Our first action as a state group in Virginia was a big one: we were involved in legislative advocacy against the proposed Equality Act, which would have amended the Civil Rights Act to redefine ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’, gutting women’s sex-specific rights. From January to March, we met with the offices of both Virginia senators, as well as with staffers from several House representatives across the state, both Democrats and Republicans. Our efforts culminated in a joint meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer’s office, also attended by other WHRC women from across the country.
In January, we had a brief but vigorous last-minute emailing and phone calling campaign to urge Richmond lawmakers not to pass a resolution that would make women’s shelters ‘inclusive’ on the basis of gender identity rather than sex. Unfortunately, the resolution passed. Thank you to the women all over the country who advised us, spread the word, and joined in with our efforts.
In February, a letter to the editor written by the WHRC VA State Contact was published by the local news source The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Written in response to a recently published article of theirs, the letter was entitled “Myths about the Equality Act.” Read it here.
In May, we submitted a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to the Virginia Department of Corrections as part of a WHRC action all over the country. We found out that in the whole state of Virginia, there is only one male housed in a female prison. There are no women housed in men’s prisons. For now, Virginia still requires inmates to have completed full “sex reassignment” surgery to be moved to an opposite-sex prison, but this state of affairs could always change.
In July, we created a private Facebook group called Gender Critical Women of Virginia. While Facebook is far from an ideal platform, it’s still commonly used by many and our presence there has already resulted in new connections, discussions, and planned actions. If you live in VA, or know a gender critical woman who does, here is the link to join.
In October, four Virginia women, among others from elsewhere independently (not as representatives of WHRC) attended a non-partisan parent protest in Loudoun County to support student survivors of sexual assault and to protest the school board’s mishandling of the cases. Read more about that action here.
What’s next for Virginia? After attending a WHRC-organized webinar about local-level lobbying, we plan to turn our attention towards local advocacy and building relationships with local lawmakers and public officials. Now that our numbers are growing, we also hope to start organizing regular in-person meetups and other actions.
Email [email protected] to get involved.
-Katherine, WHRC-USA State Contact for VA
*Please note that the Women’s Human Rights Campaign USA (WHRC-USA) is now officially known as Women’s Declaration International USA (WDI-USA)
Thank you Virginia Women! Your advocacy is admirable. Keep up the great work❣️