Signatures Gathered By Washington PAC To Place Trans Sports Ban For High School Students On The Ballot – Genital Exams Required
Republican megadonor, Brian Heywood, is backing the initiative to root out trans girls through leveraging physical exams, and zooming in on genital inspection.
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On January 2, 2026, a far-right political committee in Washington state, formally submitted the required amount of signatures to put a trans sports ban for high school students on the ballot – with genital inspection required for verification. The measure will go before legislators at the upcoming session, which begins on January 12, and is one of two initiatives put forward by the PAC, Let’s Go Washington.
Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 specifically seeks to ban trans girls from athletic competition.
The measure, and its recent amendments, purport to defend equity in interscholastic sports. The language notes that existing Washington state law and school district policies require students to undergo routine physical exams prior to participation in interscholastic sports. It aims to root out trans individuals by “leveraging the existing physical examination process to verify biological sex.”
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“Is every single girl aged 11 and up in Washington state now supposed to have an inspection of their reproductive anatomy?” asked Shannon McCann, a middle school special ed teacher, in a video interview with KREM 2 news.
Per the Let’s Go Washington (LGW) website, 445,187 signatures have been submitted with the intent to make that happen.
Excerpt from Initiative Measure No. IL26-638
LGW was founded by Hedge fund exec and Republican megadonor Brian Heywood, who has bankrolled multiple ballot initiatives.
Several advocacy groups are working to defeat the measures. Gender Justice League has contributed over $100,000 in cash and staff time to Washington Families For Freedom (WFF), which is working to combat the threat to “some students at greater risk of abuse at home and at school through possible invasive genital exams, forced outing, and restricted access to help when they need it.”
“Trans young people deserve to hear this clearly: you are not alone, and you are not up for debate,” said Danni Askini, Executive Director of Gender Justice League in a statement released by the organization. “When politicians and wealthy ideologues try to bully kids out of public life—out of classrooms, sports teams, and our community—we meet them with organization, love, and a relentless defense of your right to exist.
The Secretary of State’s office will need to review the signatures for the Let’s Go Washington initiatives. The process is expected to take three to four weeks.
