Highlights: - Since an impactful constituent meeting in 2017, Senator Boysko has carried a bill to modernize the process for trans Virginians updating their birth certificate and worked with a group of trans and allied advocates, community organizations, legislators, and stakeholders year after year to build support for the legislation, which eventually passed with bipartisan support in 2020.
- Delegate Simon stressed the importance of showing that people of faith and the transgender community are not opposing forces. He also highlighted the importance of engaging with legislators and letting them know you support the actions they take.
- Senator Surovell’s path to sponsoring his bill to allow a third gender marker option on state IDs started with a constituent meeting. He then contacted the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on the matter, and they eventually asked for him to carry a bill that would support their efforts to update the gender marker options on forms.
- Community advocate Julie Williams got involved with fighting for a third gender marker option on state IDs after a conversation with a friend led her to research the topic and consult a lawyer, before scheduling a meeting with her legislator. Her advocacy helped to move this forward, and she encouraged everyone to speak up and get involved with issues they care about.
- Harper Jean Tobin noted that there is a patchwork of policies around the country for transgender people updating their identity documents, and that Virginia’s victories set the tone for what is possible in the South. She took time to clarify how this legislation affects the gender marker update process under the new laws, while explaining that there is always more work to do to ensure trans and non-binary people have barrier-free access to accurate IDs.
- All the speakers on the call stressed that advocates can have a huge impact by telling their personal stories, connecting directly with their legislators, and mobilizing their community.
We hope you will join us for the rest of this series to learn more about the many pro-equality bills that passed in the General Assembly and find out what they mean for the community. Click here to see the schedule, read the descriptions, and register. Don’t forget to invite your friends and family too! | |
Please join us on Tuesday, May 5, from 12:00-1:00pm, for our "Safe Schools" session to celebrate legislation ensuring transgender students’ equal learning environment in public schools. We have a robust panel lined up, including: Senator Jennifer Boysko, Delegate Marcus Simon, Ted Lewis with Side by Side, Nicolle Campa with Metro DC PFLAG, Shannon McKay with He She Ze and We, and Claire Castañaga with the ACLU of Virginia. We look forward to seeing you on Zoom soon! In Solidarity,
All of us at Equality Virginia | |
