I personally have watched trans youth and young adults struggle with basic, day-to-day issues of both health and self-dignity because of the lack of acceptance they encounter. Several months ago, I invited a 21 year-old trans woman to attend a play at a theater in Washington, DC with me. She stood in the bathroom lines before the program began, starting in the women's line where she saw that many questioning eyes were on her, ultimately causing her to leave the line. She tried the line for the men's room briefly, but again felt not just the eyes, but also the sense that she would not be safe or comfortable there, and left the line. The show, with the intermission was three hours long, and the drive home was nearly an hour. This young woman, just out to watch a performance, waited uncomfortably for at least four hours to urinate. A person should be safe to enter a public rest room and do what they need to do. 

The young woman in the story above is not a dangerous person. She is a gentle soul who just wants to live quietly, go to her job, and create crafts to sell in the evening. I can't imagine her raising her voice at anyone, much less being involved in any sort of violent incident. In fact, of the 6 or 8 young LGBTIA+ people and the many adult gay or trans people I have known, I cannot think of one who has any agenda other than trying to come and go in public places without being the subject of disdain and whispered comments. I know a trans man in his early thirties who has lost his ability to be addressed as who he is at work recently, and is concerned about losing his public sector career not due to ineffectiveness or even the general cuts, but due to his previously used pronouns. Please don't allow our community to increase their discomfort through this new attack. 

I live in Prince Bristow, in William County and I oppose Petition 432. This petition is not about locker and rest 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 they face.

Please help. These are people, with ideas, worth, personality, and emotions.