Initiative 638 is a Washington ballot initiative proposing to amend state law to prohibit transgender girls from competing in some school athletic activities intended for females, and to require healthcare providers to verify a student's biological sex to determine eligibility. Supporters argue the measure would preserve fair competition and equal athletic opportunity for cisgender girls due to the sports-relevant sex differences in human physiology, while critics warn it would add intrusive eligibility checks to school physicals and could put students at risk of forced outing.
Background On June 2, 2025, the organization Let's Go Washington, led by Brian Heywood, filed the petition with the Washington secretary of state's office. The petition was cleared to begin gathering signatures on June 13, with it receiving a serial number, ballot title, and ballot summary the same day. On January 2, 2026, the group submitted 445,187 signatures to be reviewed. State law requires the Office of the Secretary of State to conduct a sample search of 3% of the submitted signatures; signature verification was completed on January 22, and Secretary of State Steve Hobbs notified the legislature on that day. The state legislature could have approved the measure, rejected it, passed an alternative measure accompanying it, or taken no action; if a measure is rejected, or if no action is taken, it is then certified for the ballot. As the legislature did not act on the measure before its session ended on March 12, 2026, it will appear on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
The group Let's Go Washington is also backing a measure seeking to rollback changes that the state legislature made in 2025, that changed a parental rights law it had initiated.
No Hate in WA State, which opposes the initiative, has argued that its provisions could subject all students to unnecessary medical examinations or testing. Let’s Go Washington rejects these arguments, claiming there are several ways sex could be verified, but conceded that the initiative's text does not explicitly name these. Concerns have also been raised that the initiative does not detail how schools would carry out the verification process, who would bear the costs of any medical or genetic testing, how cases involving intersex students would be handled or what would happen if a girl lacks a regular family doctor and therefore would not have medical records on file verifying their sex. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has reported that it knows of approximately 10 transgender middle and high-school athletes among more than 200,000 student-athletes statewide.
In August 2026, the American Academy of Pediatrics asked that references to themselves be removed from voter guides by Let's Go Washington. The voter guide cited an AAP recommendation that children get routine exams for unrelated reasons to support its arguments that doctors would use such exams to verify biological sex. The AAP said they had not given permission for their name to be used in the voter guide and expressed concern that the way the language was written could mislead voters into thinking the AAP supports the ballot measure. Let's Go Washington refused to remove the AAP reference.
Contents On the ballot, Washington voters will be shown the following question and information:Initiative Measure No. IL26-638
Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 concerns participation in athletics at K-12 schools.
This measure would prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” from competing in certain school athletic activities intended for female students only. It would require verification of biological sex by students’ healthcare providers.
Should this measure be enacted into law?
O Yes
O No
Endorsements
See also 2026 Colorado Proposition 135
References