I live in the City of Richmond and I oppose Petition 432.

This petition is not about locker rooms - it’s about hate.  The Board of Health has no business labeling groups of people harmful based on who they are. 

As you know, there are real public health issues facing women and girls in Virginia, like domestic violence, maternal health, and poverty. Don’t let this 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. 

In my work experience and in my personal life, I have seen that transgender people are people just like everyone else, trying to go to school, to work, to be part of families and our community. Hateful tactics such as this petition only create unnecessary fear and diminish our society as a whole.

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.