The topic of transgender athletes competing in female sports categories arose when Third Congressional District candidates Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and John Braun met for a live televised debate. Voters across Washington will weigh in on the matter through Initiative 638, which appears on the November 3 general election ballot.
Clark County has been drawn into the same debate, with a student at Camas High School who began the season on the boys' cross country roster later joining the girls' team. Roughly a dozen competitors from Camas and five from Battle Ground High School stepped away from the course shortly after the starting signal, choosing not to take part in the heat that included a transgender athlete. A transgender girl placed second in the race.
A journalist from a prominent broadcast outlet directed a question at Senator Braun, asking where he stood on barring transgender girls and women from competing in girls' and women's sports — and how any resulting policy ought to address differences in age, level of competition, and athlete privacy. Braun replied: "Yes."
The question of whether transgender athletes assigned male at birth should be permitted to participate in women's or girls' sports categories remains a contested policy debate, with advocates on each side presenting differing views on fairness and inclusion.
Gluesenkamp Perez noted that three daughters, all of whom competed in athletics at both the high school and college levels, were part of the family she raised, and that for those involved, the activity holds a meaningful place in daily life. The argument she put forward centres on equity and athlete welfare, with physiological differences cited as the underlying rationale.
Title IX exists as a legislative response to documented patterns of sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programmes. Advocates spent years pushing to level the competitive landscape for women in sport. By 2026, the stated rationale for reversing those earlier decisions had not been made fully transparent.
Braun expressed disagreement with the direction being taken, characterising it as a mistaken one for both the state and the country. He objected to the terms of the arrangement, which he viewed as inequitable, and raised questions about whether it poses a safety risk.
Gluesenkamp Perez described her position on the matter as libertarian. She expressed the view that those closest to a given matter — whether individuals or institutions — are best placed to make the relevant decisions.
The question of whether male and female athletes should compete in the same sports categories remains a point of ongoing debate among policymakers, sports bodies, and athletes themselves.
Under Washington state law, residents are able to update the gender marker and name recorded on their birth certificates. Requiring female athletes to submit government documentation of their sex as a condition of softball participation has drawn scrutiny from those who view the policy as an undue burden on young players.
Gluesenkamp Perez expressed concern that modifying birth certificate requirements could set a precedent leading to genital examinations and government-held DNA registries — measures she viewed as unlikely to improve student safety. A reporter subsequently asked what problem, if any, needed addressing and what message policymakers should convey to transgender students who would be affected by any such changes. Gluesenkamp Perez described the situation as one that arises only infrequently.
Sexual abuse within athletics has drawn public attention in recent years. Allegations that gymnastics coaches, including Larry Nassar, mistreated athletes under their supervision have drawn attention to accountability gaps within the sport.
Braun replied that the matter centred on equitable treatment in athletic competition, a consideration that any proposed resolution would need to keep in view. He stated that the matter at hand centres on protecting people from harm.
Researchers note that physiological differences between male and female bodies are documented across scientific literature, prompting ongoing debate about how athletic competition rules should account for those distinctions. Debate over how athletic programmes should accommodate transgender students has not, in itself, barred those students from participating in sport.
Under the policy position advanced by Braun, athletic competition would be organised according to participants' sex assigned at birth. Proponents of that position have argued that opponents have yet to demonstrate why the approach would not work.
Two athletes from Camas withdrew from a cross country meet after discovering that another competitor — one who had run under the boys' category for three of their four high school seasons — had been entered on the girls' roster. The group viewed the situation as unjust and chose to act in protest.
The debate has drawn attention at the community level and has surfaced with sufficient frequency to feature in the congressional race. The statements from both candidates called for attention to questions of equity and athlete protection within women's competitive sport.
