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A school district in the state with a Democratic governor voted to keep biological boys out of women's sports.
Washington's Kirsen School District voted 3-2 to maintain sports competition based on athletes' birth gender.
The ruling contradicts the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy enacted in 2007, allowing transgender students to participate based on their gender identity.
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House GOP members and female athletes mark the passage of women and girls' protections in sports law in Washington, DC, April 20, 2023 (Chip Somode Villa)
According to Fox 13, board member Ron Frantz said “Title IX is the law,” and sports should be maintained based on birth gender.
But another member, Vivian Kuehl, said that it was “immoral” to keep trans women away from girls and women's sports, according to the Seattle Times.
The vote took place on May 7th. State governor Bob Ferguson defeated Republican candidate Dave Reihart in November. The state had no Republican governor since John Spellman from 1981 to 1985.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to keep biological boys out of girls and women's sports, but Washington's public leadership superintendent Chris Lakedal said the order is against state law.
“State law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and will not step back from it,” Lakedal said at the time.
Later that month, Lakedal said it was “inaccurate” to say there were only two genders.
The state has introduced a bill that prohibits trans athletes from participating in women's and women's sports, but has not passed.
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However, the issue was so concerned with residents that WIAA announced in December its proposal to create another open division for trans athletes to compete.
In May, a trans athlete competed in the Women's Cross Country Championship and won.
The athlete won the 400-meter heat race in the women's division in 55.59 seconds. The runner in second place finished in 58.83 seconds. In the final, the Transathlete won with a time of 55.75 seconds.
In February, on behalf of a Washington teenage girl, a civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Office, allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game with a trans athlete.
The Tanwater School District in Washington said it is investigating 15-year-old Francis Stoast for “misunderstanding” the other party and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment, according to the complaint.
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Several other states have violated Trump's executive order on the issue, with Maine temporarily losing federal funds.
Jackson Thompson of Fox News contributed to this report.
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