I strongly oppose the petition requesting that the Virginia Department of Health implement regulations to ban transgender girls and women from female athletics and designated spaces. This petition is part of a broader, harmful moral panic targeting transgender individuals under the guise of public health. It lacks a factual basis and misuses health regulations to advance discriminatory policies.

First, there is no public health crisis associated with transgender people participating in sports or using gender-aligned facilities. Leading medical and public health organizations—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Public Health Association—oppose legislation that targets trans youth and affirm the importance of gender-affirming inclusion for mental and physical well-being.

Second, framing trans girls and women as “biological males” who are “pretending” to be female is both medically inaccurate and deeply dehumanizing. This rhetoric deliberately ignores the lived realities of trans people, disrespects their identities, and perpetuates stigma and exclusion. It also undermines the authority of healthcare providers, educators, and families who support gender-affirming care and inclusion.

Third, this petition seeks to weaponize the language of “women’s health” to harm a vulnerable group of girls and women. True support for women and girls in Virginia includes protecting all women—cisgender and transgender—from discrimination. Trans girls are girls, and excluding them from public life under the pretense of safety or fairness is both unethical and unconstitutional.

Virginia should reject fear-based efforts to marginalize transgender youth and instead adopt public health policies rooted in evidence, equity, and inclusion. I urge the Board of Health to deny this petition in full.