I oppose this petition on two grounds. Firstly, because "biological male" is a poorly defined term with no practical meaning beyond grade-school level concepts. The petitioners' language indicates that they simply do not believe transgender or intersex people exist--but not believing or understanding their existence does not make them any less real. Roughly 2% of the population (one in fifty) displays intersex traits, so there is no scientifically grounded, non-arbitrary way to split the population into two groups. Because of this, such a rule as the petitioners request would be utterly unenforceable. There is no test that could be administered that would produce clean results, but it is very easy to see how enforcement attempts would quickly turn to arbitrary "eye tests" or invasive "pat-down" procedures to see if someone "has the right parts." Because let's be clear--that's what this is really about.

Secondly, I oppose this because it uses the guise of protection for one oppressed population to punch down on another, far more marginalized, group. According to Virginia Public Media, there have been a total of 31 requests from transgender athletes to play on the team matching their gender identity over the past roughly four years (https://www.vpm.org/news/2025-02-11/vhsl-ban-trans-students-girls-sports-youngkin-trump-executive-order). Thirty-one. Over four years, that's less than 8 requests per year. With over 1.2 million students in the commonwealth, why use the heavy hand of the state to further degrade those individuals who are already struggling with their place in society, instead of trying to help them live meaningful lives?

If the harm the petitioners refer to is predatory in nature, that is absolutely a matter that should be met with the full force of the law, and indeed, we have strong laws already enacted for such cases. If, on the other hand, the harm is that the petitioners were defeated in one of their events by someone who has endured surgeries, hormone replacement therapy, and many other treatments, as well as borne the ridicule of society (and many elected officials) just so that they could live as the person they understand themselves to be? In that case, I think the remedy is very simple: the petitioners need to grow up.