Dear John, With pride, gratitude, and relief, today we can officially say that all 12 anti-trans bills that were introduced in the Virginia General Assembly this year are dead! The final two bills, HB 1387 (an athlete ban) and HB 2432 (a forced outing bill), were killed this morning in a Senate Education & Health committee meeting. We are glad that these twelve dangerous bills targeting trans youth will not be moving forward in the legislative process. We are celebrating this win today, and we hope that you can also take a few moments to celebrate what this outcome means for you and your loved ones. The mere introduction of these bills has inflicted harm on our community, and transgender and nonbinary youth specifically. We should not have to spend time fighting for our humanity to be recognized, for our experiences to be considered, or for children to be protected. Building celebration and joy into the work is vital to our wellbeing and to our ability to advocate and still feel whole. |
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Thank you to everyone who was a part of the movement to defeat anti-trans hate this session. You did the hard work. |
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| Thank you to the advocates, the impacted, and the allies who showed up to testify, even when it meant getting up early, laying your story out for the public to hear, and witnessing harmful comments in support of these bills. You showed everyone who and what we value, and your emotional labor does not go unacknowledged. |
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| The fight to protect transgender and nonbinary youth is not over. So far, 2023 is the worst year on record for legislative attacks against the rights and humanity of trans youth across the country. But through it all, we'll keep showing up and we know Virginians will too. And it will take all of us, but we will win. Yours in the fight, Narissa Rahaman (she/her) Executive Director P.S.- The 2023 General Assembly session concludes on February 25th, and we’ll be monitoring potential movement on remaining bills, like the marriage amendment, until then. |
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