Washington and Colorado Voters Will Decide Trans Sports Bans

Voters in Washington and Colorado, two states whose Democratic legislatures declined to pass restrictions of this kind, will decide on Nov. 3 whether to bar transgender girls from girls' school sports, the Associated Press reported Saturday.

Washington's Initiative 638 would require a healthcare provider to verify a student's sex, relying only on reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or naturally produced testosterone levels. Backers at Let's Go Washington describe that as a checkbox; opponents say it invites genital examination or costly testing. Colorado's Proposition 134 reaches college competition as well as school sports.

The money is lopsided in both directions. Let's Go Washington, funded by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, has raised more than $7.8 million across three measures, nearly double its opponents. In Colorado, opponents of Proposition 134 have raised close to $4 million, more than twenty times what proponents have.

A June Quinnipiac poll found roughly seven in ten registered voters opposed to transgender women and girls competing on female teams, with Democrats about evenly split; there is no public polling on the Colorado measure. The development worth marking is the venue. After the Supreme Court upheld state bans earlier this year, the fight is moving from the bench to the electorate, and advocates on both sides are treating these two states as the proof of concept.