Claim: Lynden School District proposed an amendment to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) guidelines to ban transgender students from participating in girls’ sports in Washington.

Several Washington school districts, including Lynden, backed a proposal on December 16, 2024, to restrict participation in girls’ middle and high school sports to students assigned female at birth, according to The Seattle Times, while also considering the creation of an open division for any student-athlete who wants to participate.

At the federal level, on February 5, 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing agencies to interpret Title IX in a way that limits women’s sports to biological females and warning that non-compliant institutions could face funding consequences.

State officials pushed back on that executive order. On February 6, 2025, Chris Reykdal said the order conflicted with Washington’s anti-discrimination laws, including the Washington Law Against Discrimination and statutes governing public schools.

Then, March 26 saw a formal action from the Kennewick School District Board of Directors. They voted to file a Title IX civil rights complaint against Reykdal, the OSPI, and the WIAA, arguing that state-mandated gender identity policies for sports participation and facilities conflict with federal Title IX protections and could put district funding at risk.

WIAA later declared that the proposals were advisory-only because they conflict with existing Washington state law, which allows participation consistent with gender identity. Come April 21, 2025, the results for the proposal were announced after being voted on by the WIAA’s legislative assembly. 

While the WIAA passed seven of the 16 proposed amendments, the amendment preventing transgender student-athletes in competition failed to move forward. 

Despite that, by December 2025, Lynden and other districts resubmitted a similar amendment for the 2026 WIAA cycle, according to Cascadia Daily News. However, the second proposal was again advisory-only because it conflicted with state law. Per the second proposal, eligibility would be determined by a birth certificate or an “affidavit from a licensed physician.”

According to OPB, Let’s Go Washington, a conservative group led by hedge-fund manager Brian Heywood, turned in 445,187 signatures in January 2026 to support the proposal. After reviewing them, the Secretary of State confirmed that enough of those signatures were valid, and the proposal officially moved forward to the state Legislature. 

Our Verdict: True

In April 2026, the WIAA Representative Assembly voted on 35 proposed rule changes, including one that aimed at preventing transgender participation in girls’ sports. The proposal received 29 “yes” votes and 24 “no” votes. So, it fell short of the required 60% approval and failed for the second consecutive year. 

The WIAA also reiterated that it would not implement the proposal regardless, citing existing Washington state laws that prohibit discrimination, according to the Cascadia Daily News article. Unlike the WIAA, however, the International Olympic Committee has taken a different path towards the same matter.

IOC bans transgender female athletes in the Olympics

According to the Guardian, the IOC has introduced a sweeping new policy that will reshape eligibility in women’s sport at the Olympic Games. From the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics onward, transgender women and many athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) will no longer be allowed to compete in the female category, with eligibility restricted to biological females.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the move was necessary to ensure fairness at the highest level of competition. 

“It would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category,” she said. 

“The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe. Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime.”

A key part of the policy is the introduction of mandatory, one-time SRY gene testing for athletes wishing to compete in women’s events. This screening, typically conducted by a saliva or cheek swab, will determine biological sex and serve as the primary eligibility criterion.

The ruling marks one of the most significant shifts in Olympic policy in decades, ending years of case-by-case approaches and establishing a single standard for female eligibility.

Our Fact-Checking Sources

• The Seattle Times, April 21, 2025. WA schools vote on transgender athletes: How we got here and what’s next
• The White House, February 5, 2025. Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports
• Kennewick School District Board, March 26, 2025. Title IX complaint against Washington State and others
• Kiro 7, April 23, 2025. Controversial transgender student-athlete ruling falls one vote shy of passing
• Cascadia Daily News, December 17, 2025. Trans athlete restrictions proposed again to high school sports rulemaking body
• OBP, January 4, 2026. Signatures filed for Washington initiatives on parental rights, blocking trans athletes from girls’ sports
• Cascadia Daily News, April 20, 2026. Statewide proposal on trans athlete participation in girls sports fails for second time
• The Guardian, March 26, 2026. Transgender women athletes banned from female events at Olympics by IOC