Equality Virginia Archives

Bill Prohibiting Discrimination Against LGBTQ Virginians Advanced by Subcommittee

VCU CNS | January 28, 2020

Topics: Adam ebbin, Delores McQuinn, Equality Virginia, General Assembly 2020, Jennifer Boysko, Mark Sickles, Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia, Vee Lamneck, Virginia Fair Housing Law, Virginia Values Act

The Virginia Values Act represents a collaborative effort by a number of General Assembly legislators and LGBTQ advocacy groups to end discrimination against LGBTQ Virginians on many fronts, including housing, employment, and more.

A General Assembly subcommittee advanced a bill Thursday that would prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, public accommodations, employment, and credit applications.

Lawmakers suggested expanding the focus of a bill introduced by Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, that would update the Virginia Fair Housing act to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing.

McQuinn’s bill was rolled into HB 1663, patroned by Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax. Sickles’ bill, called the “Virginia Values Act,” includes additional protections against discrimination for LGBTQ Virginians in employment, public spaces and credit transactions and also outlines a process for civil action in a discrimination case.

The Virginia Fair Housing Law currently prevents housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status, and disability. Sickles’ bill would add “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity” or status as a veteran, to current law.

“As an African American woman, I have personally been subjected to discrimination all my life because of my race and my gender,” McQuinn said in an email interview with Capital News Service. “This will be another step toward dismantling systematic discrimination and creating fairness and equal opportunities for all citizens.”

Equality Virginia, a group that advocates for LGBTQ equality, said the legislation is a step in the right direction and praised the delegates’ work.

“These protections are long overdue and an important step forward for Virginia’s LGBTQ community,” Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, said in a statement.

Similar bills have been introduced by both chambers in previous sessions. Though praised by the ACLU and LGBTQ advocacy groups, such bills passed the Senate with support from some Republican senators, but never could advance out of Republican-led House subcommittees.

Capital News Service reached out to Republicans who voted against previous legislation to gauge their support for the current bill, but none responded.

Earlier this week the Senate passed a bill to allow a person who changed their sex to receive a new birth certificate. Introduced by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, SB 657 aims to eliminate problems for the transgender community that occur when their legal identification doesn’t match their transition, such as renting a home or applying for a credit line.

The Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia is a nonprofit that works to end transgender homelessness by providing individuals with resources to find emergency shelter, food and referrals to housing programs. De Sube, chairperson of the organization, said any nondiscrimination bill will help the transgender community.

The resource is needed, Sube said, because many clients are kicked out of their homes after they tell family, loved ones, or roommates that they are transgender. Then they run into discrimination while seeking housing.

“Many transgender people apply for housing, apartments, rental homes, etc., and they’re just denied because of their transgender identity,” Sube said.

Sickles said in a statement that discrimination has no place in Virginia.

“All Virginians deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, including LGBTQ people,” Sickles said.

Advocates expect HB 1663 to be heard in committee Tuesday. The companion bill sponsored by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, is expected to be heard in a Senate committee the following day.

“In Virginia, although a gay couple can get married on Sunday, the sad reality is they can get fired on Monday, evicted on Tuesday morning and denied a hotel room Tuesday night,” Ebbin said in a press release. “This isn’t a theoretical issue, discrimination is happening today.”

Written by Jimmy O’Keefe, Capital News Service. Top Photo: A rainbow flag was raised on Sept. 23, 2019, along with a trans flag and the Philly Pride Flag for Richmond Pride. Photo from City of Richmond Flickr account. All legislator photos via General Assembly.

Senate Advances Bill Allowing Transgender People to Change Birth Certificate Without Undergoing Surgery

VCU CNS | January 23, 2020

Topics: birth certificates, Equality Virginia, gender transition, General Assembly, Jennifer Boysko, SB 657, transgender community, Vee Lamneck

Senator Jennifer Boysko has introduced her bill to modernize the gender-marker change process for Virginia’s trans community before, but with Democrats in control of the General Assembly, it might actually become law this time.

The Senate passed a bill earlier this week that would allow a person who changed their sex to have a new birth certificate issued without requiring surgery, something that the transgender community said will help eliminate problems experienced when their legal identification doesn’t match their gender presentation.

