REDMOND, Wash. — For Tumwater High School student Frances Staudt, Tuesday night brought the kind of tears that come with a long-awaited victory. After years of advocating for separate boys’ and girls’ sports, she watched as Washington voters appeared to back a measure she had helped champion.
Initiative 638, which would require K-12 athletes to compete on teams based on their biological sex, held a substantial lead in unofficial returns. Speaking at an election-night gathering hosted by the group behind the initiative, Let’s Go Washington, Staudt became emotional.
“We did it,” she said. Staudt said she had faced daily harassment since declining to play basketball against a biological boy in March 2025. The campaign had been difficult, she said, but she was proud of the result and believed Washington residents had reached a point where they wanted change.
Before Staudt spoke, the measure’s “yes” vote was ahead by 13.6 percentage points, with about 60% of ballots counted. At the time, prediction market Kalshi put the chances of passage at 91%. If approved, the measure would be the first statewide law of its kind adopted directly by voters, and the first enacted in a blue state.
Twenty-seven other states, all won by Donald Trump in 2024, already require separation in school sports. Those restrictions, however, were approved by state legislatures rather than voters.
Supporters of Initiative 638 hope its apparent success will encourage similar efforts elsewhere. Let’s Go Washington founder Brian Heywood called the result a possible signal for the state, arguing that the issue reached beyond party politics to concerns about parents and fairness in girls’ sports. If approved, the initiative could take effect within 30 days.
Heywood filed the proposal in June 2025. It needed nearly 309,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot and reportedly received more than 445,000. Staudt and fellow Washington athlete Ahnaleigh Wilson were among those who helped gather signatures.
The campaign gained added attention amid a dispute at Camas High School, where a transgender cross-country runner moved from the boys’ team to the girls’ team during the season. The sophomore had finished 76th in a boys’ junior varsity race in September 2025. The runner later competed in girls’ events, winning one varsity race and placing second in three others.
Critics said the participation could affect female athletes’ chances of reaching regional and state competitions. In October, about a dozen girls walked away from the starting line at a meet in protest, an episode that became a rallying point for supporters of the initiative.
Amy Sousa, an advocate for women’s sports who filmed the walkout, has spent nearly a decade pushing for limits on transgender athletes in female sports. She welcomed the measure’s early lead, saying she saw it as a way to protect Title IX and the opportunities created for women and girls.
Colorado considers a similar measure
A comparable proposal in Colorado was also ahead, though by a narrower margin. Proposition 134 would set sex-based eligibility rules for K-12 and college sports, making its scope broader than Washington’s initiative.
The “yes” vote led by 4.4 percentage points, with an estimated 75% of ballots counted. The result was still uncertain as election officials continued their work.
Jennifer Sey, who chairs the Proposition 134 campaign and founded XX-XY Athletics, said she was cautiously hopeful that voters in the deeply Democratic state would support protecting girls’ sports, despite the broader Democratic gains in the election. She described the issue as one of common sense and biological reality, rather than party allegiance.
Arizona and Nebraska weigh sports measures
Arizona and Nebraska also had sports-related measures on their ballots. Both states already restrict transgender athletes from competing in female sports.
Nebraska’s Initiative 442 was receiving more than twice as many votes in favor as against at the time. It would put the state’s existing restrictions into the constitution, making them harder to repeal.
Arizona’s Proposition 318 was ahead by 14.6 percentage points. It would extend current restrictions to private schools and athletic associations, and set sex-based rules for access to sports locker rooms and restrooms.
Washington and Colorado drew particular attention as voters in two blue states considered changing the rules for girls’ and women’s sports. Young athletes such as Staudt had been urging adults to act for years. On election night, it looked as though at least some voters were ready to do so.
