The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association estimates that of approximately 250,000 student athletes, between five and ten of them are transgender girls competing in sports. That is, at most, 0.004 percent of the student athlete population.
This November, voters will decide whether the state should subject all student athletes to genital exams to prevent the 0.004 percent from competing.
IL26-638, which qualified for the November ballot after Let's Go Washington gathered the required signatures, would prohibit students designated male at birth from competing in female-designated interscholastic sports. To enforce that prohibition, every student who wants to participate in a female-designated sport must provide a signed statement from their personal health care provider verifying their biological sex. That verification may come from a genetic test, a testosterone test, or - most likely - a genital exam.
What the exam means in practice
Washington already requires students to complete a physical before competing in interscholastic sports, and that form already includes documentation of sex assigned at birth. What the initiative adds is a mandate that a physician affirmatively certify the biological sex of every girl who wants to play sports.
The No Hate in WA State coalition, which includes the Washington State Nurses Association and Planned Parenthood, says health care professionals are clear about what that means in practice: a medically unnecessary genital or pelvic exam. They describe such an exam as potentially traumatizing, and in some cases physically harmful, particularly for younger students.
The initiative text does not specify what happens when a student's anatomy, genetics, and testosterone levels do not align - as can be the case for intersex students and transgender students at various stages of medical transition. It does not establish what a school does when verification is disputed, what appeals process exists, or how conflicts between a physician's assessment and a student's documentation are resolved.
What the research shows
The Trevor Project surveys LGBTQ young people annually. Its 2025 report, based on responses from more than 16,000 LGBTQ people ages 13 to 24, found that 36 percent seriously considered suicide in the past year, including 40 percent of transgender and nonbinary young people. One in ten attempted suicide. Ninety percent said recent anti-LGBTQ laws, policies, and debates caused them stress or anxiety. Nearly 80 percent said it made them feel unsafe.
IL26-638 would encode in Washington State law that some students are different - and that might encourage school administrators, coaches, teachers, and the rest of the student body to treat them differently. IL26-638 would become the legal backdrop in every public school, strengthening safety and security for some students, and reducing it for others.
The Trevor Project research is direct about what that environment does. Anti-LGBTQ laws and political rhetoric affect how LGBTQ youth are treated, which contributes to increased suicide risk.
Who's funding this?
According to Public Disclosure Commission filings, Let's Go Washington has raised $1.9 million to advance IL26-638 and its companion measure, IL26-001, which concerns parental rights in public schools.
Brian Heywood, a Mercer Island hedge fund manager, is Let's Go Washington's founder and its largest donor by a substantial margin. PDC records show that as of March 2026, Let's Go Washington has spent more than $22 million on Washington State ballot campaigns since 2023, with Heywood personally contributing more than $13.4 million of that total.
He is currently running a third initiative this cycle. IP26-645 would repeal Washington's newly enacted 9.9% income tax on households earning more than $1 million annually, a tax that Heywood would pay. Let's Go Washington launched signature gathering for that repeal effort in May, needing approximately 309,000 valid signatures by July 2 to qualify for the November ballot.
Heywood has spent more than a decade and millions of dollars fighting progressive tax policies in Washington. He is simultaneously funding a campaign that targets some of the most vulnerable students in the state's public schools.
What proponents say
More than two dozen states have enacted restrictions on transgender participation in school sports. Supporters of IL26-638 argue that the measure protects competitive fairness and female athletic opportunity. Their position is that transgender girls who have gone through male puberty retain physiological advantages in muscle mass, bone density, and cardiovascular capacity that make competition against biological females inherently unequal. Proponents describe IL26-638 as a commonsense protection, using an existing medical process to enforce existing category distinctions.
That argument misses the scale of what this initiative actually does. It would require genital exams for 125,000 girls to police the participation of five to ten. It would place the legal authority of the state behind the message that some students do not belong, and the research is unambiguous about what that message does to vulnerable youth. It's funded by a hedge fund manager who is simultaneously asking voters to spare him a tax on income above one million dollars while creating a potentially deadly crisis.