I live in Vienna, VA (Fairfax County) and I oppose 432. 

This is not about locker rooms. This is about attempting to erase transgender people, and the Board of Health should not label people “harmful” based on who they are. As a cisgender woman, and the mother of a cisgender girl, transgender women pose no threat to me, physically, psychologically or otherwise. All individuals deserve to be treated fairly, and this issue is a smokescreen made of fear and hatred that take away focus from real issues facing Virginia families. 

I have been a life-long athlete. Youth sports formed by support system, and taught me about hard work, confidence and teamwork. They improved my mental health and gave me goals to work towards. This is why I have enrolled my 8 year old daughter in youth sports, and I have been so happy to see the growth they have already shown in her— not only have they improved her physical health, but she is learning all the same things I did— hard work, teamwork, supporting her team, and confidence. But what I love the most is that she is building her community, her people, that will help her throughout her life. Some of my closest friends, 30 years later, are those I made in youth sports. 

What I would like to see instead of focusing on this issue is to focus on REAL equal access for youth sports and support for our kids— are our facilities the same for softball and baseball in Vienna, for instance? Are we ensuring the roads our children walk along to school are safe so they don’t die walking home from school, as happened at Oakton high school a few years ago? Are we making sure that there is access to health care services for those who do not have insurance or that there are appointments for those who use Medicaid? These are real issues facing our families and our kids. 

This effort is not how I, as a woman, need to be “protected.” This is not what the Board of Health should be focused on. 

As a mother, it is important to me to have my kids grow up loved and supported and to find their place in the world. That is what ALL parents want for their kids, and what I continue to want for myself as an adult. No one should face discrimination. That is not the community I want to make for my children. I know personally the positive impact sports can have, and knowing that, I want to share them with every single person. 

We tell our kids, “If you can be anything, be kind.” Maybe we should be telling that to ourselves as well.

Please don’t be drawn into this divisive and discriminatory effort. It will not change the reality that trans people are here and always will be. All it will do it destroy the opportunity for someone to develop a support system and someone to be excluded from the ability for someone to build their own community. As a mother, that idea breaks my heart. That is not the Virginia I want to be a part of, and it is not the place I want to want to raise my kids.