Resolution No. 3855 – Opposing Initiative IL26-638 Page 1 of 4
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Sponsor: Hasegawa 3
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PORT OF SEATTLE 5
RESOLUTION NO. 3855 6
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A RESOLUTION of the Port of Seattle Commission expressing opposition to 8
Initiative Measure No. IL26-638, concerning sex 9
verification requirements for participation in girls’ school 10
sports, appearing on the November 3, 2026 general election 11
ballot; and reaffirming the Commission’s commitment, first 12
expressed in Order No. 2022-08, to protect the privacy of 13
personal health information and health care decisions. 14
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WHEREAS, the voters of King County authorized and approved the formation of a port 16
district coterminous with King County to be known as the Port of Seattle in a special election on 17
September 5, 1911; and 18
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WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle Commission is the legally constituted governing body of 20
the Port of Seattle; and 21
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WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle’s Century Agenda commits the Port to “become a model 23
for equity, diversity, and inclusion,” and the Port has long recognized that our region’s prosperity 24
— our ability to attract a talented workforce, welcome visitors from around the world, and grow 25
our maritime and aviation economies — depends on communities where every person is treated 26
with dignity and respect; and 27
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WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle established the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 29
in 2019, the first standalone equity department at any port authority in the United States, and 30
through its Welcoming Port Policy Directive has committed to ensuring that every person who 31
works at, travels through, or does business with Port facilities feels welcome, safe, and able to 32
access services, benefits, and opportunities; and 33
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WHEREAS, in 2016, the Commission publicly opposed Initiative 1515, which sought to 35
restrict transgender people’s access to facilities consistent with their gender identity, and in the 36
years since the Port has acted on that commitment: by Motion 2018-08 the Commission directed 37
the development of a gender-inclusive restroom plan for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 38
and the Port has since opened all-gender facilities that are among the first of their kind at any 39
North American airport and expanded services for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-40
nonconforming travelers, so that our airport serves as a safe and welcoming gateway for all; and 41
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WHEREAS, in June 2023, the Commission’s Pride proclamation expressly recognized 43
that “new discriminatory and bigoted laws targeting the LGBTQIA2S+ community are on the 44
rise” and committed the Port to rejecting discrimination and supporting LGBTQIA2S+ 45
individuals, their families, and their fight for equal rights; and 46
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Item Number: 10a_reso
Meeting Date: October 13, 2026
Resolution No. 3855 – Opposing Initiative IL26-638 Page 2 of 4
WHEREAS, among the Port’s core equity principles, adopted in its equity framework 48
Values in Action, is “Prioritizing the Most Vulnerable,” which provides: “In developing policies, 49
practices, and procedures, we are committed to engaging those who are most directly and 50
adversely impacted by our work,” and which defines vulnerable stakeholders to include both 51
people within the Port and vulnerable communities and no community the Port serves is more 52
vulnerable than children, so a measure that targets children, compelling the disclosure of their 53
most private information at an age when they are least able to protect themselves, is precisely the 54
harm the Port’s equity commitments oblige this Commission to speak against; and 55
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WHEREAS, the Port’s aviation, cruise, and tourism lines of business anchor a visitor 57
economy that depends directly on this region’s reputation as a safe and welcoming destination: 58
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport serves more than 50 million travelers each year; the Port’s 59
record 2025 cruise season carried nearly two million revenue passengers and generated an 60
estimated $1.2 billion in regional economic activity; and a record 2.1 million cruise passengers 61
are expected in the 2026 season; and 62
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WHEREAS, in June and July 2026 the Port helped welcome the world to Seattle for the 64
FIFA World Cup, during which Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recorded three of the 65
busiest days in its history and more than 750,000 fans attended official fan celebrations across 66
the city, a demonstration that the international sporting events, conventions, and tourism the Port 67
competes to attract are awarded to, and succeed in, destinations known for welcoming every 68
athlete, fan, and visitor; and 69
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WHEREAS, the experience of other states demonstrates that laws perceived as licensing 71
discrimination carry measurable economic consequences: after North Carolina enacted House 72
Bill 2 in 2016, an Associated Press analysis projected more than $3.76 billion in lost economic 73
activity over twelve years as employers canceled expansions, conventions relocated, and the 74
NCAA and NBA moved championship events and the All-Star Game out of the state, losses 75
concentrated in precisely the aviation-, tourism-, and event-driven sectors on which the Port’s 76
revenues and the region’s jobs depend; and 77
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WHEREAS, the Port invests millions of dollars each year in the young people now 79
enrolled in Washington’s public schools, through its Career Connected Learning programs and 80
high school internships at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the $4.1 million Youth Maritime 81
