A statewide ballot measure to bar transgender girls from girls school sports will almost certainly face a legal challenge if approved by voters next week, legal experts say.

In that event, as the ballot measure winds its way through the courts it could undermine state laws that have broadly prohibited discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression for two decades, opponents of the initiative say.

The measure at the center of the conversation is Initiative 638, also known as the “Defending Equity in Interscholastic Sports Act.” If enacted, I-638 would block transgender girls from competing in competitive team sports or individual events “intended for female students only” at public and some private K-12 schools. It would not impact boys school sports.

Six attorneys and a ballot initiative expert who spoke with The Seattle Times presented a range of potential scenarios if voters approve I-638: Some said that a court could declare the initiative invalid for violating the state constitution. Others said a court could allow the ballot measure to stand, a move that could open the door to rewriting other aspects of state antidiscrimination protections.

“If (I-638) passes, I fully expect that it will be challenged in the courts as violating the Washington Law Against Discrimination and some of the constitutional protections that Washington really has strengthened at the state level that are no longer available at the federal level,” said Kelli Rodriguez, an attorney and the director of the sports law program at the Seattle University School of Law.

The conservative political committee behind the measure, Let’s Go Washington, said I-638 does not aim to overwrite all state protections for transgender people — just those related to girls school sports.

More in the article.