Danica Roem becomes first openly transgender state legislator in the United States

(Image credit: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 8 November 2017

By defeating conservative 13-term incumbent Bob Marshall in Virginia's 13th House of Delegates district, Democrat Danica Roem will become the first openly transgender state lawmaker in U.S. history.

Marshall, who has called himself Virginia's "chief homophobe" and introduced an anti-transgender bathroom bill that never made it out of committee earlier this year, refused to debate Roem and used male pronouns throughout the campaign, The Washington Post reports. In an interview with the Post on Tuesday, Roem said "discrimination is a disqualifier. This is about the people of the 13th district disregarding fear tactics, disregarding phobias ... where we celebrate you because of who you are, not despite it." During the race, her main issue had been easing traffic congestion.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.