Career Launch program developed with the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and 82
Washington Maritime Blue, and its Duwamish Valley youth programs, because today’s students 83
are the Port’s future workforce, and measures that make schools less safe or push young people 84
out of school activities directly undermine those investments; and 85
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WHEREAS, on July 12, 2022, following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in 90
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, the Port of Seattle 91
Commission unanimously adopted Order No. 2022-08, aligning Port policing policy with 92
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee’s Directive 22-12 and directing the Port of Seattle Police 93
Resolution No. 3855 – Opposing Initiative IL26-638 Page 3 of 4
Department to refrain from cooperating or assisting with any out-of-state investigation, 94
prosecution, or other legal action concerning reproductive health care that is lawful in 95
Washington; and 96
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WHEREAS, in adopting Order No. 2022-08, the Commission affirmed an enduring 98
principle: that a person’s private health care information and health care decisions belong to that 99
person, and that government must not compel their disclosure, weaponize them, or condition 100
participation in public life upon surrendering them; and 101
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WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638, sponsored by the political committee 103
Let’s Go Washington, was certified to the November 3, 2026 general election ballot after the 104
Legislature declined to act on it during the 2026 session; the measure would require school 105
districts and nonprofit athletics organizations to prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” 106
from competing in athletic activities designated for female students, and would require every 107
student seeking to participate in girls’ sports, in kindergarten through twelfth grade, to submit 108
documentation from a health care provider verifying her sex on the basis of reproductive 109
anatomy, genetic makeup, or endogenously produced testosterone levels; and 110
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WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 is the most far-reaching measure of its 112
kind in the nation: it is the only such measure that would subject cisgender girls, and not only 113
transgender girls, to medical sex verification, and it would expose children to invasive, medically 114
unnecessary examinations and the compelled disclosure of private medical information as the 115
price of playing school sports; and 116
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WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 rests on the same premise the Commission 118
rejected in Order No. 2022-08, that government may compel the disclosure of private health 119
information and intrude upon deeply personal health care matters, and would single out 120
transgender young people, and indeed all girls, for surveillance and exclusion contrary to the 121
protections of the Washington Law Against Discrimination, chapter 49.60 RCW; and its 122
enactment would mark Washington, in the eyes of the athletes, governing bodies, event 123
organizers, and visitors this region has successfully courted, as a state that polices children’s 124
bodies as a condition of play, the very reputation that caused sports leagues and event organizers 125
to abandon other states; and 126
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WHEREAS, civic institutions across the region and state have urged rejection of the 128
measure, including the Washington State PTA and the American Civil Liberties Union of 129
Washington, and on July 28, 2026, the Tacoma City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 130
No. 41972 expressing its opposition to both of Let’s Go Washington’s initiatives; and 131
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WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle is a major public employer that competes nationally for 136
talent, and workers, employers, and visitors alike choose regions whose laws protect their 137
employees, their children, and their neighbors; discrimination against any community, including 138
the LGBTQIA2S+ community, diminishes the welcoming region, thriving workforce, and 139
Resolution No. 3855 – Opposing Initiative IL26-638 Page 4 of 4
vibrant economy that the Port exists to advance. 140
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Port of Seattle Commission as 142
follows: 143
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SECTION 1. The Port of Seattle Commission hereby expresses its opposition to Initiative 145
Measure No. IL26-638, finding that the measure would compel the disclosure of private health 146
information, endanger young people, undermine the Port’s investments in its future workforce, 147
threaten the welcoming reputation on which the Port’s aviation, cruise, tourism, and events 148
businesses depend, and conflict with the values of equity, dignity, and inclusion that guide the Port 149
of Seattle. 150
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SECTION 2. The Commission reaffirms Order No. 2022-08 and the principles 152
underlying it, including the protection of private health care information and health care decisions 153
from compelled disclosure and government intrusion, and directs that the policies implemented 154
under Order No. 2022-08 remain in full force and effect. 155
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SECTION 3. The Commission reaffirms its Welcoming Port Policy Directive and its 157
commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and affirms that all people, including transgender 158
youth and the LGBTQIA2S+ community, are welcome, valued, and safe at the gateways and in 159
the workplaces of the Port of Seattle. 160
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ADOPTED by the Port of Seattle Commission at a duly noticed public meeting thereof, 162
held this 13th day of October, 2026, and duly authenticated in open session by the signatures of 163
the commissioners voting in favor thereof and the seal of the Commission. 164
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Port of Seattle Commission 175
