Washington Won't Defend Its Own Trans Sports Ban

Washington's attorney general has declined to defend a voter-approved ban on transgender girls in school sports, after parents and a union representing public school employees sued to block it. The case is the first serious legal test of Initiative 638, and the state's refusal to argue for its own law is an unusual signal about how far the measure reaches.

Initiative 638 passed this month. It bars trans girls from competing with cisgender girls in school sports and requires female students to verify their sex through medical documentation. A group of parents and the Washington Education Association, the union representing public school employees, sued the state arguing the policy violates privacy, equal rights and anti-discrimination protections. Attorney General Nick Brown announced on Thursday that his office had appointed the outside firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner to handle the defence.

An attorney general who will not argue his own state's case

Ordinarily the attorney general leads the defence in lawsuits against the state. Brown's decision hands that work to private lawyers instead, which he described as common practice when conflicts of interest or capacity issues arise. Conservative politicians and advocates in Washington have accused his office of conflicts of interest around trans rights, according to Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW. Brown's former firm, Pacifica Law Group, is representing the teachers' union challenging the measure.

“We have vigorously defended state laws that give transgender people equal protection under Washington law. We will not and cannot abandon that work.”

Brown added that his personal views do not dictate what laws get defended or the strength of that defence, and that many other statutes protecting transgender residents remain in force. That distinction matters legally: the office is stepping back from this measure, not from the wider body of state anti-discrimination law.

Four states, one outlier on verification

Washington is one of four states to adopt a ballot measure this month restricting school sports participation for trans students. Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska passed similar measures, but Washington's is the only one of the four with sex verification requirements, according to The Guardian. That detail sits at the centre of the privacy argument: challengers say proving eligibility would force students to hand over medical documentation simply to play.

The families challenging it

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is representing the parents alongside Legal Voice, a nonprofit law firm. Adrien Leavitt, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Washington, said the state has long had strong protections against discrimination and that the organisations would fight to stop the law taking effect. Julia Marks, managing director at Legal Voice, called the policy an invasive surveillance process that could traumatise young girls across Washington.

• The suit was filed this week by parents and the Washington Education Association.
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner will defend the state in place of the attorney general's office.
• Initiative 638 requires female athletes to verify their sex through medical documentation.
• Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska passed similar measures this month without that requirement.

What happens next

The case now moves toward a first hearing, where challengers are expected to seek an order blocking Initiative 638 before it is enforced in schools. Brown's office has said it will keep defending other state laws that protect transgender residents, which leaves it involved in related litigation even as it steps back from this one. Lawmakers in Olympia are also under pressure to revisit the verification clause when the legislature next convenes, and school districts are waiting on guidance about what, if anything, they must collect from students in the meantime.

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Sources: The Advocate, “Washington AG's office won't defend voter-approved trans sports ban as families sue to stop it”, 13 November 2026; The Guardian, reporting on the four state ballot measures, cited by The Advocate; ACLU of Washington statement, 10 November 2026.