This petition is not about locker rooms. 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 domestic violence, maternal health, and poverty. If the people making these laws truly cared about women's safety, they would focus on the facts instead of fearmongering. Keeping trans women out of these spaces harms all women, and does nothing to address the actual problems that women face. It writes a narrative that trans women are predators - when in reality, they're just trying their best to survive in a world that actively discriminates against them. Nobody transitions to enter a sports team, or to go into a bathroom. People transition because in their core being, they feel their birth gender is incorrect. It isn't anything someone does lightly, because it's a long and hard process. To think someone would do that only to infiltrate women's spaces is laughable. Trans women transition because, in their hearts, they are in fact women. Their only desire is to be accepted as such. This bill also sets the precedent to discriminate against any woman who doesn't conform to a narrow idea of what a woman is. Any women who isn't feminine enough, or who doesn't present in a traditional female manner is liable to be questioned and scrutinized. In reality, this bill causes harm to all women. It emphasizes control over all women and sets up dangerous scenarios that restrict anyone who isn't "feminine" enough. It's a step backwards for all women's rights.

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. These political attacks harm us all, whether we’re gay or straight, transgender or not, because they foster discrimination and distract us from the real problems we face. Keeping trans women out of bathrooms isn't going to stop sexism from existing. It won't stop men from harming women - something that a cisgendered man could do easily without having to "transition", because the law favors men. It won't lower grocery prices, it won't make people safer, it won't benefit anyone. All it does is give angry people a target to hate to distract from the real problems and the real people who cause them - the wealthy and privileged who benefit from a system designed to reward them while taking advantage of everyone else. 

This petition has nothing to do with the health of Virginians and everything to do with discrimination. No one should face discrimination because of who they are. Trans people have always been here and always will be. Trans people cannot and will not be erased. 

I urge you to reject Petition 432.