I live in Richmond, and I oppose Action 4905.

I am a trans person, an educator, a community organizer, and a parent to two young daughters. I am also the spouse of a transgender man who is an athlete and a dedicated runner. My family represents the diversity of Virginia. We work hard, we contribute to our communities, and we want our children to grow up in a Commonwealth that lives up to its commitments to inclusion and equity. These proposed exclusionary policies contradict Richmond’s stated values and capitulate to harmful stereotypes that lack scientific or public health grounding.

The Board of Health has no business labeling any group of people as harmful simply for existing. There is a real public health crisis affecting women and girls in Virginia, including domestic violence, maternal mortality, and persistent poverty. This petition does nothing to address those challenges. Instead, it distracts from your mandate to protect the health and well-being of all people in Virginia.

Policies like this rely on the assumption that trans women and girls are potential perpetrators of harm. These myths have been repeatedly disproven, and they endanger both trans and cis women. We have already seen how sex policing in sports and public spaces harms cisgender women as well, such as Olympic champion Caster Semenya, a cis woman who was banned from competition because her natural testosterone levels did not conform to outdated and simplistic ideas about biological sex. Binary understandings of sex do not reflect contemporary biological reality, and gender is a social and cultural classification rooted in expression and presentation rather than chromosomes or hormones.

Attempts to legislate rigid categories will always misfire and cause collateral damage.
Trans people already face disproportionate levels of social isolation, homelessness, stigma, and discrimination. Minority stress research shows that these harms accumulate and produce significant mental and physical health burdens. As a community, we should be leading with inclusion, compassion, and understanding. Diversity and difference are not threats. They are strengths that make our communities safer, healthier, and more resilient.

I speak as a parent raising girls to believe in teamwork, respect, and dignity. Sports and public spaces should be places where those values are practiced, not where children are taught to fear those who are different. I also speak as an educator committed to shaping a Virginia where all students can learn, grow, and fully participate without shame or exclusion. Excluding transgender women and girls from public facilities or athletic participation does nothing to advance equity, health, or safety.

This proposed regulation has nothing to do with Virginians' health and everything to do with discrimination. Policies that target transgender Virginians undermine our shared public health goals by increasing stigma, damaging mental health outcomes, and pushing already marginalized people further into the shadows. Trans people have always been part of this community. We are your neighbors, students, teachers, health care workers, organizers, parents, and children. We cannot and will not be erased.

I urge the Board to reject Action 4905 and reaffirm your commitment to the well-being of all Virginians.

Thank you for considering my comment.