Danica Roem, First Trans State Representative, Dedicates Historic Victory to All the “Misfits”

“To every person who’s ever been singled out, who’s ever been stigmatized…This one’s for you.”

Last night, Danica Roem made history by becoming the first transgender candidate to be elected to a US state legislature, defeating Republican Bob Marshall, who had held the statehouse seat for 26 years and has a record of pushing some of the most anti-LGBT pieces of legislation in the country. 

In a rousing victory speech Tuesday evening, Roem dedicated her victory to the stigmatized and the voiceless.

“No matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, who you love, how you identify—and yeah, how you rock—that if you have good public policy ideas and you’re well qualified for office, bring those ideas to the table because this is your America too,” she told a room full of supporters.

For more on the newest member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, head to our recent interview with Roem here.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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