Voters Protect Girls Sports, Children From Body-Mutilating Surgeries
Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington cast ballots to protect girls sports, privacy and safety from male athletes who claim to be female, and voters in Colorado and Missouri decided whether to protect children from body-mutilating “transgender” medical interventions.
While votes are still being counted in many states – some third world countries count ballots more quickly – the news looks good for several of these ballot initiatives, as voters choose biological reality over “transgender” ideology.
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly commented on yesterday’s election, noting the success of many of these ballot measures in what was a dark night for conservatives:
In the midst of deep losses for socially conservative candidates and policies across the country, voters in Arizona and Nebraska approved measures on Tuesday to protect girls from having to compete against sexually confused boys in school athletics.
We celebrate these common-sense safeguards for our children that not only serve to shield them from physical harm but also represent a victory for fairness.
Similar measures in Colorado and Washington are also leading, though ballots are still being counted.
Here’s what we know about those initiatives so far.
Arizona: Proposition 318, the Protect Girls Sports in Arizona Act, was winning by a wide margin and projected to pass, 59% to 41%, with 84% of the votes counted. The constitutional amendment will:
• Prohibit males from playing in school or athletic association teams designated for girls or women.
• Require public and private schools, athletic associations and higher education institutions to only allow individuals to use athletes’ showers, locker rooms and restrooms that align with their biological sex.
• Allow athletes to sue schools and athletic associations that violate this law.
The ballot measure defines “sex” as “an individual’s biological status as male or female as recorded at birth on the individual’s original birth certificate.” It also removes a provision in current Arizona law that allows females to participate on school or athletic association teams designated for males, while still allowing coed teams.
Colorado: With 78% of votes counted, voters were favoring Proposition 134, the Protect Girls Sports Act, by a slim margin of 52.6% to 47.4%. The ballot initiative defines male and female based on biological sex. It mandates that colleges and K-12 schools designate boys and men’s sports for males and girls and women’s sports for females.
Voters were also backing Proposition 135, the Protect Kids From Irreversible Sex-Change Surgery Act, by a similar margin, 52% to 48%. The proposition prohibits health care professionals from performing transgender surgeries on minors with sexual identity confusion, and it keeps state and federal money from being spent on these destructive procedures.
The fact that these two ballot measures are likely to pass is remarkable in a deep-blue state which voted overwhelmingly for Democrats who support transgender ideology, oppose protecting girls and women’s sports, and approve transgender medical procedures for children. Colorado’s Democrat-controlled Legislature has passed more than 20 laws in the past six years promoting transgenderism – especially to children – and threatening parental rights related to this issue.
Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, the organization responsible for getting these two measures on the Colorado ballot, noted that her organization was outspent 22-to-1 by transgender activists and their allies, $4.4 million to $200,000.
Proposition 133, the Children Are Not for Sale Act, was also placed on the ballot by Protect Kids Colorado. This citizen initiative elevates human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude from a second-class to a first-class felony and requires a life sentence in prison for human trafficking of a minor – without parole. It was winning by a large margin of 62% to 38%.
Nebraska: Voters approved the Fairness for Girls constitutional amendment by a wide margin of 68% to 32%, with 90% of the votes counted. The initiative adds the following text to the state constitution:
(1) Schools must expressly designate each athletic team or sport as one of the following based on biological sex: (a) Males, men, or boys; (b) females, women, or girls; or (c) coed or mixed.
(2) Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall not be open to students of the male sex.
Nebraska Family Alliance, a Focus on the Family-allied policy organization, celebrated the victory:
Voters spoke overwhelmingly in support of protecting girls’ sports, and we are proud that Nebraska has taken this important step to protect girls and women for generations to come.
Missouri: Amendment 3, Prohibit Abortion and Gender Transition Procedures for Minors,would have repealed the state’s 2024 abortion amendment, restricted most abortions and prohibited transgender procedures for minors. Abortion and transgender activists spent more than $27 million to defeat the constitutional amendment, while supporters raised more than $8 million to protect preborn infants and minors who reject their sex. The measure lost 55% to 48%, with 95% of votes counted.
Washington: The state has less than 60% of votes counted, but Measure 638, Protect Fairness in Girls Sports, which prohibits biological males from competing in girls athletic activities, was leading by a margin of 56.8% to 43.2%.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights, Initiative 001, would have restored parental rights in education, giving parents broader and quicker access to their students’ records, requiring curriculum transparency, mandating notice before medical services were given to a child, and requiring immediate notice after emergency treatment and if a crime was committed against a child. The ballot measure was losing by a margin of 52.7% to 47.3%.
There is a bit of a conundrum about these issues: Nationally, there is broad support for protecting girls sports and keeping children from harmful drugs, hormones and surgeries, yet many people still vote for politicians who favor harmful transgender policies.
In Colorado, for example, people elected officials who promote transgenderism, voting several conservatives out of office.
How do we explain this?
One answer may be that Christians care deeply about moral and social issues, including the truth that humans are made in God’s image, male and female, but evangelicals make up only about 25% of the U.S. population.
While somewhere around 89%-96% of those are registered to vote, only about two-thirds actually vote. So our influence on moral issues is less than it could be.
In addition, for all voters, including many Christians, polls show that key issues of importance in this election included the economy, healthcare, the situation in Iran, gas prices and “income and wealth distribution.” Those concerns may trump important moral questions for many voters.
About 56% of voters view abortion as extremely or very important, and 46% care about “policies regarding gender identity and trans people,” but those percentages also include pro-abortion and transgender activists. It’s not clear how important these issues were to voters when casting their ballots.
Please pray with us that these measures to protect children and girls sports will pass – and that politicians and voters who oppose these will have a transformation of the heart and turn toward truth.
Related articles and resources:
Arizona Amendment Would Protect Girls and Women’s Sports and Restrooms
Final Look Before Election: Abortion Measures in Nevada, Idaho, Virginia and Missouri
Missouri Voters Can Protect Life, Stop ‘Transgender’ Procedures for Minors
Nebraska Citizens to Vote on Constitutional Amendment Protecting Girls Sports
Polls: Broad Support for Saving Girls Sports, Ending ‘Transgender’ Procedures for Minors
Protecting Children Is On the Ballot in Colorado
Washington Ballot Measures Protect Girls Sports and Parental Rights
Washington State Citizens Fight for Parents’ Rights, Girls Sports
Who Are the Groups Fighting to Mutilate Children and Keep Boys in Girls Sports?
Why Focus on the Family Cares About the Gender Issue?
Why Christians Can’t Avoid the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue
Yes, Sexuality and Gender Are Undeniable Gospel Issues
