Making History

As the first openly transgender woman elected to a state legislature, Virginia Delegate DANICA ROEM blazed a campaign trail for the LGBTQ community. Here, she talks about what it’s like to be a “first”

- Shalayne Pulia

What got you interested in politics?

I went to college when George W. Bush called for a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality in 2004. I wanted to understand how government functioned to figure out why something like that would come up—and to learn what I could do about it. From my junior year in college through when I was a reporter for the Gainesville Times in 2006 and The Hotline in 2009 covering federal and state politics in Washington, D.C., and on, I dedicated hours every day to reading about politics.

How did reporting prepare you for serving on the state legislature?

I developed a reputation. If you were coming to one of my interviews, you’d better know your shit, especially on transportation policy. And when Delegate Rip Sullivan recruited me to run in 2016, I made fixing Route 28 my champion issue. No child should be the last one to get picked up from school, like I was as a kid, because their parents are stuck in traffic until 7 o’clock. Even through the Democratic primary, when talking about red-meat issues, I said, “Well, Democrats get stuck in traffic too. Transgender people get caught in traffic too.” LGBTQ people don’t just get to jump on the back of a unicorn and fly over traffic. We get stuck in it just like anyone else.

How has your gender evolved since childhood?