Virginia Democrats Block Another Anti-Trans Bill

As anti-LGBTQ legislature continues to pour into local and national legislative sessions, Virginia Senate Democrats were successful in blocking yet another Republic-led attempt at bigotry this past Thursday, February 16.

Virginia Democrats knocked down a bill that would have banned young transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identities. The ban would affect students from K-12 and at the collegiate level. 

The legislation initially passed in the House. However, Democrats and one republican stopped the bill in a 10-5 vote on Thursday morning.  Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant was the only Republican to vote with the majority. 

Virginia Democratic legislator Danica Roem–the nation’s first openly transgender state legislator—shared her opinion openly before the House last week. The House ultimately passed the bill; however, her words continued to be shared. 

“To beat up on trans kids because nine trans kids last year wanted to play sports, we’re now going to affect a policy for more than 1.2 million students, “says Roem.“…There already is an alternative that is effective and that’s working right now that does not require minors to have to strip in front of medical professionals who are adults in order for them to compete,” She states. 

The bill was the last of 12 state bills presented to the House that focused on transgender people this session. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, only one other bill crossed over from the House but was also voted down in a subcommittee. 

The second bill in question would have required that a parents be notified if a student requests to use pronouns that do not align with the student’s birth sex. 

The Virginia Senate will close out their session without the passage of any openly anti-trans legislation, the rest of the country may not be so lucky. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, so far in 2023, over 320 bills that could restrict LGBTQ rights have been introduced. 

The ACLU has created a program mapping legislative efforts to restrict rights and activist groups such as the Human Rights Campaign continue to work to disseminate support and information to communities in states that are more heavily effected.