Opinion: How will President Trump’s gender clarity position impact transgender sports participation?

Ken Vance examines how President Trump's gender policy could influence transgender participation in Washington state sports. — Ken Vance examines how President Trump’s gender policy could influence transgender participation in Washington state sports.

Clark County Today Editor Ken Vance asks WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman what it will take for the president’s agenda to lead to changes in Washington state

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

Count me as among the millions of Americans who were pleased when President Donald Trump fulfilled his campaign promise Monday when he offered his gender clarity position that the U.S. federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female. It’s amazing to me that we live at a time and in a place where that clarification is even needed.

Let me be very clear. I was raised to live by my father’s creed that “what happens in our neighbor’s yard is none of our business and what happens in our yard is none of their business.’’ So, I don’t spend any of my time worrying about the decisions of others on how to live their lives and I try with everything in my heart and soul not to treat them any differently based on those decisions. That said, I don’t know why President Trump’s clarification would anger, insult or cause pain to anyone. Depending on the scientific research you trust, at least 99.88 percent of us are born as either a male or a female. I understand that a small percentage of our population later transitions from one of those genders to identify as the other, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were born as one of those two genders. As I said, each of us have the right to transition from one gender to the other, but that doesn’t mean we get to just create a new gender.

Many of us who were pleased with the president’s gender clarification statement Monday were so because we would like to protect female athletes from having to compete with biological males. Without going into specific examples of biological males competing against females, I’m sure most of you who are reading this column are aware of the transgender boxer who won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games, the transgender college volleyball player whose team faced forfeitures this season because other teams refused to compete against her team, and the transgender high school runner who won a state championship here in Washington last spring.

I was aware of these and other stories, but until just recently, I was naive about the issue reaching our doorstep here in Clark County. I obviously have no desire to identify any biological males who are competing against biological females here in Southwest Washington. I won’t even identify any schools or school districts where transgender athletes are competing. But, I have been told multiple stories, from multiple sources, who have confirmed that we have biological males competing in girls’ sports here and it’s been going on much longer than I realized.

I believe there is no disputing the fact that, in most cases, biological males have a competitive advantage over biological females. That advantage can potentially create safety issues for biological female athletes. It is also profoundly unfair in my opinion for a biological male to take a participation opportunity away from a biological female. There are also social factors including the use of locker rooms and bathrooms that are created by combining biological males and biological females onto the same team/sport. President Trump spoke this week of sparing Americans of the “nonsense’’ that has been allowed to creep into our lives. To me, this is clearly one of those areas of “nonsense.’’

The future of transgender participation in WA

On Wednesday, Mick Hoffman, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, told me the WIAA has been operating under the same state laws regarding transgender athletic participation for the past 19 years. Essentially, eligible student athletes are able to compete in sports based on their stated gender identity instead of their biological sex at birth.

“We follow Washington law, as well as guidance from OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) to public schools,’’ Hoffman explained. “There are RCWs (state law) specific to public schools that you can’t discriminate against sexual orientation and one of the definitions is gender identity. That’s been the rule and the law for us for 19 years.’’

It’s not just our new president who is trying to change that rule of law. There are a number of organizations across the country who have been fighting the fight against biological males participating in sports with females. There are also court battles underway all across our country.

Hoffman and other WIAA officials have met with state lawmakers and their legal advisors.

“Our understanding is there is no federal law or federal guidance on Title IX that dictates what states have to do,’’ Hoffman said. “It is up to each state. What Trump is saying he is going to do is he’s going to take away that option for states. In the meantime, we have to follow state law. Until there is a conflict with federal law, or a legal challenge, we’re in a holding pattern.’’

And, obviously, if there is a change in law that takes the discretion away from the states, there will undoubtedly be a legal challenge. So, folks like myself hoping and praying for change, will likely be waiting for many more months or more likely years for that to happen.

“It could come down to a court decision if it makes it to the (U.S.) Supreme Court,’’ Hoffman said.

Hoffman, who spent much of his career as an administrator in the Vancouver School District before moving on to the WIAA, has no idea how many transgender student athletes are competing in sports around Washington state. He said there are approximately 225,000 athletes participating in WIAA-sponsored athletic events.

“My understanding is that transgender students make up 0.05 of 1 percent, not even a full 1 percent of our student body,’’ he said. “My understanding is that a large percentage of them don’t participate in sports so it’s a small number of students in general and an even smaller number who participate in sports.

“We’re talking about so few students, yet so much energy is being spent on it,’’ he said. “We understand there are two sides of this argument. We’re not trying to persuade or dissuade anyone. With how much energy that is being spent on a handful of athletes, it’s my hope the same passion will be there when schools have to begin making choices and funding decisions that will impact 10s of thousands of students.

“People don’t know my opinion; my wife doesn’t know my opinion because I haven’t shared it with her,’’ he said. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is a very emotional issue and we understand why we get it on both sides. At the end of the day, there are people responsible for making the laws and we follow them. If the law were to change, our rule would have to change.’’

We can only hope that a change in law will come much sooner rather than later.