I live in Arlington and I oppose Petition 432. 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. 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. 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.  I am trans, but I am not a trans woman. I don’t know what it feels like to be labeled as a threat for just existing the way trans women are. Trans women do not hurt cis women just by existing, but cis people do hurt trans people just for existing. I will always, always stand with my transgender sisters, brothers, and siblings. We all have a right to life, liberty, and happiness, whether we fit into a tiny box of “acceptable” gender identity or not. Trans women ARE women, and they deserve the right to be in women’s spaces. They are not a threat, WE, as trans people, are not a threat, we are just people trying to live our lives. Your exclusion and discrimination will gain you nothing. And this was never about protecting women, it’s about policing women’s bodies. What they can look like, what they can do, who they can be. Women- all women-  have the right to safety, bodily autonomy, and acceptance. Trans people aren’t hurting anyone. But people who support this bill? You ARE hurting people. Trans people are people. Treat us like it.     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.