Cascade: I-001 and I-638 would harm youth bike education and be ‘profoundly inequitable’ for youth athletes

Hey Republicans, these kids you're bullying will be old enough to vote not so long from now.

Cascade Bicycle Club is urging people to vote NO on I-001 and I-638 because they are in direct opposition to the core values we represent" and will have direct negative impacts on our work," according to a statement from the organization. Seattle Bike Blog has also endorsed a NO vote on these statewide initiatives.

Cascade runs many big youth education and empowerment programs including the statewide Let's Go program in grades 3 to 8 as well as out of school programs like the Major Taylor Project. I-001 would erode trust between the students we serve in schools and their bicycle educators by dramatically reducing student privacy rights and potentially put the Cascade staff actively working in schools into positions requiring mandatory reporting on gender identity," Cascade wrote. They join a long list of professional organizations working in youth counseling, youth healthcare and abuse prevention who are opposing I-001. The initiative would discouraging struggling kids from seeking help and would force educators and counselors to out LGBTQ+ kids to their parents even if kids are concerned about abuse or if the parents have a history of abuse.

Cascade also opposes I-638, noting that Washington youth bicycle racing leagues would be required to comply with the proposed rules to require sex exams for all girls wanting to participate.

I-638 would create barriers to participation in youth sports for ALL girls, including trans girls and nonbinary youth, putting youth bicycling at risk and reducing access," Cascade wrote. This is not hypothetical: Washington already has a bicycle racing league that would be required to comply with the new law if the initiative passes, creating a barrier to participation in youth sports for all girls, including trans girls and nonbinary youth. I-638 would require a healthcare provider to verify the student's biological sex using physical exams, genetic testing, or testosterone levels for ANY girl wishing to partake in school sports. This will have a chilling effect on girls' participation in sports including bike racing, resulting in negative physical and mental health impacts." They add that I-638 is profoundly inequitable because no such requirement exists for boys' sports."

With the Trump Administration's active efforts to interfere with Washington State's mail-in voting system, it is now too close to election day to put your ballot in a USPS mailbox and feel confident that it will be postmarked in time to be counted. Take it to a ballot drop box instead. Here's a map of every box in the state. There are a lot of important races for the state legislature as well as a District 5 City Council seat and several transit-funding measures around the region (see our roundup of endorsements from bike-friendly organizations), but defeating these initiatives is reason enough to get your ballot to a drop box.

These kids can't vote (yet), so they need you to stand up for them.