Seattle youth swimming league moves to allow biological males to compete in girls' sports

Board members of the Greater Seattle Summer Swim League (GSSSL) are considering a bylaw change so that the league can allow biological male swimmers to compete in girls' divisions.

The league boasts almost 2,000 swimmers from across the Greater Seattle area.

A GSSSL task force made up of six men, one woman, and one transgender member has recommended the change to the league’s board of directors, which is expected to vote on the bylaw change this week and could implement the policy change for this summer’s season.

One parent told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, "There’s one board member who is aggressively pushing/coercing/emotionally bullying the other board members into not discussing this and not notifying the members."

The parent provided documents and emails from the board member, which featured a link to a webinar held on the gender inclusion policy led by Brennon Ham, Health Education Specialist for Seattle Public Schools, who "oversees LGBTQ+ efforts," and according to parents "...is driving much of this policy."

Documents reveal the revised language of the amendment:

"Article V of the bylaws of By-Laws of the Greater Seattle Summer Swim League (approved 3/2022) shall be amended to add the following clause as a separately enumerated paragraph under that article: GSSSL supports athletes of all genders, including transgender and non-binary athletes. Member teams must operate in compliance with the league’s Gender-Inclusion Athlete Policy and will use the Gender-Inclusion Athlete Procedures as they determine how to best provide gender-inclusive programming for their team. Teams should distribute guidelines for their pools to all division member teams at the start of the season. The Gender-Inclusion policy will be outlined in the league’s operating plan. Any changes to the policy must be voted on by the league at the spring meeting and presented to teams at least six weeks prior to the meeting."

According to emails, the league was aware of the controversy this would cause and sought to explain it through a Q&A in the thread. "How can we vote to establish a policy so complex, without ensuring the contents of the policy is shared with all members; not just a team-rep?"

"In representative democracy, the role of the representative is to speak with their members and gain feedback before casting a vote."

"It would be near impossible for the GSSSL, the governing body, to reach out to the individual member of each club to gain feedback and share information. We do not collect contact information from every single member of every single club and do not have the infrastructure in place to do so. If this is something that the membership of the GSSSL would like to investigate, it can certainly be brought forward for the future. In that case, we may want to look to creating a paid administrative position to handle this level of communication."

According to the emails, the change was deemed necessary because "With no policy on gender inclusion in our bylaws/operating plan currently, our bylaws require us to default to the WIAA policy which does not have a requirement of medical intervention or competition limitations."

According to the current WIAA policy, "The WIAA encourages participation for all students regardless of their gender identity or expression. Further, most local, state and federal rules and regulations require schools to provide transgender and other gender-diverse student-athletes with equal opportunities to participate in athletics. The purpose of this policy is to offer clarity with respect to the participation of trans and gender-diverse student-athletes. Additionally, this policy encourages a culture in which student?athletes can compete in a safe and supportive environment, free of discrimination."

"All students have the opportunity to participate in WIAA athletics and/or activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity. Currently, most athletic programs are offered separately for boys and girls... Athletes will participate in programs consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed. School personnel responsible for student eligibility will work collaboratively with the student-athlete to determine eligibility. Once the student has been granted eligibility to participate in the sport consistent with their gender identity, the eligibility is granted for the duration of the student’s participation and does not need to be renewed every sports season or school year. The WIAA staff is willing to collaborate with any member school seeking assistance regarding gender equity."

One parent, Lisa McAndrew Marquart, wrote a letter to the GSSSL board when they found out about the change and said that families in the league were "unaware of the proposed changes, afraid to speak about the potential bylaw changes," and were "Concerned about adopting bylaws for which they have not been able to ask questions of/review prior to casting of a club vote."

They asked for the board to slow "…the process to ensure transparency can assist in casting out fear and silence."

The parent added that, "Transparency can also foster healthy outcomes where equity, unity, and collective well-being is intended, valued, and needed."

A slideshow from the task force read that the goal they were hoping for with the bylaw change was: "We want everyone to participate!"

The slideshow then listed that they intended for the change to "Increase participation and access for swimmers of all identities, Decrease risk of exclusion and the subsequent impacts (like suicidal ideation and suicide attempts), Promote safe and welcoming environments at all pools, Soft start with committed support team."

At the bottom of the page was written, "There is precedent," without specifying what the "precedent" was. According to the following slide the changes were done to create a "Level 'playing field' for swimmers of all identities - special attention to cisgender girls at the elite level."

Additionally the group claimed that "Medical interventions to mitigate for potential athletic advantages of some bodies over others," and that "Pace of adoption and supports necessary for clubs."

