A Washington State ballot measure that would mandate sex-verification testing for girls from kindergarten through high school before participating in sports has drawn nationwide condemnation.

The measure, IL26-638, would prohibit transgender athletes from competing on girls' teams by requiring health-care providers to certify a player's sex assigned at birth. Verification methods under the proposal would include genetic screening, testosterone testing, or an examination of reproductive anatomy, as reported by The Cut. Washington permits citizens to file initiatives to the legislature; if lawmakers do not act, such measures can proceed to a public vote.

If enacted, the measure would rank as the most restrictive of its kind in the United States. It comes amid a wave of state-level legislation across the country targeting transgender participation in sports, though most existing laws rely on birth certificate documentation rather than medical or anatomical testing. Medical professionals have raised questions about how such examinations would be performed and who would administer them. Many physicians and commentators have also voiced concerns regarding privacy, the potential risk of sexual abuse, and what they describe as the broader objectives of the bill's Republican backers.

Journalist Laura Bassett was blunt in her criticism. "Demanding to examine a child's genitals for them to play sports is f---ing insane," she wrote on Bluesky.

Ben Collins of The Onion offered a similarly sharp assessment: "Can't think of a thing that will radicalize a generation faster than 'you've gotta let that old man in the corner over there see what's inside those pants before you play Kindergarten volleyball." (Bluesky)

"To be fair, conservatives openly hates women's and girls sports and this is a sure fire policy method of destroying them," wrote Zeteo's Asawin Suebsaeng on Bluesky.

Kait Richardson, a popular Bluesky user, argued that the legislation's reach extends further than its stated purpose. "The ultimate goal is to legally ban women from sports at all levels and ages by using a 'protection from trans predators' rationale to override Title IX," she wrote on Bluesky. Title IX, enacted in 1972, is the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, including athletics.

Teacher Anton Kiridian echoed that concern. "They're going after Title IX, the education amendment banning sex discrimination in schools," he wrote on Bluesky. "They don't want women doing sports at all; home-making and child-rearing only."

Bluesky user Mary Nasca quoted directly from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank influential in Republican policy circles: "'The current Title IX regime as applied to sports (and elsewhere) is part of a sustained social engineering effort that is designed to produce a new sort of woman – one that is more aggressive, more competitive, more male, less relational, and less oriented toward the goods of family and motherhood.'"

Author Jennifer R. Povey highlighted the practical implications for young children. "Which means genital examinations of five year olds," she wrote on Bluesky. "Or the violation of the genetic privacy of girls. I am still with 'This is how we get women used to their bodies being the property of the state.' (Testosterone levels testing is meaningless prior to puberty)."

Climate investor Zoe Samuel responded with alarm. "This is so perverted. What the f---. Leave little kids alone!" she exclaimed on Bluesky.

Journalist Marisa Kabas offered a broader perspective on Bluesky: "The obsession with trans women in sports is, apart from the abject bigotry, a symptom of how we take amateur sports participation way too seriously in this country."

Army veteran Rowan Freja Mooney was equally vehement on X: "This is so f---ing disgusting."