Gender Justice League, a Seattle-based LGBTQ advocacy group, told KUOW on Thursday that it may challenge the ban on privacy grounds, though the group has yet to formally announce a lawsuit.

“We are having active conversations with our partners and also evaluating what legal options are available to us. If there is an avenue, we will challenge this ballot measure in court on behalf of our members and our community and trans youth,” said Danni Askini, the group’s executive director.

She said Gender Justice League would challenge the measure, Initiative 638, based on a 2008 student privacy rights case that ruled that Washington schools requiring suspicionless urine testing of students was unconstitutional.

“We believe that the Washington constitution and the Supreme Court have been really clear that I-638 would go far beyond a random drug screening and invade all girls’ privacy,” Askini said, adding that the measure “sets a really chilling and disturbing precedent.”

Washington’s ban, which is set to go into effect on Dec. 3, the deadline for the Secretary of State to verify election results, currently has 57% of the vote. Though thousands of votes were left to tally on Thursday, the Associated Press called the race Wednesday evening.

The ban would require girls to obtain a genital exam, a hormone test, or a chromosome test to verify their birth sex before they could participate on a girls’ school sports team. It would be a philosophical shift for Washington state, which for nearly 20 years has allowed students to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

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[–] 3 points 21 hours ago (1 child)

I hope someone can find a good angle for a challenge. SCOTUS already ruled that similar laws in other states don't violate Title IX or the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, so those avenues are out.

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    [–] 19 points 10 hours ago

    "we'll keep sports fair and protect little girls by exposing themselves to adults"

    Fucking brilliant.

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  • [–] 17 points 10 hours ago (1 child)

    According to the initiative, students would have several options to confirm their sex: a visual genital exam, a lab test to determine their genetic makeup, or an analysis of testosterone levels in the blood. The genital exam, which a medical professional can conduct without touching the child, would likely be the most accessible option for most kids.

    But it’s unclear who would conduct the exams, when they should take place, or how to enforce the policy.

    Any parent that isn't angry at the thought of their children possibly having their genitals inspected by school probably should have questions asked about their parenting

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  • [–] 1 point 5 hours ago

    I need to play devil's advocate here. I need to preface with I agree with what you're saying, but from my experience as a cis male, every year I was in sports starting in 7th grade, I had to get a physical where a doctor would touch my balls and shove their figures up where they dropped checking for hernias when I coughed.

    If every athlete has to go through that same exam, it's going to be pretty obvious if someone has male genitalia. I don't think that a doctor should be required to or be legally able to speak on the makeup of someone's genitals, but I also am not sure on how this is handled if it's enforced legally.

    Again, I agree that this is bad policy and anti trans, and I disagree with it.

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  • [–] 16 points 10 hours ago

    There better fucking be

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  • [–] 13 points 9 hours ago (1 child)

    I fuckin' hope so. Shame on the Washington voters who voted for this.

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  • Seriously! My only hope (and assumption) is that no one really read or thought about the bill, they just saw it talking about “keeping biological males out of women’s school sports” and decided it would be more fair if men weren’t in there, without considering that “biological male” almost always means trans women in this context.

    Even if that is the case, I’m insanely disappointed that so many people didn’t actually do research before they voted.

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