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John,
I'd rather spend this email writing to you about all the work we did in the Virginia General Assembly session that wrapped up Feb. 22 than have to give you an update about the state of trans rights in America. I had been hoping to save the former until after the governor announced which bills he was signing, vetoing and trying to amend, so I could give you a more accurate count of what got over the finish line, what didn't and what's awaiting more action.
I still want to do that and I will when the time comes. Suffice it to say in the meantime the Virginia General Assembly passed 13 of my bills this year -- all with bipartisan support, as usual -- and I voted for an amended budget that would raise the standard deduction and Earned Income Tax Credit refundability as well as send Virginia taxpayers $200/$400 refunds while also giving teachers bonuses and raising pay for state employees.
If you follow my Facebook or Bluesky pages (yes, I ditched posting on Twitter/X in November though my account still exists so no one can claim to be me), you can also see that I've spent my time going to a lot of town hall-style events -- three in two days just in SD-30 alone, as well as another out of town in Alexandria -- to hear directly from my constituents and our neighbors, especially from federal workers and contractors.
But tonight though, as a transgender American, I just wanted to give people like me and the people who care about us a little hope at a time when the President of the United States is devoting a nationwide address to just hating on 1 percent of the population.
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A little less than four years ago, President Biden gave a short, poignant message as part of his speech to the joint meeting of Congress that gave a small number of Americans hope who were really needing it:
"To all transgender Americans watching at home, especially the young people: you're so brave. I want you to know your president has your back."
It wasn't a long, drawn-out policy missive or a 14-point plan. It was just two sentences in a long speech to a group of Americans who had been singled out and stigmatized for years by the prior President and his supporters. He just wanted us to tell us -- and the country -- that we belonged here too.
Four years later, that's been obliterated as his predecessor went on a screed saying the worst things about the very people he's supposed to serve after his campaign and their allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars turning trans Americans into a cudgel.
It's going to be a long, long 46 months and 15 days... but we don't ever, ever give up.
Just yesterday, a federal district judge in Baltimore blocked the administration's attack on young trans people -- including some adults -- from receiving their health care. That ruling came from action taken, in part, on behalf of a family from Richmond who were patients at VCU. We just saw a similar ruling a few days ago in Seattle too.
We've also seen a federal court block another transphobic executive order on where to house incarcerated trans women and there are currently court challenges to the executive orders attacking trans athletes and trans people serving in the military.
As someone who spent 10.5 years in newsrooms practicing actual journalism -- not BS pontificating but real neutral, disinterested, third-party observation that went through an editor for fact-checking and accuracy with a sense of journalistic mission to report the news as it is, not how any one individual wanted it to be -- I'm not one for hyperbole, so please understand me when I say that the President of the United States and his administration mean want to eradicate transgender existence, I mean the actual definition of the word.
On day 1, he signed an executive order to no longer recognize our existence as valid. His State department is set to deny entry into the country not just trans athletes but trans people in general who are seeking a visa. He not only wants to prevent young people from accessing the life-saving health care prescribed by their physicians, but he wants to do the same for adults too, which is why the executive order applies to those under 19, not just those under 18 -- it's a way of pushing the boundary to see if it'll stand.
His administration also dropped the Biden administration's objection to the Tennessee state law prohibiting gender-affirming care to young people. They want trans kids to be misgendered and dead-named in school, even as other students can go by nicknames.
Meanwhile here in Virginia, our Governor and Attorney General pressured the medical systems run by UVA and VCU into denying gender-affirming care for those under 19, despite two federal courts blocking the executive orders and the Code of Virginia specifically prohibiting discrimination on account of gender identity. (I would know -- I wrote part of it in 2020.)
And that's just what's been going in the assault on trans rights. My constituents who work for the federal government and federal contractors are either losing their jobs or are concerned they will lose their jobs. I heard it in full-force last week at two different events I attended in Haymarket. This is a kitchen table issue for thousands of people in Northern Virginia.
Are they losing their jobs because they did a bad job? No. No merit-based reason at all. Are my constituents who are retired feds excited to see their life's work washed down the drain and made inaccessible? No, they're furious about it. They still take pride in their work, no matter their age.
It all boils down to one objective: cruelty. There's not even an inkling of looking at trans people as individuals and understanding each of our circumstances. We've seen federal workers again and again get fired only for the administration to realize afterward that, uh-oh, they were essential workers all along, who knew?! Better get them back... to an office that's unlit and with no WiFi.
Nevermind that the same people in the administration shouting the loudest about the need to restore Christianity in America are the very people ignoring Matthew 25:40 (depending on your translation, it essentially boils down to whatever you do for the least of these, you did for me.Thirteen years of Catholic schooling sometimes comes in handy.)
Here's the thing: The government is supposed to serve the people -- period. That's the point. Americans have rights -- and the first, fifth and 14th amendments of the Constitution (not to mention state law) still apply.
They can't just discriminate against trans people at will and expect it to hold up at every level of court (despite the 6-3 SCOTUS majority) and they can't just fire indiscriminately whoever they want either because Congress had a role in establishing many of the departments that are being illegally hacked in the first place.
The advice I've been giving constituents who ask me what they can do when their rights are under siege is simple: sue them. While some executive orders have withstood judicial scrutiny during the last 1.5 months, a lot of others have not -- and it's not just Democratic-appointed judges ruling so either.
Yes, keep writing and calling your members of Congress and exercising your constitutional right to peaceful assembly. Keep up the pressure because your elected representatives need to hear from you so they're not just hearing one worldview shouted into their ears all day. Your stories give elected officials (including me) the narratives we need to make the case for and against public policy proposals. Your stories personalize each stance we take so other electeds understand that there are real people who are really hurting.
Electorally, the 2026 midterms can seem really far off, let alone the 2028 election. But this is Virginia and we have the opportunity to not only flip all three of our statewide offices -- Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General -- Red to Blue this fall but we can also protect and expand our 51-49 Democratic majority in the House of Delegates too.
After the primaries are done, I'll be doing everything I can to help our Democratic nominees win throughout the commonwealth. In the meantime, I've got payroll to make and expenses to cover, so please donate $10, $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can to help out my team as we help lead the charge to fight back here in Virginia this year. [[link removed]]
As always, I'm grateful for your support -- financial and moral -- especially during times like this when every day seems to start and end with a wonder of what rights will be under attack. Stay focused, stay together and stay alive -- for yourself and each other. We're in this together, no matter what may come.
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