Opposition to Action 4905 — Protect the Health and Rights of All Virginians

I am echoing the comments made by a clergy colleague (Adam Bowling) with whom I agree on the following statement. His words are in quotes. 

 

"The Board of Health has no business labeling any group of people as harmful simply because of who they are. This proposed regulation would endanger transgender women and girls, violate their dignity, and undermine the Board’s mission to promote the health and well-being of all Virginians.

Right now, our Commonwealth faces real public health challenges—domestic and sexual violence, maternal health disparities, mental health crises, and poverty. This discriminatory proposal does nothing to address those issues. Instead, it distracts from the urgent work that truly protects women, girls, and families.

Across our races, backgrounds, and genders, every person deserves to be treated with fairness and respect. There is a coordinated national effort to push transgender people out of public life by removing them from bathrooms, sports, community spaces, and even educational protections. These political attacks harm all of us—whether we are transgender or not—because they promote fear, discrimination, and division instead of safety and community."

 

"This proposal will not protect anyone. Instead, it will:

• Violate the privacy of all women and girls by enabling gender policing and “verification” in bathrooms and locker rooms.

• Exclude transgender girls and women from sports that promote teamwork, belonging, and healthy development.

• Undermine trust in government by politicizing the Board of Health.

• Encourage state-sanctioned discrimination in direct violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act.

Bathroom policing has been shown to harm cisgender women who do not conform to traditional expectations of femininity, and it has resulted in violence against trans masculine people forced into women’s restrooms under similar policies elsewhere. These are real, documented consequences.

This proposed regulation has nothing to do with public health and everything to do with discrimination. No one should be denied dignity, safety, or participation in public life because of who they are. Trans people have always been here, and they always will be. They cannot and will not be erased.

I urge the Board of Health to reject Action 4905 entirely and to refocus on the real public health needs that protect and uplift every person in our Commonwealth."