I live in Falls Church, VA 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 find it absurd that the mere presence of someone we deem different is sufficient to prompt such fear mongering and legislative action to prevent them from accessing certain spaces where people are already vulnerable and just want to get in and out as soon as possible. The idea that bad actors would potentially go through with a life altering procedure for the express purpose of accessing locker rooms is mind boggling. If they were so determined, wouldn't they just access the space anyways? What is stopping a man from going to the woman's locker room now? This petition makes no sense. Transgender people just want to use the bathroom / locker room that they feel comfortable in.

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.

Sincerely,

Sravan Balaji