1. Under what circumstances should a transgender person be limited to using facilities designated for their sex assigned at birth (e.g. a trans woman required to use a men’s restroom or locker room)?

Rarely, if ever. The evidence doesn't support the fear. Trans women living as women using women's restrooms hasn't produced the harms opponents predicted. What jurisdictions that made so-called bathroom bills created instead is a policy that forces visibly feminine trans women into men's spaces, which does produce harm. Congress imposed such a rule, targeting transgender Congresswoman Sarah McBride. This is immoral and absurd in its face. Dignity and safety should guide this, not anxiety about hypotheticals.

2. Do you support protecting medical providers’ right to prescribe gender affirming care to transgender patients under 18 years old?

Yes I do. These are difficult decisions for the teenager and the family. These choices should be made in the confines of a patient doctor relationship. As a physician, I understand the importance of establishing trust with people who are vulnerable. Gender affirming care can be life saving, and I support access to it.

3. What limits, if any, should be placed on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in county government?

Howard County should fund what demonstrably improves outcomes for underserved residents. Where DEI means better hiring pipelines or accessible services, keep it. Where it's become bureaucratic performance, audit it. The standard should be: does this make county government work better for everyone? That's not a limit. That's accountability.

4. What restrictions should be placed on children’s content (books, videos, etc.) that refers to LGBTQ+ identities?

I’m opposed to any book banning, especially banning of books that show the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Children have always encountered differences in stories. Exposure to LGBTQ+ families builds empathy and understanding.

5. What proof, if any, should a person transitioning from one gender to another need to in order to change government issued documents? Are there any circumstances when this should be forbidden?

Barriers to document changes cause real harm, socially and psychologically. Jurisdictions that have moved to self-attestation models have seen minimal abuse. The question of "proof" is really a question of who we trust. I'd argue we should trust individuals to know themselves. Restricting access based on surgery or diagnosis is medically outdated. Outright bans serve no compelling state interest I can identify.

6. Do you approve of non-binary gender markers such as “X” instead of “M” or “F” on government documents? Why or why not?

Yes, I do. Citizens should have the freedom to be able to identify how they wish. I do not see a compelling reason to deny that.

7. Should a transgender child who wants to participate in athletics but is uncomfortable in a program for their sex assigned at birth be allowed to participate in a program for the gender they transitioned to? (e.g. a transgender girl who is uncomfortable playing on a boys’ team but who wants to take part in sports).

This is a genuinely hard question, and I want to sit with that difficulty. Sports categories exist partly for competitive fairness, but also for belonging. A child who won't participate at all because the alternative feels unbearable isn't being protected, they're being excluded. So the practical answer, for children especially, should lean toward inclusion.

And honestly, as a cisgender man, I should have humility here. These decisions about girls' sports, girls' spaces, and what fairness means for them should center the voices of women and girls, not mine.

8. When transgender people are incarcerated or detained, how should officials decide what gender they should be held with?

The data here is stark. Of nearly 5,000 transgender people in state prisons, just 15 had been housed according to their lived gender. The result is 35 percent of transgender people who spent time in prison reported being sexually assaulted behind bars. Housing by birth sex alone isn't a neutral policy. It's a policy that produces violence. The humane default is individualized assessment that centers safety and dignity, not fear.

9. What restrictions, if any, would be appropriate on entertainment, such as drag shows, with content that involves crossdressing or other gender-nonconforming behavior?

America has always had spaces where gender gets played with through vaudeville, theater, and comedy. Drag is part of that tradition. The appropriate standard is the one we apply everywhere: is this venue suitable for this audience? Context and consent matter. A nightclub show differs from a school assembly. That framework already exists. We don't need new rules targeting gender nonconformity specifically.

10. When should therapies, such as conversion therapy, that seek to alter patients’ LGBTQ+ identity or change the behavior associated with such an identity, be allowed? When should they be restricted? Does it matter if the patient is a minor?

Conversion therapy doesn't work and causes measurable harm. The question of when to allow it answers itself. It should be restricted for minors categorically; children cannot meaningfully consent to interventions rooted in the premise that they are broken. For adults, autonomy matters, but so does informed consent grounded in honest science. No therapy premised on a false foundation deserves clinical legitimacy.