I live in Reston and I oppose Action 4905.

The Board of Health has no business labeling groups of people harmful based on who they are.

There are real public health issues facing women and girls in Virginia, like violence, economic hardship, and reproductive health access. Don’t let this hateful petition distract from your important mission to protect the health and promote the well-being of ALL people in Virginia.

Across our races, backgrounds, and genders, we all deserve to be treated fairly. There is a nationwide effort by some politicians and interest groups to force transgender people and LGBTQ+ people out of public life.

Bathroom laws often target cisgender women who don’t conform to outdated ideas of femininity. I am afab and get dirty looks in bathroom because I have a mohawk and hairy legs. In fact, trans masculine people have been assaulted and murdered in women’s rest rooms, which specifically scares me about using public restroom (and due to a bladder mutation, I have to use the restroom very often, preventing me from doing many public things).

These political attacks harm us all, whether we’re LGBTQIA+ or straight. These are assaults on women's rights as the same forces who seek to restrict trans feminine people from public life have a goal of taking away all rights women have fought for over centuries. My wife, anyones wife or daughter or sister, should not have to fear using the restroom, whether its at a 711, or when she interviews people in the Capitol building.

This nonscense does nothing to improve health of Virginians, it does the opposite. It will create more mental dysphoria, depression and anxiety among not just transpeoples but other LGBTQIA+ peoples and their family and friends who worry for their safety. This Action would also help fuel the hate that conservatives already have, creating an even more unsafe environment in public spaces, including in schools.

This attempt at oppression is anti-American and will only hurt our countries ideals and morals, and further taint Americas image across the world. Discrimination has no right to be in this country.