Senate Bill 657 would allow a person to receive a new birth certificate to reflect the a change of sex, as well as allowing the individual seeking a new birth certificate to list a new name if they provide a certified copy of a court order of the name change.

“I just think it’s important to try to make life easier for people without being discriminated [against] or bullied,” said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax. “Allowing an individual who is transgender to change their birth certificate without having to go through the full surgery allows them to live the life that they are due to have.”

Current Virginia law requires a letter from a health care provider stating that a transgender individual’s “sex has been changed by medical procedure,” according to Equality Virginia. Elsewhere in the Code of Virginia, according to Lambda Legal, that “medical procedure” is specifically defined as surgery. In 2019, Business Insider reported that the average cost for gender-confirming surgery is around $25,000. And according to 2015’s US Transgender Survey, transgender people are more likely to lack health insurance and access to health care than the general population, making this cost out of reach for many lower-income trans people.

The bill requires proof from a health care provider that the individual went through “clinically appropriate treatment for gender transition.” The assessment and treatment, according to Boysko’s office, is up to the medical provider. There is not a specific standard approach for an individual’s transition. Treatment could include any of the following: counseling, hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or a patient-specific approach from the medical provider.

A similar process is required to obtain a passport after change of sex, according to the State Department.

Once the paperwork is complete, it is submitted to the Virginia Department of Health vital records department, Boysko said.

Boysko said her constituents have reported issues when they need to show legal documents in situations like leasing apartments, opening a bank account, or applying for jobs.

This is the third year that Boysko has introduced the bill. Neither bill made it out of subcommittee in previous years, but Boysko believes the bill has a better chance of becoming law this year.

“I believe that we have a more open and accepting General Assembly then we’ve had in the past, where people are more comfortable working with the LGBTQ community and have expressed more of an interest in addressing some of these long overdue changes,” Boysko said.

Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, a group that advocates for LGBTQ equality, said the organization is “really pleased that this bill is moving through.”

“This bill is really important for the transgender community,” Lamneck said. “Right now many transgender people do not have identity documents… this is really problematic when people apply for jobs or try to open a bank account.”

There are 22 other states in America that have adopted legislation similar to this, including the District of Columbia, Boysko said. The senator said that “it’s time for Virginia to move forward and be the 23rd state.”

On Tuesday, the Senate also passed Boysko’s bill requiring the Department of Education to develop policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools, along with a bill outlawing conversion therapy for any person under 18 years of age.

The bills now advance to the House of Delegates, where they must pass before heading to the governor’s desk.

Written by Rodney Robinson, Capital News Service. Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Photo: Sen. Jennifer Boysko, by Adam Hamza, via CNS

Advocates Hope LGBTQ Protections Will Pass With New Leadership

VCU CNS | January 13, 2020

Topics: Adam ebbin, Equality Virginia, General Assembly 2020, James Parrish, Ralph Northam, Vee Lamneck, Virginia Values Act, Virginia Values Coalition

The Virginia Values Act, introduced Friday in the General Assembly by Senator Adam Ebbin, would offer extensive (and much needed) non-discrimination protections to Virginia’s LGBTQ citizens.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, introduced Friday SB 868, called the “Virginia Values Act,” which would amend existing nondiscrimination laws to extend protections for the state’s LGBTQ residents. While protection from discimination against race, religion, age, and disability, among other demographics, already exist under Virginia law, the proposed bill seeks to include the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

Less than half of U.S. states prohibit discrimination for LGBTQ individuals, according to Freedom for All Americans, a nationwide campaign that seeks to provide nondiscrimination protection for LGBTQ individuals. Virginia is among the majority, with no laws protecting the community from wrongful firing or evictions based on discrimination.

Tracey Swinarsky is a transgender advocacy speaker with Equality Virginia, an organization that seeks equality for all LGBTQ individuals. She said she has experienced discrimination from two employers, including one that fired her because of customer complaints because she is transgender.

“If there was a legal thing that says legally you can’t do this, I would’ve taken action,” Swinarsky said.

