Right 2 Play VA Campaign
Equality Arlington and the Arlington Gender Identity Alliance (AGIA), in coalition with community partners, has launched a “Right 2 Play VA” campaign calling on the Virginia High School League (VHSL) to repeal their discriminatory ban on transgender athletes and engage in a transparent process to enact a policy that makes sense for all students. Sign on to the letter calling on VHSL to end the ban and let all students play sports!
Sign our letter TODAY to support repealing the ban: https://tinyurl.com/Right2playVA
In February 2025, the VHSL caved to pressure from the federal government and Youngkin administration and adopted a blanket ban prohibiting transgender girls from playing on girls high school sports teams. This policy violates the Virginia Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and ensures that students can fully participate in school activities.
Learn more about this issue from the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below.
The Arlington Trans Youth Quilt Project was launched in a time of crisis for the transgender community, as a call-back to the AIDS quilt of the 1980s and 1990s.
The AIDS quilt launched in 1985 during deadly and harrowing times for the LGBTQ+ community, as AIDS spread and killed millions of people and much of the world refused to help. In response, a group of activists launched the AIDS quilt project to honor their loved ones who’d been pushed out of society, voices silenced; it grew to become the largest piece of community artwork in history, with over 50,000 panels.
Photos: Phuong Tran, @ruabietbay on Instagram.
Today, trans youth face a similarly hostile world. Powerful forces across the country are attempting to erase their very existence. In 2025, the Trump administration launched an unprecedented set of attacks on Arlington’s trans and non-binary youth and the organizations that serve and support them. Arlington and neighboring schools are being threatened with the loss of federal funding, hospitals have been forced to stop offering gender affirming care, insurance companies have been pressured to drop vital coverage, kids have been removed from sports teams, and many states have revoked basic rights and privileges. Many trans people, fearing for their safety, have chosen to leave the country.
This quilt is meant to give voice to the
trans and non-binary youth under attack.
Through the quilt, trans and non-binary youth assert their right to celebrate their identity and their right to live openly as their true selves. While the AIDS quilt was a memorial to lost lives, this quilt is a celebration of joy and the rich diversity of our youth. However, the black square acknowledges that there are kids whose voices can’t be on this quilt because they are no longer with us. There are kids who fear sharing their truth, even in this safe format. There are kids who can’t be out to their family and friends. The black square is a reminder that despite all the joy on this quilt, we are still in a battle for the very lives of transgender and non-binary people in this country.
All squares were hand-stitched onto the quilt face by allies at a community event on March 7, 2026. Final quilt assembly by Kristi Huckabone. The quilt was publicly unveiled at Arlington Central Library on April 8, 2026.