Gender inclusivity and transgender athletes competing in girls sports dominated Thursday’s Lynden School Board meeting, with members approving letters urging legislators and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to review current law and policies.
The WIAA’s existing guidelines allow for full participation for trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse students in the division of the gender they “most consistently expressed.” The policy aligns with state laws that protect transgender students from discrimination in school, including in sports and physical education.
The school board directed Lynden Superintendent David VanderYacht in June to pursue an amendment to WIAA’s gender participation guidelines after controversy arose when a transgender girl won a state track championship in June.
The first letter, to legislators Sharon Shewmake, Alicia Rule and Joe Timmons, requests clear legislative guidance on how to navigate transgender students participating in sports, informed by “scientific evidence” and considering what other states are doing. It also asks them to advocate for legislative measures allowing transgender athlete participation with necessary “safeguards to ensure fair competition for girls.”
The second letter requests WIAA initiate a thorough review of existing laws; advocate for legislative measures to “allow all athletes to participate in high school sports while also implementing necessary safeguards to ensure fair competition”; and collaborate with school districts to develop inclusive policies.
Sean Bessette, WIAA director of communications, said the association has heard concerns on its gender identity participation policies over the last two years.
“Our office is conducting a legal review of the policies in place, evaluating the possibilities within Washington state law, but the membership writes the rules of the Association,” he said.
Lynden’s draft letters to the WIAA and local legislators. Board members struck the “education and awareness” section from the letter to the legislators at the Thursday, Sept. 5 board meeting.
Fourteen states (including Washington) and Washington, D.C., allow transgender students to compete in K-12 sports consistent with their gender identity as of July 30, according to LGBTQ+ education organization GLSEN. Eight states have policies that impose some restrictions on transgender inclusion in high school sports, while 27 have policies that exclude trans youth from competing consistent with their gender identity.
VanderYacht told CDN that this is a “complicated and potentially contentious issue” and young people “deserve the adults that are in leadership positions to process through and work towards a resolution on this.”
“It’s two things at play here. We want to honor the dignity of all students and provide opportunity …” he said. “At the same time, we want to protect the integrity of girls sports that we’ve worked so hard for, and make sure all those opportunities are there.”
VanderYacht said he’s also motivated to keep young people out of situations that might harm them. He expressed concerns about a young trans athlete who’s following all the guidelines but may end up becoming a “lightning rod” for national conversations.
He said he is worried that these efforts will be interpreted as working to be “restrictive” toward trans students. “That’s not the intent,” he said. “The intent is trying to make it work for everybody.”
School board members struck an “education and awareness” section from the letter to legislators, to focus more on the “very specific intent of this letter,” which board member Ken Owsley described as, “we don’t want biological males competing against biological females in K-12 sports.”
Adri Tiesinga, a 2015 Lynden High School graduate, wrote a critical article in the Lynden Tribune this week on board members’ opposition to transgender student participation in sports. Tiesinga said they’re “relieved” that both letters “express a desire to navigate the inclusion of transgender athletes with ‘understanding’ and ‘respect,'” but remained skeptical given previous statements in opposition to transgender inclusion.
“I hope to be proven wrong as this conversation about transgender inclusion progresses,” Tiesinga told CDN in an email.
Tiesinga said they are unaware of any transgender athletes at Lynden in the last five years, and questioned why this is a pressing concern given that fact. VanderYacht told CDN he was not aware of any transgender athletes at Lynden at this time.
“I think it’s fine for the school board to participate in the statewide conversation, because it’s an important topic that needs to be discussed,” Tiesinga said. “However, I worry that the framing of the letters might serve to further ostracize transgender students in a city that often does not treat LGBTQ+ people with the respect they deserve as human beings.”
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