“The new law will bring Virginia into the 21st century, and into alignment with Virginia voters, by modernizing and expanding existing human rights law,” the Virginia Values Coalition stated in a press release. The coalition formed in October, following the 2019 General Assembly session in which over 20 bills supported by Equality Virginia failed to advance.

SB 868 was referred to the Committee on General Laws and Technology, chaired by Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax.

*Sen. Adam Ebbin, patron of the bill to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ. (courtesy of generalassembly.gov)*

The proposed protections will directly target discrimination from public and private employers, housing, credit applications and public acommodations. The Virginia Fair Housing Law would include prohibiting eviction or denial of residence on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Employers with more than five employees will also be prohibited from firing or refusing to hire an individual on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. It will also be unlawful for employment agencies to refuse to refer an individual for a job on that basis.

Under the proposed changes, no individual could be legally denied service due to their gender identity or sexual orientation, including in restaurants, stores and public facilities, such as gyms and libraries. This section would not apply to any private club or facility owned by a religious corporation that is not open to the public.

The bill also proposes including discrimination against sexual orientation or gender identity as qualifying reasons for grievance hearings, which are meetings that address employee allegations of discrimination.

“It would give us a lot more feeling of safety and security if that happens,” Swinarsky said. “We’re a part of the world and they’re gonna have to deal with that and take care of us and handle us like anybody else out there — no matter what.”

Gov. Ralph Northam included the objectives of this legislation as a priority during his State of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday.

“Then, we will pass comprehensive protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations for LGBTQ people,” Northam said in his address. “These are important steps toward building a more equal, just, and inclusive state.”

The Virginia Values Coalition worked alongside Ebbin and other partners including Equality Virginia, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom for All Americans, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the National Center for Transgender Equality to create the legislation.

*Legislators announce support of LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in 2020 General Assembly. (courtesy of hrc.org)*

Virginia is home to over 257,000 LGBTQ adults and over 50,000 LGBTQ youth according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. The institute reported that 81 percent of Virginia residents think LGBTQ individuals experience discrimination in the state. It also shows that 74 percent of LGBTQ student respondents have experienced discrimination at school.

“So we know that discrimination is happening with frequency in Virginia,” said Vee Lamneck, executive director of Equality Virginia, which also conducted its own surveys and reported that about half of its participants experienced discrimination.

Lamneck stepped into this position just last week after being with the organization for over six years and deputy director for three years. The position was previously held by James Parrish, current director of the VVC.

“An overwhelming majority of Americans, including Virginians, believe that LGBT people should be protected from discrimination,” Parrish said. “But also a majority of people believe those protections already exist, and they don’t.”

Sen. Ebbin patroned SB 998 last session, which also aimed to prohibit employers from discriminating on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. It passed the Senate 28-12 but didn’t make it past the first reading in the House.

“Conservative leadership in the House of Delegates continuously stood in the way,” Parrish said. “The Republican-led Senate passed both the employment bill and the housing bill with a super majority of votes in the past several sessions but they were always dead-on-arrival in the House.”

Equality Virginia and the VVC said they are excited to see new leadership this session that seeks to protect the LGBTQ community.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, already pledged to support legislation that protects the LGBTQ community.

“Passing comprehensive protections for LGBTQ Virginians will be a top priority for Virginia’s Senate in the upcoming General Assembly Session,” Saslaw stated in a tweet. “It’s long past time to end anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, and public spaces.”

A CNS reporter reached out to a third of the Republican senators who voted against the 2019 bill to gauge their thoughts on SB 868, but none responded. Equality Virginia recently reported that 2018 and 2019 surveys found a majority of Virginia Republicans support passing protective legislation. In 2019, 63 percent said they would support protection from discrimination in employment, while 53 percent — a slight decrease from 55 percent in 2018 — said they would support protection in housing.

When Parrish was asked what he would say to opposing legislators, he advised to listen to the facts: a multitude of polls show that the majority of Virginians support protecting LGBTQ individuals from discrimination.

“LGBTQ people live in every district in this state, so elected leaders should be looking out for all citizens,” Parrish said.

