Six youth sports clubs on Vashon have signed onto a statement opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports.

The statement, emailed to The Beachcomber on Feb. 15, was written by Robin Mogonegil, the co-founder and director of Vashon Baseball Academy and board president of Vashon Basketball Club, and endorsed by the representatives of Vashon Island Soccer Club (April Bottman-Haase); Vashon Lacrosse Club (Terry VanderWaal); Vashon Seals Swim Team (Randy Turner); and Vashon Youth Baseball and Softball (Matthew Lawrence).

The statement begins:

“Recently, you may have seen federal announcements about rules mandating changes in access to, and participation in, women’s sports in the United States. These executive orders only impact educational institutions and organizations that receive federal funding and although our clubs do not receive federal funding, we feel strongly that these changes are damaging and cruel.”

It goes on to state that all the organizations affiliated with the statement “are committed to inclusivity for all youth athletes and we believe that all athletes, coaches, and volunteers should be shown fairness, equity and inclusion at all levels of sports, regardless of race, creed, citizenship status, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, gender expression or medical transition, sexual orientation and any other intersecting identities held by our participants.”

“We support the rights of all athletes, including transgender and non-binary athletes to participate in athletic competition,” the statement continues. “As organizations that care deeply about ending sex-based discrimination, we agree with the Women’s Sports Foundation [tinyurl.com/yc5wx4j4] in rejecting that cisgender women and girls would benefit from the exclusion of those who are transgender or non-binary.”

The statement goes on to name many ways that participating in sports can prove advantageous to all youth — including those who identify as LGBTQ+.

“Sports offers so many benefits — including physiological, social, and emotional, and lowers the rates of childhood obesity, anxiety and depression, suicide attempts and tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Participating in sports has long been associated with increased self-confidence and self-esteem. These benefits are particularly crucial for LGBTQ+ youth who are at increased risk for family and peer rejection and discrimination,” the statement concludes.

State and local support

The statement comes amid other state and local efforts to defend the state’s current laws protecting the rights of transgender student athletes to participate in sports that align with their gender identity.

In a February Feb. 6 statement (viewable at tinyurl.com/y35er9dv), State Superintendent Chris Reykdal strongly condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed on Feb. 5, banning transgender women and girls from participating in girls’ and women’s sports and denying federal funds to schools that allow such participation.

The order, said Reykdal, “directly contradicts state law, including the Washington Law Against Discrimination, and our laws prohibiting discrimination in our public schools.”

Reykdal said that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is now working with the state’s Attorney General’s Office “to understand the next steps for our state and for our local school district in response to this unlawful order.”

Amendments to the rule book of Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), up for a vote in April, would also affect transgender students in school athletic programs statewide.

The Vashon School Board has stated strong opposition (read at tinyurl.com/yew7kbpx) to the proposed amendments.

One amendment would stipulate that participation in girls’ sports would be limited to students assigned female at birth, and another would decree that athletic programs would be offered separately for boys, girls and another open division for all students including transgender students.

A WIAA document summarizing the amendments, at tinyurl.com/2fv7rnp5, includes a caution that adopting the amendments could spark legal challenges.