SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — In the continuing conversation about transgender athletes in high schools, a Spokane Valley parent voiced a complaint at this week’s city council meeting.
The complaint was about a transgender athlete at East Valley High School participating in girls sports.
It’s just one of the latest that have led school districts across the state, including some in the Inland Northwest, to urge the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to consider two amendments.
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One amendment would allow separate athletic programs for boys and girls, with an open division for all students. The other amendment states that participation in girls’ sports would be limited to biological females.
Current WIAA policy allows transgender athletes to participate on the sports team that best fits their gender identity.
Paul Swift’s daughter competes on West Valley’s track and field team. While at a recent track meet for his daughter, Swift said he was surprised to see a transgender athlete competing with the girls, because he thought it was no longer allowed under federal law.
“I was at the track meet recently and I kind of saw one of the events, and I looked up and I had to do a double take,” he said.
Swift voiced his support for the amendments at the Spokane Valley City Council meeting, saying they are necessary to protect female athletes.
“A boy competing takes a spot from their own team, from another girl. Then you compete in the race, and some people think, oh, it’s just a race. There are eight lanes out here. Second through eighth were girls, they didn’t get to take first place,” Smith told 4 News Now.
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However, even if these amendments were to pass, they would not be implemented. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction have informed the WIAA that it must follow state law, which focuses on gender identity participation rather than federal law.
The WIAA began the voting period Wednesday, and the voting will wrap up on April 18, with results published on April 21.
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