Written by Emma Gauthier, Capital News Service. Top Photo: A rainbow flag was raised on Sept. 23 along with a trans flag and the Philly Pride Flag for Richmond Pride. (Photos from City of Richmond Flickr account)

Virginia LGBTQ Advocates Hoping For Big Gains in General Assembly This Year

Marilyn Drew Necci | January 7, 2020

Topics: Adam ebbin, conversion therapy, Equality Virginia, General Assembly, General Assembly 2020, James Parrish, Jennifer McClellan, LGBTQ rights, marriage equality, Virginia Fair Housing Law, Virginia Values Coalition

For the first time in over a generation, Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, and advocates are working to ensure that this has positive results for Virginia’s LGBTQ community.

It hasn’t been all that many years since the dawn of a new General Assembly session meant just as many proposed bills designed to diminish LGBTQ rights and further discrimination against us as bills designed to improve the lives of LGBTQ Virginians. That’s changed in recent years, notably with the ending of Bob Marshall’s term in the House Of Delegates, but continued Republican control of both houses of the General Assembly meant that the many pro-LGBTQ bills that were proposed never made it out of committee.

This week, everything changes. The Democrats are in control not only of the Governor’s Office but both houses of the General Assembly. This is the first time that’s been true since 1993, before many of our readers were born, and it has the potential to make a lot of improvements in the civil rights and legal status of LGBTQ Virginians.

State Senator Jennifer McClellan agrees, and called the Democratic electoral victory a “huge deal” in a recent conversation with Virginia Mercury. McClellan has sponsored SB 66, which would amend the Virginia Fair Housing Deal make it illegal for landlords to refuse to rent to someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“I think that is an area where we would have been able to make some progress had it not been for Republicans in the House who wouldn’t even hear legislation,” McClellan told Virginia Mercury.

Indeed, many of these measures passed in the state Senate in previous sessions, even when it was under Republican control. However, Republican leadership in the House Of Delegates often refused to even hear discussion of pro-LGBTQ bills, either in committees or full sessions of the House. Now, with Democrats in the driver’s seat, LGBTQ advocates see hope on the horizon.

*James Parrish. Photo courtesy Equality Virginia.*

“There is an opportunity to pass legislation that supports Virginia’s LGBTQ community more broadly than just nondiscrimination protection,” James Parrish told the Virginia Mercury. Parrish, until recently the executive director of Equality Virginia, stepped down on January 1 in order to lead the Virginia Values Coalition, a newly formed pro-LGBTQ advocacy organization bringing together groups like Virginia’s ACLU, Human Rights Campaign, and the National Center for Transgender Equality under a single banner.

Indeed, many issues are on the table for this upcoming session. Currently, only employees for the government and state contractors are protected from firing based on sexual orientation or gender identity — and those employees are only protected in a temporary fashion. One of Ralph Northam’s first acts as governor was to sign an executive order replicating one previously signed by Terry McAuliffe during his gubernatorial administration, protecting LGBTQ state employees from firing. However, if a less LGBTQ-friendly governor were elected in 2021 and decided not to sign a similar executive order, that protection would disappear.

The new Democratic leadership of the General Assembly are certainly in a position to create a more permanent law protecting public employees against discrimination; indeed, SB 159, introduced by Senator Jennifer Boysko, does exactly that. But advocates see an opportunity to protect more than public employees; Parrish told the Virginia Mercury that advocates are hoping for the passage of a bill that protects all LGBTQ employees, public and private. “We anticipate getting a lot of corporate support for it,” Parrish told the Mercury.

SB 23, introduced by Senator Adam Ebbin, would enact exactly this sort of employment protection. Ebbin, one of five LGBTQ members of the General Assembly, says that a positive change like this has been a long time coming.

“It’s a big deal to know that you can’t just be swept aside as a second-class citizen,” he told the Virginia Mercury. “And it’ll matter. There’s a lot of people older than me who thought this kind of environment would never come.”

*Senator Adam Ebbin. Photo By EbbinForVirginia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia*

Another big push from advocates is to ban conversion therapy in Virginia. While the Virginia Board of Psychology and multiple other state agencies within the Department of Health Professions have released guidance stating that conversion therapy is considered a violation of standard practice, it is still technically legal within the state. Both Richmond and Virginia Beach’s City Councils have passed resolutions asking the General Assembly to ban the practice, and Senator Scott Surovell, who has been attempting to pass a ban for multiple previous sessions, has introduced SB 245 in hopes of doing exactly that. A similar bill in the House Of Delegates, HB 386, has been proposed by Delegate Patrick Hope.

