Voters in Arizona and Nebraska passed ballot measures Tuesday that will bar biological males from competing in female sports. Similar measures in Colorado and Washington were still being counted Thursday afternoon, but all three gender ideology measures in those two states held leads.
Colorado Proposition 134, titled “Male and Female Participation in School Sports,” had 52.7% support with more than three-fourths of votes counted. It would separate school sports by biological sex. Colorado Proposition 135, titled “Prohibit Certain Surgeries on Minors,” had 52.3% support and would prohibit physicians from performing surgeries on children “for the purpose of altering the minor’s biological sex characteristics.”
Washington Initiative 638 concerned “participation in athletics at K-12 schools.” With 67.5% of votes counted, it led by 13.2 points. The measure would prohibit biologically male students from competing in school athletic activities “intended for female students only.”
The measures performed well in an election that moved left nationally and hurt Republican hopes of retaining control of Congress. In Arizona, the sports measure passed by 17.8 points, while Gov. Katie Hobbs won reelection by 12.8 points.
The ballot language mattered. None of the measures used the word “transgender.” The questions described the policies in terms of biological sex, female sports, K-12 athletics and surgeries on minors. That gave voters a clear choice on whether girls’ sports and children should be protected from gender ideology, even in states where other races favored Democrats.
