It isn’t a stretch to surmise that in this year’s three statewide ballot measures, MAGAed-align billionaire Brian Heywood and his PAC Let’s Go Washington — along with the Washington State Republican Party — were desperate to interject divisive culture-war issues in order to rile up their base and turn out the vote. Trump’s approval currently sits at a record low 32%, and Republican candidates face a 10% deficit compared to Democrats.

Two of those initiatives — IL26-638, “Protecting Fairness in Women’s Sports” and IL26-001, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights”— would explicitly seek to target LGBTQIA+ K-12 students, particularly those that are Trans and Nonbinary, on the pretense that the measures will somehow allow parents to “regain” a perceived sense of control over what their children are exposed to at school, whether by school counselors, teachers, classmates, or coaches.

It is a strategy that cynically capitalizes on a fear of the unknown and a misunderstanding people still harbor toward the LGBTQIA+ community. Despite how much legislatively restricting the lives of Trans and Queer Americans has become a sport for right-wing politicians these last few years — with the T-slur (also a shorthand for a car's transmission) coming back into vogue among the likes of South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — most Americans remain on the whole completely unfamiliar with the lives and experiences of Trans, Nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people. 

There are many, many sensible reasons why people should vote “no” on both IL26-001 and IL26-638. Regarding the former, the law as it is current written is formulated to keep certain K-12 student counseling and health information away from parents or legal guardians for the protection of the child. As many of us who are Queer and Trans ourselves are well aware, LGBTQIA+ children don’t always have the good fortune of belonging to an accepting family. Allowing any parent to access the information their child or teen may disclose in confidence to trusted adults at school puts the student at needless risk of harm. 

As for the latter, the number of Trans-identified students that participate in K-12 intercollegiate sports in Washington is so minute (estimated to be fewer than 10) that it raises the question as to why the topic was even an issue to being with. Trans people know that this proposed measure has little to do with the actual “protection” of women and girls in sports but rather to create a political bogeyman to scare Washington voters who do not know any better (or simply do not care to).  

But the intention of these harmful initiatives goes far beyond scare tactics. It has long been an anti-LGBTQIA+ talking point among conservatives that public institutions, such as schools and universities, set out to “indoctrinate” young people on the “Gay” or now perhaps “Transgender” agenda. It is apparent that what advocates of these measures actually fear is the existence and acceptance of Transgender and other gender-nonconforming people in public life. 

The third ballot measure, IP26-645, is a last ditch attempted to repeal “the Millionaire’s Tax,” passed in the last legislative session. Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, and considering the major budget deficits the state is facing, compared to the growing share of wealth that affluent people here have been accruing (with the bottom 90% of residents’ wealth stagnating), it seems like a no-brainer to require those who benefit most from our inequitable economic system to contribute their fair share for the benefit of society. 

Vote “No” on IL26-638, IL26-001, and IP26-645.