I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, and I oppose Petition 432.

This petition is based on prejudice, not science or even clear thinking. It's not about locker rooms. The Board of Health should show understanding towards transgender people, not declare them harmful, wrongheaded, or dangerous. Transgender people are people. 

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. They come from petty, misguided, prejudiced places, and make our country and our world a lesser place. They show moral decline.

I have lived with and near a number of transgender people, and from these experiences I have come to understand that this issue is real and that it is emotionally complicated and stressful. One of my children is transgender, and they are one of the kindest, most creative people I know. They just want to live their lives as we all do, and there is no reason that should not be possible.

No one should face discrimination because of who they are, because of the color of their skin or hair, the body they're born into, or who they love.