My Fellow Young Democrats-

Elections matter.

I think those are two words that ring true everywhere in the country. We here in Virginia can consider ourselves lucky with the results of our elections. Thanks to hard work from all of you over the past few years, we have taken the majority in both the House and Senate in Virginia.

Through that majority, Democrats have passed common-sense Gun Safety laws, protected marriage equality, protected reproductive rights, banned racial discrimination of almost all kinds, ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, passed one of the most sweeping Climate Action plans in the South, raised Teacher pay, expanded Medicaid even more, started the raising of the state minimum wage, instituted collective bargaining for Public Employees, passed workers’ protections against unethical business practices like wage theft and misclassification, banned no-knock warrants, took down Confederate statues, banned the Death Penalty, protected our Dreamers, and started the process of legalizing marijuana just this past Wednesday.

But one thing we have to be more thankful for than anything is the expansion of voting rights here in the Commonwealth. As stated in the New York Times, Virginia has “become a voting rights bastion,” which is unequivocally true. In the first year of the majority, Democrats helped pass multiple voting laws like no-excuse in-person early voting and expanded the right to vote to returning citizens. We repealed the state’s voter ID law, enacted automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles, and made Election Day a state holiday. And during the reconvened session on Wednesday, we passed the Virginia Voting Rights Act of Virginia brought to the General Assembly by Delegate Cia Price and Senator Jennifer McClellan, which prohibits any state or local policy from denying or restricting the right to vote of any Virginian based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group.

Before I get into how this compares to other Southern states, this is my plea to you. Please go vote and take advantage of these laws this Primary Season. As Virginia becomes more Democratic, the more our primaries will become the deciding factor in the election. If you want to have a say in who our next Governor, next Lieutenant Governor, and next Attorney General will be, you should vote in this primary on June 8th. More importantly, if you know who you want to vote for before June 8th, go vote early in-person starting on April 24th. All information on how, where, and when to vote can be found at www.elections.virginia.gov.

Now, while we are heading in the right direction of progressive policies on all of the above, our fellow Southern states seem to be sprinting in the other direction on regressive policies.

Let’s take a look at Georgia. Everyone knows how vital the Peach State was to our victory for the White House and the Senate Majority, including the Republican-held legislature and Republican Governor Brian Kemp. It’s known that when more people vote, Democrats win. So the Georgia Republicans are doing everything they can to limit the vote, especially for Black, Brown, and lower-income communities.

So what did Georgia Republicans do?

They shrunk the window for voters to request mail-in ballots. They changed the request process for mail-in ballot applications from all registered voters receiving them to only upon request. They put new voter ID requirements to cast mail ballots, including replacing signature matches with providing a copy of the identification like driver’s license number, social security number, or other acceptable identification. They put a limit on the number of ballot drop boxes during early voting. They shortened early voting in runoff elections. They made it so the state legislature has more power over the county and local elections. And by far the most important and most disgusting of all, they put a ban on handing out food and water within 150 feet of a polling place or within 25 feet of a voter. Georgia has by far one the longest waiting times for voting of up to 12 hours for one voter so it is inconceivable that any person can purposefully prepare for that long of a wait time without any assistance.

When I say elections matter, I mean EVERY. Election. Matters. Here in Virginia, we have no years off, and we need our cohort of voters to be there to vote for our values every step of the way, including primaries. Otherwise, we risk more regressive politicians restricting the right to vote.

And if the right to vote doesn’t do enough for you, let’s talk about something else that is getting attacked by Republicans in the South: Trans Rights.

Right now, one of the scariest and most dangerous places to be Trans is in Arkansas. The Republican legislature very recently passed a law, disgustingly named “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act,” that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming health care to transgender minors, including hormones, puberty blockers, and transition-related surgeries. When Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed the bill, the legislature went back and overrode this veto with a supermajority. Truly mortifying.

And it’s not just Arkansas. At least 24 states have introduced legislation targeting Trans youth. Things have gotten so severe that the director of ACLU deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU, “I've been doing this work a long time, and frankly, never really seen anything like this, in terms of the nature of the rhetoric and the sweeping nature of the bills.”

I want to clarify why this is so devastating to our trans community, primarily our trans youth. Adolescence is a tough time mentally, emotionally, and physically for every teenager, one way or another. However, when someone is experiencing gender dysphoria, all of that multiplies tenfold. But the best thing that the public can do is supply these individuals with gender-affirming services and supplies. In fact, the Trevor Project found that suicidal thoughts and attempts dramatically decreased when these young people are given those services.

I have said this before, but it must be so exhausting for these people to think about, tweet out, and say transphobic things all the time every day when they could literally do anything else and just not do that. How do you base your entire identity off of denying someone else theirs? It’s mind-numbing.

It must be so painful to have so much hate in your heart for people who are just trying to exist and survive. So to those of you who are allies, “I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” But also remember, if someone is endangering the basic human rights of an entire community, or their livelihood, do not hesitate to defend the rights of marginalized communities being unduly persecuted.

And finally, something that needs to be said as much as possible: Trans rights are human rights.

As you can see, elections do indeed matter. When you elect Democrats, you find that you have people who will work to better the lives of their constituents and in order to do so, we must both protect and exercise our right to vote. So go out there and vote on June 8th for the Democratic Primary for our state elections and then on November 2nd to keep Virginia Blue.

Tomorrow, April 10th is also your last day to register for the VAYD Convention. So if you have not yet, please go and do that as soon as possible!

Stay well,

Matt Royer