In a country plagued with hatred and discrimination, Tuesday’s elections served as a beacon of hope. Danica Roem, who will be the first openly transgender person seated in a U.S. state legislature, beat Robert G. Marshall (a seasoned politician who has called himself Virginia’s “chief homophobe” ) for a seat in Virginia’s House of Delegates by almost nine percentage points.
The U.S. still has a long way to go when it comes to fostering a culture of love and inclusion in which transgender people feel safe and comfortable — but government representation is the first step in the right direction. As Roem said when her margin of victory became clear: “Discrimination is a disqualifier.” How cool would it be to know that we live in a country where politicians know that if they’re hateful or discriminatory, nobody will vote for them? We’re getting there, guys. We’re getting there.
A little bit about Roem? She’s a career journalist who worked for years as a reporter for the Gainesville Times and is an accomplished lead vocalist for Cab Ride Home, a thrash metal band.
Then there’s this iconic moment: After her victory on Tuesday, when she was asked about Marshall, she responded, “I don’t attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now.” (Shade.)
Danica Roem’s “I don’t attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now.” is one of the all time great political responses.
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) November 8, 2017
She also stated, “We can’t get lost in discrimination. We can’t get lost in B.S. We can’t get lost tearing each other down…When you champion inclusion, when you champion equality, and you focus on the issues that unite us, like building up our infrastructure, taking care of our roads, making sure our teacher pay isn’t the lowest in Northern Virginia … that’s the sort of stuff, those are the issues that you’ve got to focus on as a delegate, that you’ve got to focus on as a candidate. Because that’s what impacts everyone’s life, every single day.”
Roem also acknowledged what her win means for discrimination in the United States. She dedicated it to “every person who’s ever been singled out, who’s ever been stigmatized, who’s ever been the misfit, who’s ever been the kid in the corner, who’s ever needed someone to stand up for them when they didn’t have a voice of their own. This one is for you.”
Robert G. Marshall’s name may be familiar to you for a number of reasons. He’s served on Virginia’s House of Delegates for thirteen terms, and in that time helped to author a “bathroom bill”, which would “restrict access to multi-user restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities on the basis of a definition of sex or gender consistent with sex assigned at birth,” according to National Conference of State Legislatures. Though, notably Marshall’s bathroom bill died in committee.
He also advocated for banning gay people from the Virginia National Guard (because “it’s a distraction…and I’m worried about this guy who’s got eyes on me”). Finally, he was the primary sponsor of Virginia’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It seems to be the textbook example of poetic justice that Marshall would eventually lose to Virginia’s first transgender lawmaker.
Excuse me I need everyone to see this picture of Danica Roem immediately pic.twitter.com/dMmLkXUqJp
— mike (@chunk_widebody) November 8, 2017
Regardless of your political ideology, Roem’s election is a win for all of us. Transphobia is still a major problem in our country, as is evidenced by Marshall’s campaign strategies against Roem. Throughout the entire race, Marshall refused to debate Roem, appear at the same campaign forums as her and refer to her by her desired pronouns. Right before election day, the Virginia Republican Party paid for campaign fliers reading, “Danica Roem, born male, has made a campaign issue out of transitioning to female.”
Obviously it’s disturbing that anyone would treat his opponent with that little respect, but what’s even more disturbing is that Marshall’s treatment of Roem seems to be largely representative of how much of our country mistreats transgender people. Discrimination against transgender people is heartbreakingly common and people who have been discriminated against have a much higher rate of suicide.
Ultimately, the United States is still an unsafe and scary place for transgender people. That’s why Roem’s win is so important—it’s not just a win for Roem per se, but it looks at all of the trans community and says “we see you, and no matter what our political ideology is, we respect you and believe you should be represented in our government.”