromosomes or natural testosterone level checks. However, the state wouldn’t bear the costs of running these tests for girls who opt to go that route instead. 

“ Both of those would have to be ordered by a provider, and they're not medically necessary. So the first issue is: who pays for this?” Gellner said. “ It is very hard to find someone who will do those tests when those tests are medically necessary, and it is very hard to get insurance to cover those when they are medically necessary. To get them to be covered when they aren't deemed medically necessary and it's for sports purposes would be very restrictive.”

It’s also unclear how the passage of the measure could impact [intersex](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex?ref=rangemedia.co) students, who have chromosomes, hormone levels, internal reproductive organs or external genitals with features that aren’t typically male or female. 

A few hours after our interview, Loft, who has two daughters in gymnastics texted RANGE. 

“I’ve been thinking of Larry Nasser all afternoon,” she wrote. “He’s barely in the rearview mirror; we don’t need to open the door for predators to have a reason to examine girls’ privates outside of a specific gynecological concern that medically needs to be addressed.”

### A costly campaign 

Despite the extremely low number of trans athletes estimated to be competing across the state (and to be clear, some of those athletes are likely transgender boys playing boys’ sports), millions of dollars have been pumped into the fight here in Washington.

Let’s Go Washington has raised nearly $3.8 million to support its slate of three initiatives (read up on those here and here), and No Hate in WA State has raised $2.1 million to oppose both this measure and the Parents Bill of Rights measure.

If you estimate a third of the Let’s Go Washington funding is going to support this specific measure, and assume the number of trans athletes wanting to compete in girls’ sports on the high end at 10, proponents of the initiative are spending $125,891 per athlete. Or, considering there were [79,020](https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1022696/x/85a6414d04/2024-25-nfhs-high-school-athletics-participation-survey.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) total high school girls athletes as of the 2024-2025 school year, that’s as little as $16 per high school-aged girl who will have to get their biological sex certified; though it could be higher — the study double-counted students who participated in multiple sports. Even at the lower end, it’s still much cheaper than the [cost](https://www.mdsave.com/procedures/chromosome-analysis/d284f5c5?ref=rangemedia.co) of a chromosome analysis or testosterone level [test](https://www.ondemand.labcorp.com/lab-tests/comprehensive-testosterone-test?srsltid=AU7gw4U27DnCq2ScxmtS0tGipJgkdofWDBdxi4RDRiYQXrrwZ6ixYuCs&ref=rangemedia.co). 

### Support and opposition

Chief supporters of the measure include multiple Young Republican groups, the Washington chapter of Moms for Liberty, conservative media personality Brandi Kruse and national organizations fighting to exclude trans women and girls from participating in sports, like Save Women’s Sports, XX XY Athletics and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender. 

Local donors to the Let’s Go Washington political action committee — which supports all three of their ballot measures — include [Harley Douglass](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/18/trial-paints-late-harlan-douglass-titan-of-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) Inc ($20,000), construction company Divcon Inc. ($10,000) and President of the Cowles Company (which has historically owned the *Spokesman-Review* and the Riverfront mall) William “Stacey” Cowles ($5,000).

The opposition campaign has been [endorsed](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-638?ref=rangemedia.co) by the WA State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the Washington State Nurses Association, the WA State Parent Teacher Association and more than 100 family doctors and other medical professionals. 

Spokane-area donations to the No Hate in WA State political action committee are all $250 or under, and include contributions from an Eastern Washington University professor, a Spokane Public School district teacher and former 3rd Legislative District political candidate Dr. Pam Kohlmeier. 

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