Addressing potential conflicts, one of the final slides asked anticipated questions such as, "What about lawsuits relating to bathrooms, issues of privacy, etc.?"

The question was answered, "We are subject to lawsuits by transgender and non-binary athletes and their families if they are excluded from sports per WIAA. Procedures about bathrooms, privacy, etc., are in the recommended section of the procedure document."

A second question asked, "How can we get membership feedback before April 26th? **What is GSSSL’s plan to provide emotional support to cisgender athletes who will be directly affected by this new policy?"

The answer given was, "Boards do not need to poll pool membership about swim team policy. Boards represent their membership. To poll the swim team, consider email."

One parent, Ken Alfonso, who has also been a swimming and water polo coach for 38 years, wrote the board saying, "The largest omission by the WIAA is that biological males have competitive advantages over biological females. This fact should not be considered controversial. The performance differences are staggering especially once puberty is reached…

"As a result of this omission, the WIAA does not have any hormonal mitigation requirements for trans-gender athletes. Their reasoning is not compelling. They simply pretend these differences do not exist. In the WIAA Gender Diverse Toolkit they stipulate that because some trans-athletes aren’t very good that there is no unfair advantage. From the Toolkit:

'The presence of trans female athletes on teams throughout the nation has not been shown to diminish opportunities for others. The athleticism of any female athlete, as we know, can vary widely from that of other peers. Height, musculature, build and weight are a few variables that impact performance…The belief that trans female athletes will dominate any team on which they participate is not a given, as some fear it will be.'

"This argument is incomplete. It's akin to saying Michael Jordan was a bad basketball player because he didn't make every shot. The WIAA ignores science and dismisses competitive advantages. No one is saying every trans-athlete is gifted/elite. There are bad trans-athletes just like there are bad male and female athletes. It’s not a surprise that a male athlete won’t always beat a female athlete or that a female athlete won't always lose to a trans-female athlete. The advantages still exist, however. They are not starting as equals on average."

"The WIAA knows this fact…we all know this. Pretending this truth does not exist doesn’t make it less true. Asking people to pretend this truth does not exist is politicking at best."

"Another issue with the WIAA policy is that non-binary students can switch teams whenever they’d like. While the GITF proposed policy mentions non-binary participation, there are gaps. The WIAA recommendations say a non-binary athlete can play for a girls’ team one season then move to the boy's team the next. If an athlete wants to do this the short answer from the WIAA is 'no.'" However, they will allow the switch if the athlete says the change is a“result of a deeper understanding of their gender identity." The WIAA also adds that the switch can be based on "optimizing the athlete’s confidence, safety and privacy." The GSSSL policy needs to be specific regarding non-binary athletes switching categories."

"Furthermore, there is the simple matter of fairness. The GSSSL 'believes all athletes need and deserve safe and inclusive practice and competition spaces to develop as young people and as lifelong swimmers.'"

"I wholeheartedly agree. Reasonable people would agree. Despite the all-inclusive language surrounding transgender swimmers, the GITF has failed a large segment of the league's population. There is no fairness in creating a policy that would allow transgender girls to compete against biological girls. Our league has some 2000 or so swimmers. I imagine about half of them are girls, maybe more."

"Unlike the WIAA, the GITF to their credit, has acknowledged this performance gap and written a hormone suppressant requirement in its proposal to provide some amount of fairness. Unfortunately, the requirement falls short."

"The shortfall is most notable in the 13 and over age group. Athletes in this age group who do not qualify for the post-season are eligible to participate in dual meets without restrictions. This includes swimmers taking puberty or hormone blockers. This language attempts to separate the more elite athletes, but it still ignores the stark differences in performance between biological males and females once puberty has taken effect."

"The biological males, that haven’t qualified still have an advantage over biological females potentially scoring points in dual meets and participating on relays for more points. The non-qualifying biological female swimmers are completely ignored which is unfair."

Tuesday night, the board voted to pass the bylaw which stated that the league will abide the the policy was passed 10-5. However, the policy wasn’t approved and therefore the league will follow the WIAA rules until October when the board will vote on the policy again.

If the bylaw change is approved, it would affect swimmers at Arbor Heights, Gregory Seahurst, Kent, Lakeridge, Marine Hills, Normandy Park, Olympic View and Twin Lakes swim clubs in the Southern division, as well as the Aqua Club, Blue Ridge, Innis Arden, Klahaya, Sand Point, Sheridan Beach, View Ridge and Wedgewood clubs in the North division.