Danica Roem, the first out transgender person to serve in a state legislature, is now focused on training the next generation of LGBTQ+ candidates. She will participate in a groundbreaking Candidate and Campaign Training program hosted by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute in Los Angeles this September. With a specific session for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming candidates, Roem emphasizes the importance of helping others achieve political success. Since her election in 2017, she has actively worked to ensure her trailblazing status doesn’t end with her, fostering a growing legacy of LGBTQ+ representation in government.
"What I've learned is the very, very big importance of making sure that once you're successful as a candidate, you turn around and say, 'What can I do to help you get up here too?'"
Roem was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017 and was reelected twice, then won a seat in the state's Senate in 2023. Her election to the latter gave it a Democratic majority.
"We can do big things," she says.
Being the first out trans state legislator was not the most significant thing for Roem, she says; it was not being the last.
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