WA transgender ballot measures merely a tool to ‘divide and conquer’ | Opinion

LGBTQAI+ youth are being used as political scapegoats, and it is happening right here in Washington state. Two ballot initiatives, IL-26-001 and IL-26-638, target transgender students under the guise of protecting others.

This strategy is not subtle. National political leaders have admitted that attacks on transgender youth became a winning campaign issue after they “threw everything at the wall” to see what stuck. A leaked memo from Independent Women’s Voice outlined a multimillion-dollar effort to frame transgender people as a threat in order to “convince moderates.” Gender identity has been described as a tool to “divide and conquer.”

Now that strategy has reached our schools. One initiative could subject transgender girls to invasive scrutiny to participate in sports. The other would undermine confidential counseling protections, risking the forced outing of students to parents, even when they fear rejection or harm.

When marginalized communities are turned into campaign messaging, democracy suffers.

Transgender students are not political tools. They are children navigating adolescence who deserve safety, privacy and dignity. In November, VOTE NO on IL-26-001 and IL-26-638.

Bellingham resident Christiana Valentine is the founder of Community Allies for Queer Equity.