Erin Brewer

Dear Committee Members, Thank you for reading my comments. I am a member of the LGB community, a lifelong Democrat and I am a former “trans” kid who desisted. Women and girls’ safe spaces are environments established to ensure women and girls feel emotionally and physically safe. These spaces are designed to ensure survivors of violence - and those at risk of violence - have a place to go where they are able to socialize, build support networks, access response services and access information on women’s rights, health and services, without fear of judgement or harm. These spaces provide a unique opportunity for women or girls to come together in contexts where most public spaces are dominated by men. As a victim of sexual assault, it is shocking to me that people who claim to care about women and girls' safety are worried about hurting men's feelings by telling them "no" to women and girls' safe spaces. I can't even imagine the fear women in prison feel when a man is put in a cell with them, often a man with a history of violence against women. The message women and girls are getting is that our rights don't matter, our safety doesn't matter, and our consent doesn't matter. In addition, It is imperative that women and girls' sports are reserved for females. It is easy to do tests that are not invasive and do not undermine anyone's privacy to preserve girls and women's sports. The sex based anatomical and physiological differences are between males and females are already apparent before the onset of puberty. These sex-based differences give males inherent athletic advantages over females in almost every sport and at all levels. All current evidence indicates that having a male with or without puberty blocks, testosterone suppression, and/or cross sex hormone use does not erase male athletic advantages. I have been a lifelong Democrat because I believe in protecting the rights of women and girls. Please, do the right thing, stand up for women and girls and remind everyone that regressive sex-based stereotypes don't define us as male or female, biology does.