There are other issues on the table as well; bills in both the House and Senate would require the Department of Education to create a statewide policy determining how Virginia’s schools would interact with transgender students. Both bills mandate “a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students.” Bills introduced in the House and Senate also add sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as disability, to the list of classes protected by hate crime legislation.

Multiple bills and resolutions in the Senate attempt to remove the Marshall-Newman Amendment, the 2006 amendment to Virginia’s Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman, from the constitution. While this may seem strictly symbolic now, the Supreme Court’s more conservative shift in recent years, with the addition of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, leave some concerned that federal protections for marriage equality, currently protected only by Supreme Court precedent, may be challenged in the near future.

If the Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case, Virginia’s Constitution might once again become the top legal authority on marriage within the Commonwealth. If the Marshall-Newman Amendment remained on the books in such an event, all same-sex marriages within Virginia would immediately lose government recognition. This isn’t an outcome anyone wants, and therefore the passage of bills like Senator John Edwards’ SB 39, which repeals the Marshall-Newman Amendment, are more important than some might think at first.

While not all of the pro-LGBTQ bills currently facing the General Assembly will necessarily pass, it seems likely that the overall legal picture for LGBTQ Virginians will be considerably brighter by the end of the 2020 General Assembly session. And that’s a wonderful thing.

“We’ve come forward. We’re not going back,” Ebbin told the Virginia Mercury. “And I think there’s momentum to bring us to where we should and need to be.”

Top Photo By Varmin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia

Panel Brings Trans Issues to Light, Offers Opportunity for Dialogue

VCU CNS | November 18, 2019

Topics: Ask A Trans Person, Chesterfield Library, conversion therapy, Equality Virginia, Keri Abrams, Nationz Foundation, Ralph Northam, Virginia High School League, Zakia McKensey

“Guess what? I am a transgender woman and I am just like everybody else.”

Keri Abrams was addressing an audience of about 35 people at the “Ask a Trans Person” panel at Chesterfield Central Library earlier this week. Equality Virginia — an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Virginians — hosted the event to facilitate transgender visibility and inspire community building by inviting questions from the audience.

The discussion included inquires about how to gain confidence being trans, choosing a gender-affirming name, and how family and friends can offer support. The panelists discussed their different experiences, including coming out and transitioning. The audience was first encouraged to write anonymous questions on note cards and later to ask questions in front of the group. Most of the questions were about opportunities to support the transgender community, or questions regarding the panelists’ personal experiences.

A recurring topic was the lack of legal protections for transgender people in Virginia. In January 2018, Gov. Ralph Northam signed into effect Executive Order Number One to ensure equal opportunity in state government. The order prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, political affiliation or against persons with disabilities. However, the Executive Order only protects public employees, and will expire with the end of Northam’s term.

This year several nondiscrimination bills failed to pass the General Assembly. These included HB 2067, which would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in public employment, and SB 1109, which would have categorized discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity as an unlawful housing practice.

“A lot of people don’t know that we are not protected,” Abrams said. “They assume that, you know, everybody else is protected. But we’re not. We can lose jobs, we can be denied jobs, we can be denied housing, we can be thrown out of housing, and we won’t even get into homeless shelters.”

*Keri Abrams spoke at Equality Virginia’s “Ask a Trans Person” panel at Chesterfield Central Library this Tuesday. Photo by Susan Shibut, VCU-CNS*

Panelist Zakia McKensey said she experienced discrimination while trying to find an office space for Nationz Foundation, a nonprofit organization she founded to help the LGBTQ community have access to health resources and education. She said her inquiries into available spaces were repeatedly denied without an explanation after visiting.

“We should be protected, we should have the same rights, same opportunities,” McKensey said.

Panelist Andrew, who asked to be referred to only by his first name because he fears being fired, said he wants more protection in university housing, more inclusive high school sports policies and recognition of the significance of pronouns.

“Imagine being in a lecture hall of 250 people and the professor calls you by the wrong pronoun in front of all your classmates,” Andrew said.

