During a recent presentation, I was asked why I did not support the 2026 Parents Rights and Girls Rights Initiatives that will be on the ballot this Fall. Briefly, after carefully reading both Initiatives back in June 2025, I wrote an article explaining that neither Initiative was properly written. In February 2026, I posted another article briefly explaining why I could not support either Initiative. The main issue is that both Initiatives clearly violate Article II, Section 37 of the Washington State Constitution. To add insult to injury, because both of these Initiatives are woefully incomplete, neither of these Initiatives would actually solve the extremely serious problems they claim to solve. Even if both Initiatives were approved by the voters and the courts, as I explain in greater detail below, we would still face major violations of Parents Rights and Girls Rights here in Washington state.
Because of all of the questions I have been getting lately, I have decided it is time to write an article going into greater detail about the many unfortunate problems with the 2026 Parents Rights and Girls Rights Initiatives – and then explain the pathway we are following at the Washington Parents Network that will actually restore Parents Rights and Girls Rights here in Washington state.
Why both Initiatives violate Article II Section 37 of the Washington State Constitution
Article II, Section 37, commonly called the Full Text provision, requires that, if an initiative conflicts with or “silently amends” existing related state laws, without explicitly showing those changes, it violates Article II, Section 37. The Washington Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down poorly written Initiatives that "silently" conflicted with existing state laws.
One example was a case called Washington Citizens Action v. State. 2007 Initiative 747 was ruled invalid because it intended to limit annual property tax increases to 1%, down from 2%, but the language used in the ballot initiative failed to properly account for previous, related tax legislation.
Another more recent example of this “Full Text” provision was the 2024 Natural Gas Ban Initiative 2066 wherein a King County Superior Court judge overturned the initiative, in part because it silently amended existing state laws without setting forth those changes their full text.
The Washington Supreme Court has created one and only one exception to this rule of not silently amending existing state laws. The exception is called “Harmonization.” Washington courts will try, if possible, to "harmonize" a new Initiative with existing Washington state laws. This means that judges will attempt to interpret both the old law and the new initiative in a way that allows both to exist if possible. However, if it is not possible to harmonize the new Initiative with the existing laws, the Initiative will likely to be declared to be invalid because the voters were not fully informed about what the Initiatives actually did.
The problem with both the 2026 Parents Rights and Girls Rights Initiatives is that both silently amend a series of “Gender Identity” laws passed in our state in recent years. These laws designated “gender identity” as a “protected class” in our state. Being a protected class gave these individuals certain controversial rights which have been mandated as Washington School Policy 3211-P. Both Initiatives, by ignoring these “gender identity” laws and policies, silently conflict with several current laws and are therefore likely to be ruled unconstitutional should they be approved by the voters and then challenged in court. This sad result would be a huge set back for both Parents Rights and Girls Rights.
Those in favor of the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative claim that it was ruled to be “Good Law” by a King County Judge in January 2025. What they fail to understand is, even if it was good law in January 2025, that ruling was before House Bill 1296, was passed by the Legislature in April 2025. House Bill 1296 clarified several of the Gender Rights laws and thereby created a clearer conflict with the Parents Rights Initiative. House Bill 1296 amended 17 laws but the new Parents Rights Initiative only amended 1 of these 17 laws. It is the 16 other recently clarified laws in House Bill 1296 that created conflicts that were not addressed by the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative.
As just one example of the Initiative silently conflicting with existing laws, Section 203 of House Bill 1296 amends RCW 28A.230. The amendment a “Student Bill of Rights.” Right (iii) states: “The right to access an academic environment free of discrimination according to the provisions established in chapters 28A.640, 28A.642, and 49.60 RCW. “
Section 103 of House Bill 1296 amends RCW 28A.642.010. The amendment prohibits “discrimination in Washington public schools on the basis of… gender identity.”
This change makes Gender Identity a Protected Class in Washington state which in turn requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to “develop rules and guidelines to eliminate discrimination… as it applies to public school employment, counseling and guidance services to students, recreational and athletic activities for students.” Gender identity means that if a boy claims he thinks he is a girl, then he must be treated as a girl and protected from discrimination based on his gender identity. This is the legal basis for Policy 3211-P which in turn requires school employees to hide the identity of the student from anyone – including from his parents (see below for more details).
The 2026 Girls Rights Initiative suffers from the exact same problem. It amends only 2 of several laws. But it ignores the underlying “Gender Identity” Protected class laws.
Examples of how the 2026 Initiatives conflict with existing State laws
Here is a link to Washington Policy 3211-P. And here are some sections of this policy that conflict with the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative (parts in bold are clear conflicts):
Communication and Use of Names and Pronouns
An appropriate school employee will privately ask known transgender or gender-expansive students how they would like to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, and at conferences with the student’s parent/guardian.
That information will be included in the electronic student record system along with the student’s legal name in order to inform teachers and staff of the name and pronoun by which to address the student…
When appropriate or necessary, this information will be communicated directly with staff to facilitate the use of proper names and pronouns. A student is not required to change their official records... as a prerequisite to being addressed by the name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity…
Before communicating with parents of transgender or gender expansive students, it’s important to ask the student how school employees should refer to the student when talking with their parents and guardians.
