Meade School District condemns transgender girls’ participation in sports and passes resolution at board meeting

The Meade School Board condemned the participation of transgender girls in school sports in a resolution approved unanimously Monday night.

Meade is joining other school districts in an effort to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports in Washington schools.

The resolution cites the safety of female athletes and “fairness in competition” in justifying their stance against “biological males” competing in “biological female competition categories.”

“The Meade School District recognizes the inherent biological and physiological differences that exist between male and female students,” the resolution states. “These differences give male students an advantage in physical fitness in athletic competition.”

The evening meeting at the Meade Events Complex drew a large crowd, with some forced to speak about the resolution and others supporting the union rally that took place before the meeting.

More than a dozen people spoke in support of the resolution, thanking district officials for raising the issue. Speakers spoke of safety and fairness, with some describing the hopelessness felt by cisgender female athletes competing against transgender female athletes.

Meade High School graduate Becky Clark was one of those speakers. She described competing in women’s sports at Meade in an era before Title IX, passed in 1972 to prevent gender discrimination in public school sports.

“When I finished the Title IX fight, I thought it was all over, that the girls were safe,” Clark said. “That’s no longer the case. Now I have to get up and fight again.”

State laws and Title IX classify transgender identity as a protected class.

Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle spoke in support of the resolution because his city council district has some overlap with the Mead School District.

“This is about fairness for female athletes,” Bingle said, wearing a T-shirt that read “Protect Women’s Sports.” “This is about ensuring that the next generation of young women can compete safely and their hard work, dedication and talent will be rewarded rather than undermined by forces beyond their control.”

No one spoke out against this resolution.

Reading a statement after its passage, Council Vice President Bree-Anne Gray said the resolution was not intended for students, but rather for the adults at the regulatory level who implement and enforce the policy.

“Children didn’t make these rules, adults broke them,” Gray read. “Our job as adults is to correct them and protect our female athletes.”

The passage does not lead to any changes in Mead’s involvement in sports politics. The state’s main governing body for high school athletics, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, allows students to play on the team “that matches their gender identity.” This means that transgender girls play on girls’ teams and transgender boys play on boys’ teams.

The resolution adds Mead to the list of school districts supporting an attempt to amend this WIAA policy by limiting women’s teams to athletes assigned female at birth. The Linden School District in northwest Washington proposed the initial amendment Oct. 7, with 13 other school districts supporting it, according to the district’s website. Other supporting areas include Eastmont Wenatchee, Moses Lake and College Place, near Walla Walla.

In recent years, lawmakers in 25 states have proposed restricting transgender participation in athletics; the first was adopted in Idaho in 2020. This and other laws face legal challenges; A federal appeals court prevented the Idaho law from going into effect with an outstanding injunction. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador asked the U.S. Supreme Court in July to review the injunction.

The topic of transgender girls playing sports is gaining attention around the world and locally, gaining momentum this summer in Washington after a transgender girl from East Valley High School won a state track meet. The school administration supports the student and her sports activities.

For a WIAA amendment to pass, 60% of the association’s members must vote in favor of the amendment. The association is made up of 53 school administrators representing the association’s nine member districts.