I understand the Virginia Board of Health is made up of medical professionals and that provides me hope that your decisions will be made on scientific data, and not inflammatory rhetoric.

I am 51 y/o retired Army officer who lives in Arlington,  I am an Ivy League graduate, I am the responsible parent of two teenage daughters, and I am also a trans woman.

The petition being placed in front of you (432) has nothing to do with bathrooms, and is using that as a mask to push an unpopular social agenda through the Board of Health, instead of using the appropriate venue of working this through the legislature.  There are much more significant issues facing women in Virginia, and all Virginians, and I hope the Board rejects this petition out of hand.

If the board decides to review this petition, I hope that you use valid, scientific data from bona fide experts in the field (AMA, APA, APHA, etc.) and not some anecdotal data provided by a think tank designed to push a specific agenda instead of seeking truth.

I think it's a dangerous precedent for the Board of Health to begin labeling certain demographics as threats to the health and welfare of our fellow Virginians.  It doesn't take much of a historic or scientific perspective to see how this action will divide our society, and expose women like me to greater discrimination and risk.

Even as a decorated combat veteran, some of the most frightening situations I've encountered occur in my home country and even in the relatively liberal area of northern Virginia.  I've been called hateful names while walking my dog in around my neighborhood and I wrestle with rest room challenges and bias in my workplace.  

This is the Board Of Health's opportunity to clearly be on the correct moral side of history with this decision, and I implore you to do the right thing, which is to stop petition 432.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Helen Snyder

Helen.snyd3r@gmail.com