In 2014 the Virginia High School League approved participation in public school sports by transgender athletes, but they would be required to have undergone sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy. VHSL has since updated the policy to allow transgender athletes who have verified medical documentation as having a consistent identity different than the gender listed on their birth certificate or school registration to participate.

Andrew said the VHSL almost prevented him from playing sports in high school.

All three panelists also said that health care is a difficult system for transgender people to navigate.

“So many times we go into places needing health-related services, and we end up teaching medical practitioners what we need,” McKensey said.

*Equality Virginia Program Coordinator Thalia Hernandez led the panel. Photo by Susan Shibut, VCU-CNS*

Health care access, workplace protections and housing protections are all on Equality Virginia’s “checklist” of important issues to address for the LGBTQ community. The list also includes inclusive schools, public accommodations and a conversion therapy ban.

Conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation, is still legal in Virginia, though there have been attempts to limit the practice. Three Virginia boards that advise mental health professions — the Board of Psychology, Board of Counseling and Board of Social Work — all voted to prohibit the practice on minors. These boards do not need legislative approval to create regulation and take disciplinary action against offending practices.

According to GLAAD, 16% of Americans say they know someone who is transgender. Equality Virginia Program Coordinator Thalia Hernandez said she hopes the panel gave attendees who might not know a transgender person a greater understanding of the issues that face the community.

“We’re making that larger social change as well in these everyday interactions, and so the small things can really build a world of difference,” Hernandez said.

Equality Virginia will host more “Ask a Trans Person” panels on Nov. 21 and Dec. 17 at Hampton Public Library in Hampton, on Dec. 10 at the East Suffolk Recreation Center in Suffolk and on Dec. 12 at First Congregational Christian Church in Chesterfield.

Written by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Panelists Keri Abrams, Andrew, and Zakia McKensey answered some pre-prepared questions, some anonymous questions, and some questions asked by the audience; by Susan Shibut.

You’ll Never Know If You Don’t Ask

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 11, 2019

Topics: Ask A Trans Person, Chesterfield Library, Equality Virginia, LGBTQ rights, transgender civil rights

Equality Virginia’s new “Ask A Trans Person” panel series seeks to raise trans visibility and highlight transgender Virginians’ need for civil rights protections.

87 percent of Americans say they know a gay person, but only 16 percent report knowing a a trans person, according to GLAAD. For this reason, it can be harder for a lot of people to understand the pressing need for protections against discrimination felt by Virginia’s transgender citizens.

With their “Ask A Trans Person” panel series, Equality Virginia hopes to change that. The first of these panels will take place at the Chesterfield Library on Tuesday, November 12, and with it, Equality Virginia hopes to put a human face on the lives and problems of transgender people for Virginians who currently have no context for such things.

The event is being billed as “a safe space to ask questions and engage in respectful dialogue with fellow community members,” and the panel will feature Thalia Hernandez, Equality Virginia’s transgender program coordinator, and Keri Abrams of the Equality Virginia Transgender Advocacy Speakers Bureau, as well as other members of the Transgender Advocacy Speakers Bureau.

This might seem like a pretty small step in attempting to put across the essential humanity of transgender people, but I can tell you from personal experience that it makes a difference. As I began my own transition, I was working in retail, and had a variety of conversations with coworkers about issues I faced as a trans woman. While some never seemed to understand, I ended up finding several unlikely allies who, once they considered my situation, realized that transgender people like me deserved better than the treatment we all-too-frequently receive at the hands of government agencies.

With a new Democratic majority in both houses of the General Assembly, we finally have the chance to see real change in the status of LGBTQ protections here in Virginia. A big part of making sure that happens will be dialogue with people who don’t currently understand where our community is coming from. Equality Virginia’s “Ask A Trans Person” panels are a good opportunity to get that conversation started.

Whether you’re a curious newcomer to trans issues, a supportive ally, or a member of the transgender community yourself, your attendance at Equality Virginia’s “Ask A Trans Person” panel is a good way to increase understanding and make a difference. The event will take place starting at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, November 12 at Chesterfield County’s Central Library, located at 7051 Lucy Corr Blvd in Chesterfield. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register at bit.ly/TransPanelChesterfield.