For parents who are not supportive, or who are not aware of the student’s transition at school, referring to their name and pronoun could be very dangerous. The district will not condone the intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity or gender expression, or inappropriate release of information regarding a student’s transgender or gender-expansive status.
Official Records
The standardized high school transcript is the only official record that requires a student’s legal name. School staff should adopt practices to avoid the inadvertent disclosure of the student’s transgender or gender-expansive status… The school must use the name and gender by which the student identifies on all other records...
Here are the section of Policy 3211-P that directly conflict with the 2026 Girls Rights Initiative:
Sports and Physical Education Classes
The District will provide all students, including transgender and gender-expansive students, the opportunity to participate in physical education and athletic programs/opportunities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity.
Why the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative does not restore Parents Rights
Even if the Washington Supreme Court decided that the Initiatives could somehow be “harmonized” with existing state gender-identity protected class laws, we would still face serious and ongoing violations of Parents Rights and Girls Rights here in Washington state.
For example, the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative can be easily subverted by school districts, who could continue to comply with Policy 3211-P by taking advantage of “loopholes” in FERPA. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, is a federal law protecting the privacy of student education records, applying to all educational institutions receiving U.S. Department of Education funds. It grants parents rights to inspect records, seek amendments, and control disclosure. However,, in Washington state, FERPA is subverted by a “Double Book Keeping” process which deliberately hides information from parents by having “official educational records” parents get to see and then unofficial records that only teachers and staff get to see and parents do not get to see. Part 99 of FERPA states: “Records” do not include records that are kept in the sole possession of the maker, are used only as a personal memory aid, and are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record.”
Equally bad, FERPA Part 99.5 states: Rights of Students...The Act and this part do not prevent educational agencies or institutions from giving students rights in addition to those given to parents.
Also bad are all of the Anti-parent laws passed by the legislature that harms the Parent-Child relationship in a variety of ways. Teachers would still be allowed to tell young children to not trust their parents.
And teachers would still be allowed to lie to young children by telling them that boys could become girls simply by changing their names and pronouns:
And young children would still be exposed to “sexualization” due to the state’s Sex Ed for Kinders policy”:
In short, the 2026 Parents Rights Initiative is nothing more than placing a useless band-aid on a problem that requires open heart surgery!
Why the 2026 Girls Rights Initiative does not restore Girls Rights
Equally bad, the 2026 Girls Rights Initiative only keeps boys from competing in Girls Sports. It does nothing to keep boys out of girls bathrooms or locker rooms. Here are quotes from Washington Policy 3211-P about three policies that would still be in effect even if the Girls Rights Initiative was passed by the voters and approved by the Washington Supreme Court:
Restroom Accessibility
Students will be allowed to use the restroom that corresponds to the gender identity they assert at school. No student will be required to use a restroom that conflicts with their gender identity.
Locker Room Accessibility
The district will take an approach that conforms with OSPI ‘s guidelines. In most cases, the district should provide the student access to the locker room that corresponds to the gender identity they assert at school.
Other School Activities
In any school activity or other circumstance involving separation by gender (i.e., field trips, and overnight trips), students will be permitted to participate in accordance with the gender identity they assert at school.
Not only does it still allow this extremely harmful practice, but it would still allow teachers to shame girls into accepting boys into their girls bathrooms – an outrageous crime that leads to girls suffering from anxiety, depression and low self esteem:
A Better Pathway that will actually restore Parents Rights
At the Washington Parents Network, we are following a four-prong strategy that will eventually restore not just one Parent Right - but ALL Parents Rights here in Washington state. The first prong is that in May 2025, we filed a 48 page Parents Rights complaint with the US Department of Justice. Our complaint outlines numerous US Supreme Court Parents Rights decisions that are being violated by current Washington State laws.
This first prong is currently in limbo because Patty Murray placed “Senate Blue Slips” against both Trump US Attorneys here in Washington state.
As a consequence, both of these US Attorneys have been blocked from receiving the “Advice and Consent” of the US Senate as required by Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution. While the Trump administration claims that our US Attorneys are “Special US Attorneys,” at least 7 federal courts have ruled there is no such thing as a “Special US Attorney” and that they will not accept cases from US Attorneys who have not been through the Senate Advice and Consent process as required by Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution.
To address this problem, on January 20, 2026, the Washington Parents Network filed a 99 page complaint with the Department of Justice summarizing all of these federal court rulings and asking the Department of Justice to file file a Petition with the US Supreme Court clarifying that the Senate Blue Slip policy violates several sections of the US Constitution. It may take a year or more for this problem to be resolved.
The Second Prong of our Plan to restore ALL Parents Rights
In the meantime, we have moved to our second prong to restore ALL Parents Rights in our state. There have been important Parents Rights rulings by the US Supreme Court in the past two months – with more coming up later this year. The most important ruling was on March 2, 2026. The US Supreme Court ruled, in a case called Mirabelli v. Bonta, that California laws forcing teachers to lie to parents violate Parent Rights to guide the upbringing of their children – including making important medical and mental health decisions about their children – because these Parental Rights are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution.
