On Tuesday, Washington voters chose to approve Initiative 638, the Sex Verification Requirements for Female School Sports Initiative. As the Episcopal Bishops in the state of Washington, we lament the passing of this initiative and its impact on our transgender and non-binary siblings, in addition to its impact on all female student athletes.
Throughout the recent mid-term campaign, much anger, suspicion, and fear-mongering has been directed toward the trans community. These children of God have been dehumanized. A lot of misinformation has been offered about the trans community. The result of this ballot initiative calls for the verification of all female student athletes’ biological sex including a potentially invasive physical check of their reproductive anatomy by a health care professional for those who cannot afford less intrusive testing.
We once again commit to the vows expressed in our baptismal covenant that we respect the dignity of every human being as we strive for justice and peace among all people, and we encourage all Episcopalians to join us. We invite all Episcopalians and others in our communities to commit to learning from our trans siblings, and to listen in order to understand. We invite you to look at transepiscopal.org as a beginning resource for this listening and learning.
Finally, we offer our prayers, support, and love to all trans and non-binary persons, who will be impacted by this initiative. We know that regardless of your age or involvement in athletics, this initiative seeks to belittle and shame your existence. We simply express the deep care that is to be found in the person of Jesus Christ who came to bring fullness of life to all people. May you experience Christ’s healing peace in these days.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Gretchen Rehberg, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane
The Rt. Rev. Philip N. LaBelle, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia