To whom it may concern:

I am a decades-long cisgender woman resident of Fairfax County and I oppose Petition 432. This petition is anti-health and anti-women and -girl. As we've seen these types of restrictions implemented across the country, we've seen a corresponding increase in women and girls--including cisgender women and girls--harassed, threatened, and asked in some cases to expose themselves. Particularly for minor children this is traumatizing and appalling.

I'll add into that that as a cisgender woman, transgender women and girls are women and girls too. An attack on one group of women is an attack on all womanhood. Codifying something like this via the Board of Health is a binding form of discrimination that stifles discussion and prevents us from focusing on real issues and real solutions.

There are chronic alarming public health issues facing women and girls in Virginia that continue to not receive due attention from authorities, like domestic violence, sexual harassment, campus rape, maternal health, and poverty. Please 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. 

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 stand on the right side of history and reject Petition 432. Virginia should be for lovers. Don't let haters win.