I wrote an article about this Supreme Court ruling on March 3, 2026. Since Washington state has laws that force teachers to lie to parents that are identical to the unconstitutional California laws, it is clear that the Washington Anti-parent laws are just as unconstitutional as the California Anti-parent laws – and that the Washington Governor and State Superintendent should immediately issue statements to every school district in our state telling them to stop following these clearly unconstitutional Anti-parent laws. After all, both our Governor and our State Superintendent have taken an Oath of Office to uphold and comply with the US Constitution.
However, we at the Washington Parents Network, do not believe that our Governor or our State Superintendent will issue such a statement – or uphold their Oath of Office. Instead, we believe that both will continue to violate Parental Rights and continue to ignore this and many other Supreme Court rulings and continue to violate the US Constitution.
The good news is that the attorneys for Mirabelli were awarded $4.5 million dollars for California’s violation of Parents Constitutional Rights. This fact will encourage private, Pro-Parents Rights attorneys to help us file a series of Consent Decrees in federal court forcing Washington state officials to honor our Parents Rights and forcing state officials to honor federal laws, as well as rulings from the US Supreme Court. This process also may take a couple of years but it has the added benefit of exposing the fact that our current state leaders have not only been lying to parents and teachers over the past nine years – but they have also been violating federal laws and our Constitutional Rights.
The Third Prong of our Plan to restore ALL Parents Rights
After we have exposed our state leaders for lying to the public and violating federal laws, and after we have won several Consent Decrees, there will still be a few Anti-Parents Rights Laws in our state that are not clearly spelled out in federal laws and US Supreme Court decisions. These may include crimes like the Washington Sex Ed for Kinders law – as well as laws that protect teachers who harm the Parent -Child relationship with Trans Drug Cult Propaganda. To address these remaining problems, we intend to eventually build a large enough Parents Rights Network to pass our Family Rights Initiative – which is a comprehensive Initiative that has been carefully written to comply with the Washington State Constitution and to fully restore ALL Parents Rights by repealing all of the Anti-Parent laws that have been passed in our state during the past nine years.
The Fourth Prong of our Plan to restore ALL Parents Rights
None of these prior steps are going to matter as long as we have Anti-parent crazy people running our legislature and schools. Our plan is to replace all of these Anti-parent crooks with people who have a better understanding of the need to protect the Parent Child relationship.
To achieve this goal, we intend to make every election about Parents Rights. In addition, we intend to reach out to and better inform the Independent voters in our State – most of whom are either Parents or the children of Parents.
There are at most one million Democrats and slightly less than one million Republicans in our state. But there are more than two million Independent voters in our state. They care about money and they certainly are getting concerned about taxes in our state being driven through the roof in recent years. But what they care most about is their kids. Once they are better informed about the harm that has been inflicted on their kids by our current leaders, we are confident they will vote to replace the current Anti-parent crazies in Olympia.
A Better Pathway that will actually restore Girls Rights
We are following a similar four-prong strategy that will eventually restore not just Girls Rights to Fair Sports - but ALL Girls Rights here in Washington state. This includes the right to their own Bathrooms and Locker Rooms. And it also includes the right to be protected from Trans Drug Cult propaganda in our schools.
The first prong was started in February 2025, when we filed a 99 page Girls Rights Title IX complaint with the US Department of Justice. Our complaint outlines numerous US Supreme Court Girls Rights and Title IX decisions that are being violated by current Washington State laws. In particular, in August 2024, the US Supreme Court published an opinion in the case of Tennessee v Cardona affirming the girls have a right under Title IX to their own sports leagues and private spaces and ordering all school districts in all states to comply with the plain meaning of Title IX – which only applies to biological girls and not to boys pretending to be girls. But as with our Parents Rights complaint, it is being held up by Patty Murray and her unconstitutional Senate Blue Slips.
While we are waiting to get Senate-approved US Attorneys, we are moving on to our Second Prong – which is to use private attorneys to file a Title IX Consent Decree in federal court. This has several advantages over the Girls Rights Initiative. The biggest is that it will expose the lies our current state leaders have been telling parents about how they have to allow boys in girls sports and girls bathrooms by falsely claiming this crazy policy is required by federal laws. But another advantage is that Initiatives can be voided by the State legislature over time. Our Consent Decree will be permanent and can never be amended by our crazy legislature.
The third prong is to include Girls Rights which are outside of Title IX to be protected by our Family Rights Initiative. This includes their right to not be shamed by their teachers into allowing boys into the girls bathrooms. The fourth prong is to replace our current state leaders with leaders that will protect both parents rights and girls rights. This task will be made much easier by first exposing all of the crimes our state leaders are committing – which is one of the most important advantages of our Consent Decrees.
Conclusion… It is time to put War against our Families
If you agree that it is time to put an end to the war against our families, then join our Washington Parents Network and start attending our monthly meetings which are held on the first Sunday of every month from 4 to 5 pm.
If you have any questions, or if you would like the link for our next meeting, email me – and please share this article with anyone you know who is interested in ending the war against our families.
Regards, David Spring M. Ed.
