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Virginia Del. Danica Roem has made political historical past as soon as once more after profitable a seat within the state Senate on Tuesday. She is the primary out transgender particular person elected to Virginia’s higher chamber and solely the second trans particular person elected to any state Senate in america, following Delaware’s Sarah McBride in 2020.
Roem, a Democrat, defeated her Republican opponent, Invoice Woolf, by greater than 3 share factors. Woolf, a former Fairfax County police officer, was endorsed by the state’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin.
“I’m grateful the individuals of Virginia’s thirtieth Senate district elected me to proceed representing my lifelong house of western Prince William County and higher Manassas,” Roem stated in a press release shared on social media Tuesday. “The voters have proven they need a pacesetter who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding children and defending our land as an alternative of stigmatizing trans children or taking away your civil rights.”
Roem, a 39-year-old former journalist, first made political historical past six years in the past when she turned the primary out transgender particular person elected and seated in a state legislature. In doing so, she defeated one among Virginia’s longest serving and socially conservative lawmakers.
Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a nationwide group devoted to getting LGBTQ individuals elected to public workplace, stated Roem’s win Tuesday “serves as a deafening rebuke to bigots who proceed to try to silence the LGBTQ+ group and trans individuals particularly.”
“Danica confronted an unprecedented deluge of anti-trans hate on the marketing campaign path, however she was not phased nor distracted,” Parker, a former mayor of Houston, stated in a press release. “She made LGBTQ+ historical past tonight as a result of she put constituents first, talking to the true points that influence kids and their households in Virginia, from fixing roads to making sure children and households have meals on the desk.”
In an article printed in The Advocate final week, Roem stated her opponents’ supporters have criticized her assist of transgender student-athletes and have accused her of not defending girls’s sports activities by permitting “boys in women’ areas.”
Narissa Rahaman, the chief director of Equality Virginia, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, stated Roem’s “victory is each groundbreaking and heartening for our commonwealth’s future.”
“Senator-Elect Roem’s victory exhibits, as soon as once more, that anti-LGBTQ+ insurance policies and private assaults are a dropping technique within the commonwealth,” she stated in a press release. “From the start, Danica has put her constituents first: specializing in the problems that matter most in her district. We all know she’s going to proceed to take action within the Senate, and we’re thrilled that her voters see what we see: a devoted, efficient and robust chief for all Virginians.”
Roem wasn’t the one LGBTQ Virginian to emerge victorious this week: In accordance with the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, eight different queer candidates gained legislative seats within the state Tuesday, together with three who weren’t incumbents.
The success of Virginia’s LGBTQ candidates was a part of a broader “rainbow wave” this yr, in response to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. The group stated it has tracked greater than 200 victories for lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and queer candidates to this point this yr, together with no less than 148 wins Tuesday.
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