Washington Voters Approve Sexual Education Mandate

WASHINGTON — Voters have approved a referendum to require school districts across Washington to provide comprehensive, age-appropriate and inclusive sexual education.

As of the latest update at 2:54 p.m. Wednesday, Referendum Measure No. 90 has received nearly 60 percent approval. That's a strong enough lead that, regardless of shifting totals as the remaining uncounted ballots are tallied up over the coming week, state officials and the Associated Press have called that the ballot measure will pass.

The vote puts a cap on a messy, and sometimes difficult to parse battle over sexual education in Washington. The battle began when the state legislature passed Senate Bill 5395 earlier this year. The bill requires all schools to provide comprehensive sexual health education, legally defined as "instruction in human development and reproduction that is medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of all students." It was met with strong opposition from conservative lawmakers and some parents who believed that the education is invasive and restricts a parent's choice to teach their children in the way they see fit.

After it passed the legislature and amid the pandemic, opponents of SB 5395 gathered thousands of signatures, enough to create a referendum asking voters to decide if sexual education should be required in Washington's public schools. Now that the votes have been cast, it appears that it will, though there are options for parents who do not want their children to receive those lessons.

The state has provided a breakdown showing how Washingtonians voted for the measure by county. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results closely mirror the political divide between liberal western Washington and conservative eastern Washington.

The bill does not require all students to receive that instruction, and allows parents to opt their child out of sex ed classes if they so choose.

According to the state, the only content required is:

• Students in grades K-3 would take Social Emotional Learning classes, teaching them to manage their feelings, goals, and work together with others. There would be no sexual content for these students.
• Students in grades 4-12 would receive lessons in:
  • The physiological, psychological, and sociological development of their bodies.
  • The development of communication skills, with the goal of reducing health risk and promoting healthy behaviors and relationships.
  • Health care and health resources.
  • Abstinence and other methods of avoiding unwanted pregnancy or STDs.
  • Avoiding exploitative relationships.
  • Understanding the influence of family, peer pressure community and the media on sexual relationships.
  • Affirmative consent and how to avoid or escape situations when violence or a risk of violence is present.

The education is necessary to curb sexual assault and the rates of sexually transmitted diseases in Washington, according to Superintending of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal.

"The rates of sexually transmitted diseases(STDs) experienced by Washington youth are increasing at such a fast rate that it is now a health crisis. Students are also reporting high rates of sexual violence and coercion," Reykdal said. "Research tells us that with a fact-based comprehensive sexual health education where students build skills related to communication and safety; STD, pregnancy, and sexual violence rates decrease."

Reykdal also points to studies showing that one in three Washington girls will be the victim of sexual violence before they graduate high school, as will one in six boys.

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