Washington voters approve transgender athlete ban

Washington state voters approved a measure barring transgender athletes from girls sports teams, a defeat for LGBTQ advocates in a state that normally votes Democratic.

With about 80 percent of ballots counted on Friday, about 57 percent of voters supported the measure and 43 percent opposed it. Opponents conceded defeat.

The initiative requires a prohibition on transgender girls “competing with and against female students.” It also requires girls who want to play sports to undergo a physical reproductive organ exam, or genetic and hormone testing.

Doctors opposing the measure said it was not backed by clinical guidelines and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls. The political action committee behind the measure, Let’s Go Washington, called its passage “a huge win for girls in Washington state.”

More than half of US states have enacted laws in recent years restricting transgender students’ participation in sports. The US Supreme Court upheld state bans in June. Similar measures also passed in Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado in this week’s election.