1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47

Item Number:
Meeting Date:

10a_reso
October 13, 2026

Sponsor: Hasegawa

PORT OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION NO. 3855
A RESOLUTION of the Port of Seattle Commission expressing opposition to
Initiative Measure No. IL26-638, concerning sex
verification requirements for participation in girls' school
sports, appearing on the November 3, 2026 general election
ballot; and reaffirming the Commission's commitment, first
expressed in Order No. 2022-08, to protect the privacy of
personal health information and health care decisions.
WHEREAS, the voters of King County authorized and approved the formation of a port
district coterminous with King County to be known as the Port of Seattle in a special election on
September 5, 1911; and
WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle Commission is the legally constituted governing body of
the Port of Seattle; and
WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle's Century Agenda commits the Port to "become a model
for equity, diversity, and inclusion," and the Port has long recognized that our region's prosperity
- our ability to attract a talented workforce, welcome visitors from around the world, and grow
our maritime and aviation economies - depends on communities where every person is treated
with dignity and respect; and
WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle established the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
in 2019, the first standalone equity department at any port authority in the United States, and
through its Welcoming Port Policy Directive has committed to ensuring that every person who
works at, travels through, or does business with Port facilities feels welcome, safe, and able to
access services, benefits, and opportunities; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the Commission publicly opposed Initiative 1515, which sought to
restrict transgender people's access to facilities consistent with their gender identity, and in the
years since the Port has acted on that commitment: by Motion 2018-08 the Commission directed
the development of a gender-inclusive restroom plan for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport,
and the Port has since opened all-gender facilities that are among the first of their kind at any
North American airport and expanded services for transgender, nonbinary, and gendernonconforming travelers, so that our airport serves as a safe and welcoming gateway for all; and
WHEREAS, in June 2023, the Commission's Pride proclamation expressly recognized
that "new discriminatory and bigoted laws targeting the LGBTQIA2S+ community are on the
rise" and committed the Port to rejecting discrimination and supporting LGBTQIA2S+
individuals, their families, and their fight for equal rights; and

Resolution No. 3855 - Opposing Initiative IL26-638

Page 1 of 4

48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93

WHEREAS, among the Port's core equity principles, adopted in its equity framework
Values in Action, is "Prioritizing the Most Vulnerable," which provides: "In developing policies,
practices, and procedures, we are committed to engaging those who are most directly and
adversely impacted by our work," and which defines vulnerable stakeholders to include both
people within the Port and vulnerable communities and no community the Port serves is more
vulnerable than children, so a measure that targets children, compelling the disclosure of their
most private information at an age when they are least able to protect themselves, is precisely the
harm the Port's equity commitments oblige this Commission to speak against; and
WHEREAS, the Port's aviation, cruise, and tourism lines of business anchor a visitor
economy that depends directly on this region's reputation as a safe and welcoming destination:
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport serves more than 50 million travelers each year; the Port's
record 2025 cruise season carried nearly two million revenue passengers and generated an
estimated $1.2 billion in regional economic activity; and a record 2.1 million cruise passengers
are expected in the 2026 season; and
WHEREAS, in June and July 2026 the Port helped welcome the world to Seattle for the
FIFA World Cup, during which Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recorded three of the
busiest days in its history and more than 750,000 fans attended official fan celebrations across
the city, a demonstration that the international sporting events, conventions, and tourism the Port
competes to attract are awarded to, and succeed in, destinations known for welcoming every
athlete, fan, and visitor; and
WHEREAS, the experience of other states demonstrates that laws perceived as licensing
discrimination carry measurable economic consequences: after North Carolina enacted House
Bill 2 in 2016, an Associated Press analysis projected more than $3.76 billion in lost economic
activity over twelve years as employers canceled expansions, conventions relocated, and the
NCAA and NBA moved championship events and the All-Star Game out of the state, losses
concentrated in precisely the aviation-, tourism-, and event-driven sectors on which the Port's
revenues and the region's jobs depend; and
WHEREAS, the Port invests millions of dollars each year in the young people now
enrolled in Washington's public schools, through its Career Connected Learning programs and
high school internships at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the $4.1 million Youth Maritime
Career Launch program developed with the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and
Washington Maritime Blue, and its Duwamish Valley youth programs, because today's students
are the Port's future workforce, and measures that make schools less safe or push young people
out of school activities directly undermine those investments; and

