Sheriff Keith Swank Is Organizing Anti-Trans Demo At Seattle Reign Game This Weekend

Emails reveal Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank is organizing an anti-trans demonstration at Sunday’s Seattle Reign game against the Orlando Pride. It is unclear why a self-proclaimed defender of women’s sports would attend a women’s soccer match just to center himself, but there is a silver lining: every hour he spends on this stunt is one less hour he can spend appealing to Pierce County voters, who will decide whether to end his term early in Tuesday's election.

After right-wing podcaster Brandi Kruse pulled a similar stunt at a Portland Thorns game, Swank posted about his intent to follow suit.

“It's time to fight back,” Swank wrote on Facebook.

Swank said he was “looking for a few (actually a lot) good men and women” to join him at WNBA and women’s soccer games, which he believes are hotbeds for “radical leftists.” Then they group will wear  to join me. We will go to a sporting event where these radical leftists are (soccer or wnba), and we will wear t-shirts from XX XY athletics, the unofficial athletic wear brand of bigots.  

Swank continued, “We will stand up for free speech. It will be a lot of fun.”

For those interested in joining, he published the email address “boysareboysandgirlsaregirls@gmail.com”

According to leaked emails, Swank assembled roughly 80 people on his email thread organizing the demonstration, including right-wing influencer "Conspiracookie." Swank instructed participants to buy tickets in the supporters' section, enter with their shirts concealed, and reveal them at halftime.

As Defend Washington Director and Reign FC season ticket holder Reiny Cohen said: “Nothing says protecting women's spaces like disrupting a major women's professional soccer event for your own political purposes and to boost social media views.”

Right-wingers know this is one of their last big opportunities to clip farm over this issue before Washington voters decide on I-638, an initiative requiring just girls to prove their sex, in some cases by invasive genital examination, in order to play sports. But Swank really has more personally pressing issues to worry about besides the specific contents of the middle school volleyball teams’s underwear — something well adjusted adults should hopefully never think about let alone buy t-shirts to signal their interest in the topic!

On Tuesday, Pierce County voters will decide the fate of Swank’s job with Charter Amendment 53. If the amendment passes, it would make the sheriff an appointed position, booting Swank from the gig in January before he can finish the four-year term he won in 2024. King County passed a similar Charter Amendment in 2020 in response to calls for police reform and accountability during that summer's reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Supporters argue that appointing a sheriff allows county leaders to punish or remove sheriffs swiftly, instead of reevaluating on four-year increments. The appointment process, supporters contend, would also allow the County to conduct a national search for qualified candidates. 

There’s a legit institutional argument, but there’s also the argument that people just want this Swank guy gone. He’s known for spouting off inflammatory posts across social media platforms from blatant racism to transphobic dribble to calls for illegal cooperation with ICE. 

Swank did not respond to requests for comment, though leaked emails indicate he anticipated coverage from Tacoma News Tribune reporter Peter Talbot. Swank dismissed the outlet’s reach, claiming it has "about 50 readers," while acknowledging that inquiries from media tipped him off that someone had joined the organizing listserv.

Swank wrote, “To the infiltrator: wow, you really showed me. 🤣”