ACLU files lawsuit over trans sports initiative in WA

A group led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington State has filed to block the implementation of Initiative 638, the law voters approved last week that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports and require a child’s sex to be verified before participation.

The ACLU, Washington Education Association, and the organization TransFamilies said the initiative requires different steps for girl athletes that are not required of boy athletes, a violation of Washington’s Equal Rights Amendment.

” I-638 also violates state constitutional procedural requirements for enacting new laws that amend existing laws. It violates this by amending the Washington Law Against Discrimination and other anti-discrimination laws that explicitly protect transgender people,” ACLU said in a release.

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The organization Lets Go Washington, funded by millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, which pushed forward two other initiatives this election, addressed the different requirements for boys versus girls, saying the US Supreme Court allowed a carve-out for “sex-based eligibility restrictions”

“Males undergo hernia checks during their routine sports physical, and a simple absence of this exam is enough for a doctor to confirm that their patient is a female,” Lets Go Washington said in a release.