(The Center Square) – A crowd of about 250 people gathered at Michael T. Simmons Elementary School in Tumwater Saturday afternoon for a Let’s Go Washington signature-collecting event and rally that included a significant police presence following threats against the event.
On Friday, the FBI notified LGW that Antifa-affiliated groups were calling for acts of violence and intimidation against volunteers and supporters of the conservative political group.
LGW is backing two initiatives: one to restore parental rights in education and the other to protect girls in sports by not allowing transgender athletes to compete in athletic divisions that do not align with their biological sex.
The Washington Education Association and Washington Families for Freedom contend that both initiatives go against the protection of children and privacy rights.
At Saturday’s rally, many people signed initiative petitions and were encouraged to take signature sheets with them to gather more signatures, as the turn-in deadline was now about a week away and both measures were short of what LGW hoped to gather to ensure certification for the November 2026 ballot.
Speakers included Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, who told the cheering crowd that “a society that doesn’t protect and defend its women, its daughters and wives, is a society that has lost its moral compass.”
Yelm School Board member Ryan Jewell said he ran for school board this past November because he felt he could no longer sit on the sidelines while seeing parental rights eroded and girls not being protected in sports, locker rooms and bathrooms, all in the name of protecting transgender rights.
“It’s time for conservative voters to show up in large numbers,” Jewell said to loud cheers and applause. “The days of complaining without action are over.”
Speakers also included young women who had to compete against biological males.
“I’m here because I am mad,” said Tumwater High School sophomore Frances Staudt. “I am mad that this is being allowed to happen to me and to other girls.”
She told the crowd she sat out of the last basketball game of her freshman year because an 18-year-old biological male was playing on the opposing team.
Staudt said that when she spoke out in opposition to having to play against a biological male, she was targeted by the school administration.
“I was investigated by WIAA [Washington Interscholastic Activities Association] and the Tumwater School District for harassment and bullying and for misgendering this individual,” she said, which generated loud boos from the crowd. “There are only two genders, and that is male and female.”
Annaleigh Wilson, a student at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee, also spoke at the rally.
Wilson shared of losing out as a freshman in May 2024 at the Junior Olympics 1,600-meter race to a transgender athlete from another high school.
Both student athletes have become prominent advocates for the initiative to restrict transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports.
“We have been called hateful, transphobes, and bigots, and they have told my parents that they should be ashamed of raising me and making me so hateful,” Wilson said. “I am also told that I am a sore loser, that I just suck, and that if I wanted to get better, I should just train harder.”
Wilson grew emotional, telling the crowd that she’s been told that if a transgender athlete took their own life, she would be responsible.
“Do you know what it’s like to carry that weight at 16? No one should ever have to go through this,” Wilson said tearfully.
Crowd members responded by shouting, “You are not alone!” and “You are so strong!”
Both girls sent direct messages to Gov. Bob Ferguson and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, who both support allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
“We are asking you to listen to female athletes in Washington. You have stood up for the transgender athletes, but you have not stood up for us. We matter, too,” Wilson said. “We deserve protection in our locker rooms and in our sports that we have worked so hard for.”
Many in the audience wiped tears as they stood to their feet and loudly cheered the young women who spoke.
As of Tuesday, LGW had collected 315,979 signatures for IL26-638 to protect girls in sports and 298,571 signatures for IL26-001 to restore the parental rights initiative.
Approximately 309,000 valid voter signatures are required by 5 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2026, to have each measure certified by the Office of the Secretary of State. That number is based on the percentage of registered voters who participated in the last general election.
