The Virginia Board of Health, with the support of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), took the next step toward putting regulations in place to prevent transgender-identifying biological males from participating in women’s sports and from changing in women’s locker rooms.
The board voted unanimously on Thursday to advance a notice on regulations that would “protect the health of females participating in organized female-only athletic teams and competitions in Virginia and to protect the health of females using designated female spaces where females are likely to be in any state of undress.” The vote put forth a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action.
Recommended Stories
- Gavin Newsom signs bill that reverses Kamala Harris's anti-truancy law
- White House offers funding advantage to colleges that sign 'Compact for Academic Excellence'
- November Social Security direct payment worth $967 goes out in 29 days
Thursday’s vote comes after the board unanimously approved a petition to “prevent biological males from female-only athletics and certain female-designated spaces,” brought forward by three Virginia female college athletes. The vote on Thursday was the next stage in the regulatory process following petition approval.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FINDS MINNESOTA VIOLATED TITLE IX WITH TRANSGENDER ATHLETE POLICIES
Réka György is one of the Virginia female athletes who brought the petition to the state and a former collegiate swimmer for Virginia Tech. She called the NOIRA vote a “huge win” in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“It’s a huge win for girls and women in Virginia, and I’m so happy that changes are happening right now. It’s another step closer to my goal—the reason I speak up publicly: to help save girls’ and women’s sports,” György said.
Youngkin issued an Executive Directive ahead of Thursday’s vote, urging the Board of Health to move forward with the process and “take all necessary steps to promulgate regulations to ensure the health, safety, privacy, dignity, and respect of all individuals, especially women and girls.”
“The Executive Directive underscores the Governor’s commitment to protecting women’s and girls’ health and safety in sex-separated spaces and activities and directs the board to proceed with this ongoing regulatory action,” Youngkin’s Press Secretary Peter Finocchio told the Washington Examiner.
Youngkin’s push for regulatory change in the Virginia statutes comes alongside a federal push to keep biological males from participating in women’s sports. The state has been a battleground for the debate, as the Trump administration said it would freeze federal funding for several Northern Virginia public school districts whose bathroom policies do not comply with those of the Trump administration. Fairfax County Public Schools and Arlington Public Schools have sued the Department of Education over the move.
“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,” Youngkin said in a statement. “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.”
In July, the University of Pennsylvania pledged to ban transgender-identifying athletes from participating in the university’s athletic programs that do not align with their sex and to erase swimmer Lia Thomas‘s records. The move came as part of an agreement with President Donald Trump’s Department of Education.
György said in her petition biography that she was, in part, inspired to initiate the petition after an uncomfortable interaction in a locker room with Thomas, who identifies as transgender, in which she felt “her privacy was taken away.” György also said she missed the finals of the 2022 Women’s Swimming and Diving NCAA Championship for the 500-yard freestyle by one spot after placing 17th in a competition that Thomas won.
Thirteen out of 15 of the board’s members were present and voted in favor of Thursday’s NOIRA.
VIRGINIA PUBLIC SCHOOL TRANSGENDER CONTROVERSIES COULD SCRAMBLE GUBERNATORIAL RACE
The vote on Thursday is not a final ruling, but instead publishes the notice that the board plans on adding these regulations to Virginia statutes. A NOIRA typically does not include actual regulatory text but instead notifies the public that the state is considering a regulatory change and outlines what the change entails.
The next step in the process is for the executive branch to review the NOIRA, then there will be a 30-day public comment period before the Virginia Department of Health moves to the next phase in the process, which is drafting a proposed regulation.