NAACP State Area Conference (Alaska • Oregon • Washington)
Ballot Alert: Vote NO on IL26-001 & IL26-638
Official Civil Rights Ballot Position
Protecting Black Youth.
Protecting Access to Care.
Initiatives IL26-001 and IL26-638 threaten confidential student support systems, dismantle essential mental health privacy, and impose unprecedented bodily surveillance on youth athletes. We urge Washington voters to defend our children this November.
lock Medical Confidentiality
shield_person Student Safety Lifelines
gavel Dignified Governance
Washington Ballot Campaign Active
Anchorage • Portland • Seattle • Spokane • Tacoma
Protecting 200,000+ youth from invasive state mandates and forced disclosures.
2026 General Election
Civil Rights Context
Official Policy Impact Analysis
“Any analysis of this initiative should consider what its disclosure rules mean for Black children navigating mental-health stigma, family violence, racial trauma, school discipline, distrust of institutions, or fear that asking for help will make their circumstances worse. That’s a legitimate policy-impact analysis, not an assumption that Black families are inherently less safe.”
NAACP State Area Conference Policy Working Group • AK | OR | WA
Five Core Pillars of Community Harm
Examining the systemic and direct consequences of IL26-001 on vulnerable students, youth mental health, and civil rights protections.
Safeguarding Trust In Public Schools
Every child deserves schools that protect their mental health privacy, nurture their talents, and provide confidential safe havens in times of crisis.
Mandating intrusive bodily exams and forced disclosures causes irreparable harm to vulnerable students.
Longstanding Racial Inequities in Mental Health Access
Black youth face deeper structural barriers to quality mental health care, including fewer culturally competent providers, longer clinical wait times, institutional misunderstandings, and chronic underfunding of community clinics. These pre-existing inequities harm our children and limit their ability to thrive. Mandating rigid disclosures compounds these hurdles rather than solving them.
Dangers of Policies Exposing Sensitive Student Information
Policies that require schools to automatically share students’ confidential mental health disclosures or gender identity records strip away safe harbors. For young people navigating unsupportive or hostile environments, forced disclosure directly increases the danger of emotional rejection, stigmatization, displacement, and abuse.
The Vital Importance of Confidentiality for Students
Confidentiality is often the sole lifeline for students experiencing acute trauma, domestic instability, or youth homelessness. It provides the essential safe ground to build trust with professional school counselors, seek immediate intervention, and remain anchored in school. Without trusted confidentiality, students will suffer in silence.
The Inequity of “Equal Rules” with Unequal Outcomes
Blanket mandates that disregard systemic context invariably deepen racial disparities. When policies ignore structural racism and historical distrust of municipal systems, they treat inherently unequal playing fields as fair, resulting in disproportionate disciplinary harm and educational alienation. True equity requires justice, not superficial uniformity.
Mental Health is an Inalienable Civil Rights Issue
Access to supportive, uncompromised mental health care is a matter of fundamental human dignity, safety, and individual freedom. Protecting Black and marginalized youth means actively dismantling barriers, guarding personal privacy, and cultivating public educational systems that honor our shared humanity.
Why We Oppose Both Initiatives
An authoritative review of the statutory flaws, civil liberties violations, and community harm codified in IL26-001 and IL26-638.
OPPOSE IL26-001
Statewide Ballot Measure
Mandatory Student Records & Privacy Elimination
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What Would “YES” on IL26-001 Actually Mean?
Carefully crafted protections passed by the 2025 Legislature would be eradicated. School counselors, nurses, and staff would be compelled to disclose confidential mental health records, support notes, and sensitive counseling dialogues.
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Why the NAACP Strongly Opposes
Sound public policy serves and protects its citizens through transparency, equity, and compassion. IL26-001 strips vital safety protections, creates chilling legal liabilities for educators, and places students facing family violence at direct risk. Good government does not endanger youth.
Counselor Drop In Youth Visits
Evidence of Improved Student Safety
OPPOSE IL26-638
Statewide Ballot Measure
Intrusive Student Athlete Verification & Body Surveillance
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What Would “YES” on IL26-638 Actually Mean?
Any girl wishing to participate in school sports would be required to obtain a health provider statement verifying their reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or hormone levels.
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Why the NAACP Strongly Opposes
State-mandated anatomical examinations of children are a gross breach of constitutional bodily autonomy. IL26-638 institutionalizes discrimination, creates fertile ground for harassment against female athletes, and weaponizes athletics against inclusivity.
Girls Subjected to Inquiries
Unnecessary Bureaucracy
Black Queer Youth, Belonging and School
When home isn’t stable, school can become an anchor.
For some Black queer young people, school is more than a classroom. When home is unstable, unaccepting, or unsafe, school can provide consistency, trusted adults, friendships, activities, and a sense of belonging.
That is why conversations about school activities and athletics can be bigger than competition. For some young people, a team, a coach, a teacher, or an activity can be an important connection to community.
Black queer youth experience life at the intersection of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, housing, family, and community. We cannot look at these experiences one issue at a time.
The NAACP has recognized the compounded challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people of color and has called for the dignity, safety, and protection of LGBTQ+ and transgender and nonbinary students.
This conversation does not have to be rooted in hate. We can disagree about policy while still protecting the humanity and dignity of every young person involved.
Where does this young person belong?
- person_searchWho knows their name?
- visibilityWho sees them?
- volunteer_activismWho supports them?
- groupsWhere can they experience community?
Our young people deserve places where they can experience safety, connection, dignity, and belonging.
For public discussion: Initiative 638 concerns K-12 interscholastic athletics. The broader questions about school belonging, housing instability, and LGBTQ+ youth are related social-context issues and are not provisions of the initiative itself.
Sources: NAACP LGBTQ+ policy resources; NAACP AOWSAC LGBTQ+ policy agenda; The Trevor Project research on Black LGBTQ+ youth and housing instability.
Official NAACP Resources & Print Materials
Direct from the NAACP State Area Conference (AK • OR • WA): our own broadsheet, issue briefs, and flyers for congregations, schools, and community hubs, plus official ballot documentation and statewide coalition resources to verify everything yourself.
Official NAACP Educational Broadsheet on IL26-001: Protecting Black Youth (PDF / Print)
The authoritative one-page broadsheet distributed across NAACP AOWSAC’s Washington branches. Synthesizes the civil rights analysis and the 5 core pillars of community harm behind our opposition to IL26-001.
info Resolution: 2000×1414 Print-Ready Master
More NAACP Materials: IL26-001
NAACP AOWSAC Issue Brief: IL26-001
Our own plain-language analysis of IL26-001, with statute citations and sources.
Shareable Flyer: IL26-001
A one-page, print-ready flyer to post at your branch or share in your community.
More NAACP Materials: IL26-638
NAACP AOWSAC Issue Brief: IL26-638
Our own plain-language analysis of IL26-638, with statute citations and sources.
Shareable Flyer: IL26-638
A one-page, print-ready flyer to post at your branch or share in your community.
External & Official Resources
Official Ballot Text: IL26-001
Read the certified full legal text directly from the Washington Secretary of State.
Official Ballot Text: IL26-638
Read the certified full legal text directly from the Washington Secretary of State.
NO HATE in WA State Coalition
Join the statewide coalition of organizations working together to defeat both IL26-001 and IL26-638.
Pledge to Vote “NO”
Join thousands of voters committed to preserving youth confidentiality, healthcare equity, and public safety across the Pacific Northwest.
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“We deserve good government and good lawmaking.”
Vote NO on IL26-001 • Vote NO on IL26-638