WHEREAS, on July 12, 2022, following the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, the Port of Seattle
Commission unanimously adopted Order No. 2022-08, aligning Port policing policy with
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee's Directive 22-12 and directing the Port of Seattle Police

Resolution No. 3855 - Opposing Initiative IL26-638

Page 2 of 4

94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139

Department to refrain from cooperating or assisting with any out-of-state investigation,
prosecution, or other legal action concerning reproductive health care that is lawful in
Washington; and
WHEREAS, in adopting Order No. 2022-08, the Commission affirmed an enduring
principle: that a person's private health care information and health care decisions belong to that
person, and that government must not compel their disclosure, weaponize them, or condition
participation in public life upon surrendering them; and
WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638, sponsored by the political committee
Let's Go Washington, was certified to the November 3, 2026 general election ballot after the
Legislature declined to act on it during the 2026 session; the measure would require school
districts and nonprofit athletics organizations to prohibit students it defines as "biologically male"
from competing in athletic activities designated for female students, and would require every
student seeking to participate in girls' sports, in kindergarten through twelfth grade, to submit
documentation from a health care provider verifying her sex on the basis of reproductive
anatomy, genetic makeup, or endogenously produced testosterone levels; and
WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 is the most far-reaching measure of its
kind in the nation: it is the only such measure that would subject cisgender girls, and not only
transgender girls, to medical sex verification, and it would expose children to invasive, medically
unnecessary examinations and the compelled disclosure of private medical information as the
price of playing school sports; and
WHEREAS, Initiative Measure No. IL26-638 rests on the same premise the Commission
rejected in Order No. 2022-08, that government may compel the disclosure of private health
information and intrude upon deeply personal health care matters, and would single out
transgender young people, and indeed all girls, for surveillance and exclusion contrary to the
protections of the Washington Law Against Discrimination, chapter 49.60 RCW; and its
enactment would mark Washington, in the eyes of the athletes, governing bodies, event
organizers, and visitors this region has successfully courted, as a state that polices children's
bodies as a condition of play, the very reputation that caused sports leagues and event organizers
to abandon other states; and
WHEREAS, civic institutions across the region and state have urged rejection of the
measure, including the Washington State PTA and the American Civil Liberties Union of
Washington, and on July 28, 2026, the Tacoma City Council unanimously adopted Resolution
No. 41972 expressing its opposition to both of Let's Go Washington's initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle is a major public employer that competes nationally for
talent, and workers, employers, and visitors alike choose regions whose laws protect their
employees, their children, and their neighbors; discrimination against any community, including
the LGBTQIA2S+ community, diminishes the welcoming region, thriving workforce, and

Resolution No. 3855 - Opposing Initiative IL26-638

Page 3 of 4

140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175

vibrant economy that the Port exists to advance.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Port of Seattle Commission as
follows:
SECTION 1. The Port of Seattle Commission hereby expresses its opposition to Initiative
Measure No. IL26-638, finding that the measure would compel the disclosure of private health
information, endanger young people, undermine the Port's investments in its future workforce,
threaten the welcoming reputation on which the Port's aviation, cruise, tourism, and events
businesses depend, and conflict with the values of equity, dignity, and inclusion that guide the Port
of Seattle.
SECTION 2. The Commission reaffirms Order No. 2022-08 and the principles
underlying it, including the protection of private health care information and health care decisions
from compelled disclosure and government intrusion, and directs that the policies implemented
under Order No. 2022-08 remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. The Commission reaffirms its Welcoming Port Policy Directive and its
commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and affirms that all people, including transgender
youth and the LGBTQIA2S+ community, are welcome, valued, and safe at the gateways and in
the workplaces of the Port of Seattle.
ADOPTED by the Port of Seattle Commission at a duly noticed public meeting thereof,
held this 13th day of October, 2026, and duly authenticated in open session by the signatures of
the commissioners voting in favor thereof and the seal of the Commission.

Port of Seattle Commission

Resolution No. 3855 - Opposing Initiative IL26-638

Page 4 of 4