VANCOUVER – Today, Let’s Go Washington (LGW) and advocates from around the country gathered at the Firmly Planted Family Homeschool Resource Center to support girls’ rights in sports. Voting yes on I-638 would protect fairness in girls’ sports and establish that girls’ leagues are specially protected for girls.
Today’s event in Vancouver brought together current female athletes from Arizona, Washington State, Georgia, Colorado, and California alongside state Sen. John Braun and former U.S. national champion gymnast Jennifer Sey.
For the athletes who spoke Saturday, the issue was personal. They shared their experiences in competitive sports and discussed why they believe maintaining a separate female category matters for the girls competing today and those who will follow them.
Frances Staudt has been an outspoken supporter of girls’ sports ever since she was forced to compete against an 18-year-old man in a basketball game in Tumwater, Washington.
“There should be no reason why an 18-year-old man is in my locker room. Why is he competing in girls’ basketball and taking opportunities that were made for girls like me? Because I stood up for my rights, I have received death threats, threats that people would come to my house, I have been bullied by adults in person and online. I get yelled at every day in the hallway at school. All because I stood up for girls who are crying out, asking for help and support in their sports. I’m not giving up because this issue is that important for me.”
I-638 is supported by athletes, coaches, teachers, and parents because they recognize the importance of protecting girls’ rights and not requiring girls to give up their opportunities to boys.
Bailey Anderson is from Eatonville, Washington, and is currently playing basketball at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. She spoke about her experience competing against boys while she lived in Washington State.
“I have been lucky enough to play in sports for my entire life. Kids are constantly looking for the leaders in their lives to help them know what to do, watching adults as role models. It is up to those adults to stand up for the girls looking up to them.”
Girls in Washington State have been told that their rights and their voices don’t matter. Today’s event was an opportunity for supporters to hear directly from the young women who have been impacted by men competing in their protected leagues.
Sadie Sullivan is from Wenatchee, Washington, and is now swimming at Westmont College in California. She spoke about her experience being forced out of her locker room because a boy decided he wanted to use it.
“I have competed in swimming my whole life. In Wenatchee, boys were allowed in our locker room and were told they were allowed to stay there and change there, where we were changing into our swimsuits and that if we had a problem, we would need to go somewhere else. I have younger sisters on the swim team who I want to protect from feeling the way that I felt, that’s why I care about this so much.”
That message was echoed by athletes who traveled from outside Washington to stand alongside local students and lend their voices to the discussion.
Alanna Smith is on the track and field team at Georgia University Southern in Savannah, Georgia. She talked about how demoralizing it is to get to the starting line of a race and know that you will lose to a biological man.
“I have worked hard to become a strong athlete for my whole life. I have been speaking about this issue for seven years. I was forced to compete against a boy seven years ago and I am still speaking against boys in our sports today. I came from Georgia to advocate for girls in Washington State because I don’t want the next generation of girls to go through what I did. Pretending differences don’t matter isn’t equality, it’s stripping away fairness.”
Throughout the course of the event, it was reiterated how unbelievable it is that young girls have to go around saying what is such a fundamental truth: girl’s rights and opportunities matter.
Kendall Kotzmacher is on the softball team at Colorado Christian University in Denver, Colorado. Kendall spoke about her time as a competitive athlete and what got her into the movement to support girls’ sports.
"I'm from Minnesota, but leadership in Washington State is just as broken as it is in Minnesota. I lost the softball championship my senior year to a biological male. After that moment, I decided this wouldn’t happen to me or my friends anymore. I am seeing firsthand how frustrating it is to be ignored by leadership time and time again, that’s why I am here. Why is it celebrated that boys are allowed to take our places? Why are they being called brave? Our opportunities and protections are being taken away from us and boys are being called brave. It is so crazy that we have to go around the country and tell people to support girls. If Washington state can pass this initiative, then maybe we can get that momentum to Minnesota.”
Jennifer Sey, a U.S. national champion gymnast and founder of XX-XY Athletics, spoke about the opportunities athletics provide girls and why she has become an advocate for maintaining female sports categories. She is also supporting the initiative to protect girls’ sports in Colorado.
“While I was a U.S. National Team gymnast, I traveled around the world with a coach who was a known abuser. Our team was told not to let him into our rooms because staff told us that his reputation was more important than our safety. That is what we’re telling girls today. Boys and men are allowed to take the sports and opportunities for girls because we are letting them. We are fighting against that in Colorado and we’re fighting that here in Washington State. We aren’t giving up now, these girls need us.”
I-638 will appear on Washington’s November 3 ballot. Saturday’s rally centered the voices of athletes themselves, giving girls an opportunity to explain what sports have meant to them and what is at stake in the debate over female athletics.
Let’s Go Washington will continue to advocate for fairness for girls and for their rights to be upheld in their sports.
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