A Washington bill introduced this legislative session would add new protected classes to a state law regarding nondiscrimination against students in the public school system, including “gender identity” and illegal immigrants.

Although proponents of the legislation say it is needed to ensure certain students are treated equitably, critics testifying at the bill’s Tuesday public hearing argued the definitions are not only confusing, but would put Washington’s K-12 system at risk of losing federal funding due to President Donald Trump's executive order in which the federal government only recognizes male and female sexes.

Under current state law, various classes are protected against discrimination in public schools, including sex, race, creed, religion, national origin, but also sexual orientation and physical disability.

Senate Bill 5123, sponsored by Sen. T’wina Nobles, D-Fircrest, would add four new classes to the list: ethnicity, homelessness, immigration status and neurodivergence.

While state law already protects “gender identity and expression,” the bill separates the classes’ definitions, in which “gender expression” means “the external appearance of one's gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, body characteristics, or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.”

Meanwhile “gender identity” would be defined as “a person's internal sense of being male, female, both, neither, or in-between, independent of how it is expressed or perceived by others.”

Testifying at the bill’s public hearing in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee, Nobles said that “Washington has made significant strides towards protecting marginalized communities, but our laws must evolve to reflect our growing understanding of identity and discrimination.”

She added that the current nondiscrimination law “includes outdated language that doesn't adequately distinguish between important identities such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. It also lacks protections for students based on immigration status, neural divergence, ethnicity, and homelessness.”

“By updating the statute, we can help ensure every student, regardless of their circumstances, background, or identity, can learn in an environment free of discrimination,” she said.

Testifying in favor of the bill was Jaanvi Ganapathy speaking on behalf of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council, who told lawmakers she wrote the draft bill “with the goal of more equitable and inclusive schools in Washington. This bill addresses the need to protect marginalized students from discrimination, particularly students whose identities are not properly represented in the current statute.”

“Definitions for identities are evolving, and this bill makes necessary updates to the language of the statute,” she added. “Our understanding of gender identity is not the same as it was fifteen years ago.”

However, others testifying against the bill focused primarily around the proposed definitions of gender identity and expression, with Dawn Lead telling legislators that “sexual orientation is based entirely on our biological sex, either male or female. One cannot identify their way into a different physical state of being.”

She added that the definition of sexual orientation “is also contrary to federal regulations as of Jan. 20, 2025. To pass this as law jeopardizes federal funding of the government schools of Washington state.”

Also opposed to the bill was Tonya Hickman, representing the Lyden School Board. She told lawmakers that “the majority of residents in our community, like many across our state, state, do not currently have children enrolled, yet they are deeply invested in educational issues. Unfortunately, these narratives often suggest that our schools prioritize progressive ideologies over educational fundamentals, like this bill.”

She added that “this perception undermines trust in public education and distracts from her mission to provide quiet quality education that prepares all students to be college career and citizenship ready,” warning that it would further a “mass exodus” from the state’s public education system.

“It's disheartening to see legislation like this imply the educators require intervention to recognize the humanity of every child,” she said.

SB 5123 is not scheduled for any further committee action.