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Left-leaning Washington, Colorado join conservative states in banning trans athletes

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Cite

writer, W. G. A. n. (2026, November 6). Left-leaning Washington, Colorado join conservative states in banning trans athletes. ABC News (US). https://abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/left-leaning-washington-colorado-join-conservative-states-banning-137898149

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ABC News (US) · collected 2026-11-06 · by WILL GRAVES AP national writer

Quick Summary

Voters in Washington and Colorado approved measures banning transgender athletes from participating in school sports designated for their identified gender. In Washington, Measure 638 mandates that students assigned male at birth cannot participate in female sports unless they provide a health care provider’s statement verifying their gender identity. Meanwhile, Proposition 134 in Colorado requires educational institutions to assign sports as either male, female, or coed based on the gender assigned at birth. These results show bipartisan support for such bans, occurring even in traditionally liberal states where governors and legislatures had previously resisted similar restrictions.
Written by AI on 2026-11-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 4, 2026, Washington state voters passed Initiative 638, a ballot measure requiring K-12 athletes to compete on teams aligned with their biological sex. The initiative held a substantial lead in unofficial election returns, with 57% of the vote counted as "yes" by November 5, indicating significant support despite Washington being traditionally Democratic. Tumwater High student Frances Staudt, who has been campaigning for this cause since March 2025, celebrated the victory at a watch party hosted by Let's Go Washington. The measure would prohibit biological males from competing in girls' sports and requires documentation verifying an athlete’s sex based on reproductive anatomy or genetic makeup. Opponents argue it could force invasive exams to verify biological sex, while supporters see it as protecting fairness in women’s athletics.

Written for “Washington State Bans Trans Girls in Sports” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Washington State Bans Trans Girls in Sports
Politics · 6 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 3 of 20 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
67/100
ABC News (US)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (US) · 1425 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)

Who wrote this

WILL GRAVES AP national writer
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Measure 638 in Washington, which had more than 56% of the vote, will prevent students who were assigned male at birth from participating in sports designated for female athletes.
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Colorado Democratic Measure 638 Proposition 134 Washington

Subjects

Colorado GPE · 6× Washington GPE · 6× Trump PERSON · 2× Arizona GPE · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× Doriane Lambelet Coleman PERSON · 1× Duke Law School ORG · 1× Nassau County GPE · 1× Nebraska GPE · 1× Republican NORP · 1×

Narrative

The results in Washington and Colorado came less than two years after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which gave federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-06
🔮 Measure 638 in Washington, which had more than 56% of the vote, will prevent students who were assigned male at birth from participating in sports designated for female athletes.

Claims (23 extracted, 0 hedged)

Left-leaning Washington, Colorado join conservative states in banning trans athletes Voters in Washington and Colorado have approved measures to ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports Voters in left-leaning Washington state and Colorado have approved measures designed to ban transgender athletes from participating in school-sanctioned sports. asserted
Voters → lean → sports
Measure 638 in Washington, which had more than 56% of the vote, will prevent students who were assigned male at birth from participating in sports designated for female athletes. asserted
who → have → athletes
The measure also requires athletes wanting to play in female sports to produce a statement from a health care provider verifying their gender. asserted
measure → require → gender
Proposition 134 in Colorado will require educational institutions and athletic associations to assign sports as male, female or coed. asserted
institutions → require → sports
The proposal, which was supported by 52% of voters, will also limit athletes to playing in sports in the gender they were assigned at birth. asserted
they → support → birth
The votes came in states where Democratic-led governors’ offices and legislatures have declined to enact the kind of bans that have become the norm in Republican-led states. asserted
that → come → states
Supporters of the bans decided to force the issue by putting it on the ballot, and the results indicate that what conservatives once used as a wedge issue in the culture wars has become one of the few to receive bipartisan support. asserted
used → decide → support
“This was always coming because politicians in those states have been ignoring their constituencies on the ground,” said Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School. asserted
Coleman → come → School
“And, as we saw on Tuesday, there’s only so long that can work. asserted
that → see → Tuesday
Whether other blue states join Washington and Colorado depends on local political culture and on the ability of the advocacy groups on both sides of the issue to marshal their troops. asserted
join → join → troops
The passages came during the same election cycle in which Arizona voters chose to expand restrictions initially outlined in a 2022 law. asserted
voters → come → law
Proposition 318 will prohibit transgender girls from participating in female sports in all schools and athletic associations — they were already barred from doing so in public schools — and limit transgender people to using bathrooms and other private spaces to the gender they were assigned at birth. asserted
they → prohibit → birth
The proposition also requires an athlete's “sex” to reflect what they were assigned on their birth certificate and allows athletes to sue schools and associations that violate the expanded law. asserted
that → require → law
Nebraska, which already had a ban in place on transgender athletes, codified the ban in the state constitution after passing Measure 442. asserted
which → have → Measure
The measure requires schools to designate a sport as male, female or coed and prohibits students assigned male at birth from participating in female sports. asserted
measure → require → sports
Other transgender bans have gone to the courts. asserted
bans → go → courts
A county-level ban in suburban Nassau County outside New York City was struck down by an appeals court Tuesday in a setback to the GOP nominee for governor, who championed the legislation while serving as county executive. asserted
who → strike → executive
The results in Washington and Colorado came less than two years after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which gave federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth. asserted
someone → come → birth
The expansion of transgender bans in individual states — now well over half the country has a transgender athlete ban of some kind — as well as the passage of other conservative-backed agendas like voter ID requirements in places like Ohio highlight that some Trump-backed policies do resonate with voters across the political spectrum. asserted
policies → back → spectrum
But widespread discontent over more high-profile issues like the war in Iran had a far greater impact during midterm elections that ended with Democrats gaining control of the House and Senate. asserted
Democrats → have → House
In Missouri, voters declined to support Amendment 3, which would have banned gender-transition treatment and surgeries for minors as well as repealed the right to abortion. asserted
which → decline → abortion
“The reality is undeniable: fearmongering about transgender people is a losing strategy,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. asserted
Ellis → fearmongere → statement
“Election 2026 must go down in history as the last campaign to try it.” asserted
Election → go → it
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