Right now, paid signature gatherers are circulating petitions for dangerous initiatives that will dehumanize transgender students and put Washington’s youth at risk, especially LGBTQ+, immigrant, neurodiverse, and homeless students. Time is running out and we need your help.
Sign Up HERE to become a volunteer.
From banning trans girls from sports, to forced outing, taking away students’ ability to confide in school counselors, and possible invasive exams of “reproductive organs” for some girls, initiatives IL 26-001 and 26-638 will threaten the safety of every Washington student. Two weeks ago, Washington Families For Freedom held a press conference in Seattle to speak out against these anti-trans initiatives.
“Jorge Torres, the 2024 Washington School Counselor of the Year,” writes KOMO News, “said the proposals undermine the role of school counselors, who work to support all students academically and emotionally. “These initiatives would restrict our ability to create safe, inclusive environments.”
That’s exactly why we need your help to defeat these harmful initiatives. WA Families For Freedom is looking for volunteers to help with canvassing to collect Decline to Sign pledges, rapid response, data entry, and more. The more of us that come together to fight back, the more we can ensure the safety of our state’s most vulnerable students.
Washington Families for Freedom is a group of parents, teachers, students and community members working to stand up for every student’s right to fair, safe, and equal schools. They state these initiatives will:
- Violate students’ privacy and dignity with forced invasive medical exams at the parent’s expense, currently not required by law
- Increase bullying, stigma and division in schools
- Subject schools and districts to lawsuits, costing taxpayers millions of dollars
- Undo Washington’s successful sports inclusion policy that has worked since 2007
- Make it harder for students to see a school counselor and get mental health support
Each measure faces a signature collection deadline of January 2, 2026. Heywood will need to amass 386,000 signatures for each to qualify. Let’s make sure he does not reach his goal.
If you see signature gatherers hawking petitions for IL26-001 and IL26-638, decline to sign, and spread the word!