Strongly oppose.
I am writing to express fervent opposition to this petition, which requests the Virginia Department of Health take measures to ban transgender women from competing in organized female-only sports teams and “using designated female spaces where females are likely to be in any state of undress” in Virginia. For the purpose of this statement, I will refrain from discussing the moral, ethical, or political arguments surrounding transgender athletes participating in sports. Rather, I argue that it is clearly and demonstrably not the Virginia Department of Health’s duty or authority to issue a ban on trans athletes because no evidence has been provided to support that this is a significant public health issue in Virginia. Further, this petition is wholly redundant and unnecessary as the governing bodies that preside over collegiate sports in the United States have already issued bans on trans women from competing on womens-only sports teams at the college level.
My first reason for opposing this petition is that it is not the job of the Virginia Department of Health to regulate student participation in sports teams on the basis of sex assigned at birth. In fact, it is not the job of the Virginia Department of Health to regulate anything on the basis of sex assigned at birth. This petition claims that, “The Board of Health has authority to promulgate a transgender sports ban pursuant to sections § 32.1-2 and § 32.1-12 of the Code of Virginia.” It does not. These sections outline the State Board of Health's authority to generally provide preventive, curative, restorative, and environmental health programming to improve the quality of life for Virginians. No articulate argument in favor of this petition has yet been presented for how this issue impacts the public health of Virginians. I certainly can’t think of any. Further, in no other instance does the Virginia health code dictate who may occupy public spaces based on sex assigned at birth or create regulations that restrict the participation of Virginians in any activity based on sex assigned at birth. This includes 22VAC40-61-460, which governs the provision of public restrooms in Virginia. Even without the Code of Virginia specifying which bathrooms Virginians can use based on their sex assigned at birth, no public health crisis has occurred. What would that even be?
Secondly, no evidence has been presented to support the petitioners’ claim that physical harm has befallen female athletes competing against trans women on sports teams. To-date, statements made by the petitioners have focused exclusively on the emotional distress they have faced due to the perceived unfairness of competing against a single trans woman in swimming within the NCAA division. In a public statement published in Swimming World Magazine in 2022, petitioner Réka György recounted her experience swimming against trans woman Lia Thomas, illustrating the disappointment she felt when she came in 17th place in the 500 freestyle event, relegating her to first alternate in the NCAA championships that year. She explains, “It feels like that final spot was taken away from [me] because of the NCAA’s decision to let someone who is not a biological female compete. I know you could say I had the opportunity to swim faster and make the top 16, but this situation make[s] it a bit different and I can’t help but be angry or sad. It hurts me, my team and other women in the pool.” Can we all agree that the Virginia Department of Health has no duty or obligation to protect college athletes from the disappointment of coming in 17th place in an athletic competition? Beyond the petitioners themselves not being able to cite any physical harms, there is a severe lack of evidence that allowing trans athletes to participate in sports puts any cis-gendered athletes at physical risk. In fact, these bans pose the most significant health risk to trans youth, but I digress.
Thirdly, this petition is unnecessary because the NCAA, NAIA, and World Aquatics have already banned trans women from competing on womens-only sports teams at the college level. In-part a direct response to the advocacy efforts of Réka György, Lily Mullens, Carter Satterfield, the NCAA – the proper authority on participation in U.S. collegiate sports – announced its new policy on February 6, 2025 to restrict competition in women's sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only. This NCAA policy mirrors existing policies already in place by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which enacted a policy last April allowing only athletes assigned female at birth who have not undergone hormone therapy to compete on women’s teams. These rulings build upon regulations already in place that are specific to the world of elite collegiate swimming. Under rules established in 2022, World Aquatics banned transgender women who have been through male puberty from competing in women’s races. It also created an “open” category for which transgender athletes would be eligible. Now that these regulations are in place by the appropriate bodies, member schools remain responsible for certifying athlete eligibility for practice and competition. In fact, the petitioner’s very own institution, Roanoke College, has adopted the NCAA’s transgender athlete policy since February. Let me emphasize this point. The current state of affairs is that trans women are not permitted to compete on womens-only college sports teams. Given this, what is the role of the Virginia Department of Health in legislating participation in athletic programs?
In conclusion, I admit that the circumstances surrounding Lia Thomas’s participation in collegiate swimming, characterized by extreme dominance in performance compared to her peers is an egregious one. But Lia’s circumstances have been litigated – she was not able to compete in the Paris Olympics for concerns of fairness and her efforts to overturn the NCAA policy were unsuccessful. The truth is that this is simply not a widespread issue concerning Virginians nor is there a ‘slippery slope’ argument to be made. What I mean by this is that the small number of transgender athletes participating in college sports has not triggered a deluge of new trans athletes competing at this level. In December 2024 NCAA President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel that there are fewer than 10 known transgender athletes currently competing in college sports. I can hardly imagine the money, time, and other resources that have been spent on restricting the rights of so few. I am inspired by Republican Governor Spencer Cox, who, in 2022, vetoed a bill that would restrict the participation of transgender citizens of Utah in sports. I leave you with an excerpt from his open letter, which calls on his constituents to take on this issue with compassion, empathy, and belonging rather than hate and fear. As a proud citizen of Virginia for the past 18 years, I know that we are capable of the same compassion, and I call on my fellow Virgnians to oppose this petition.
Governor Spencer Cox says:
“I must admit, I am not an expert on transgenderism. I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy and compassion. I also try to get proximate and I am learning so much from our transgender community. They are great kids who face enormous struggles. Here are the numbers that have most impacted my decision: 75,000, 4, 1, 86 and 56.
75,000 high school kids participating in high school sports in Utah.
4 transgender kids playing high school sports in Utah.
1 transgender student playing girls sports.
86% of trans youth reporting suicidality.
56% of trans youth having attempted suicide.
Four kids and only one of them playing girls sports. That’s what all of this is about. Four kids who aren’t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day. Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly. For that reason, as much as any other, I have taken this action in the hope that we can continue to work together and find a better way. If a veto override occurs, I hope we can work to find ways to show these four kids that we love them and they have a place in our state.”
Thank you for your consideration.
Lauren G.
Reston, Virginia
