Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive directive Thursday instructing the Virginia Board of Health to make regulations that would bar transgender women and girls from competing in female-only sports and using women’s locker rooms and other sex-separated spaces.
Youngkin framed the order as necessary to “protect the health, safety, privacy, dignity, and respect” of women and girls in Virginia.
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“The health and safety of women and girls in sex separated spaces and participating in athletic competitions is in serious jeopardy due to irresponsible policies, including those that allow known sex offenders to hunt little girls in public locker rooms,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“It is an embarrassment and a tragedy that certain individuals continue to turn a blind eye to these clear violations of the law and of the health, safety, privacy, dignity, and respect of Virginians. This must stop. I want to thank President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Education for their strong, common-sense approach to protecting women and girls.”
The proposed rules would:
Prohibit “biological males” from using designated female spaces where women or girls may be undressed.
Prohibit “biological males” from competing on female-only athletic teams and in female competitions.
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The action followed an August petition submitted by three female collegiate athletes who asked the Board of Health to create regulations preventing transgender women from competing in women’s sports and from using women’s facilities.
The Board of Health was scheduled to consider publishing a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) on Oct. 2, the next step in the state’s regulatory process.