Seattle Moves To Block Girls' Sports Vote That Won 36 Of 39 Counties

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Seattle Moves To Block Girls' Sports Vote That Won 36 Of 39 Counties Authored by Jonathan Turley via Jonathan Turley,Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced that she and the city…

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced that she and the city would back the Seattle School Board's unanimous vote to begin legal action to block enforcement of Initiative 638, which requires separating boys and girls in K-12 sports in Washington state.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the initiative in 36 of the state's 39 counties. Critics have charged that Wilson and other Seattle Democrats are seeking to negate the popular vote after campaigning on "saving democracy." The greater challenge, however, is the legal basis for such an action in light of recent Supreme Court rulings.

The question is the grounds for such an action and whether the Board will burn millions on a quixotic challenge that could establish even more negative precedent for blue states on the issue.

The Court recently handed down decisions in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, ruling in favor of such state limits. The Court specifically ruled that states can exclude transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports teams. Indeed, the justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia rejected federal civil rights challenges.

The Kavanaugh decision states that "[c]onsistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women's and girls' sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women's and girls' sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women's and girls' sports throughout America."

That decision followed a 6-3 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, where the Court upheld a Tennessee law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy by transgender teenagers.

Thus, neither the Constitution nor Title IX are viable bases for an attack on the Washington initiative. In light of those decisions, the question is how the Board and the City will fashion its challenge to the election results on Initiative 638.

Jonathan Turley is the best-selling author of "Rage…

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