2023-11-08 19:55:37
– Trans woman Danica Roem wins Senate seat in conservative Virginia
Of all places, the Democrat is elected to the Senate in the southern state. This is also because she does not get involved in the culture war.
Published: November 8, 2023, 8:55 p.m
Danica Roem is the first trans woman to be elected senator from a southern US state. She had already achieved a first as a trans person in 2017, which brought her national fame and invitations, such as this award ceremony in New York in 2019.
Photo: Cindy Ord (Getty Images / AFP)
Danica Roem felt strange in her boy’s body at an early age. In the fifth grade she already suspected that she was transgender. She was just afraid of coming out. “They would have beaten me up,” she said later in an interview.
Now the entire United States has known that Danica Roem is a trans woman since 2013, when she had her gender medically changed. According to projections, the 39-year-old won a senatorial seat in the state of Virginia on Tuesday. It’s a first in the southern United States. But it’s not Roem’s first record. Back in 2017, the local journalist and singer in a thrash metal band was the first trans person to be elected to the Virginia House of Representatives, or even to a US state parliament.
However, Roem had to endure a disgusting election campaign. She ran for her first political office in 2017 once morest an avowed homophobe, in a David versus Goliath fight. Her opponent, a Republican, had already represented his district on the outskirts of the capital Washington for 13 legislative periods.
Wild drinking songs, professional local politics
He never missed an opportunity to aim below the belt. Roem had to hear that she had changed her gender because her father died by suicide when she was three years old. The grandfather, who was the father figure for her, failed as a male role model. Her opponent refused to engage in any direct debate; he consistently referred to her as a man and used male personal pronouns.
Roem refused to be intimidated. As the singer of her local band Cab Ride Home, she was known for wild parties and drinking songs with titles like “Drunk on Arrival.”
As a politician, however, she acted professionally and replied coolly that she was more interested in how the problem of the constantly congested Route 28 in her constituency might be solved. She also launched a professional fundraising campaign, collecting money from all over the country, especially from the progressive camp and the LGBTQ* community. With success: her campaign coffers were three times larger than those of her opponent, and Roem knocked on almost every door in Prince William County.
The sensation succeeded. 54 percent of eligible voters cast their vote for Roem, making her the first female parliamentarian in a US state to openly live her trans identity. She won re-election twice, highlighting her fight once morest gridlock and health care in her campaigns. She speaks openly regarding her gender and sexuality, but she doesn’t want to make this the focus, although she became interested in politics when conservative President George W. Bush wanted to ban same-sex marriage in the constitution.
Everyday struggle is closer to voters than the culture struggle
Roem entered the latest election campaign with citizen-oriented issues. Her challenger mainly talked regarding trans children in school sports, while she talked regarding Route 28, which – unsurprisingly – is still clogged every day.
The Republicans’ fear campaign didn’t work. Gender issues are quite controversial in the USA, especially when it affects school-age children. Beyond the strident rhetoric in public, many Americans deal with many culture war issues very pragmatically in everyday life. The Republicans were only able to gain limited points in the 2022 midterm elections.
This Tuesday’s elections in Virginia are seen as a mood gauge ahead of next year’s national elections. Recently, the Democrats and President Joe Biden have come under increasing pressure in polls. But in Virginia they were able to defend the majority in the Senate that the Republicans had seized and even take back the House of Representatives. Also thanks to Danica Roem, the first transgender senator in Virginia.
Why Biden and the Democrats are under pressureAll right, America? – The USA podcast from the Tages-Anzeiger
“Are you okay, America?” – The podcast regarding politics and everyday life in the USA
You can watch the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts subscribe to. If you’re using another podcast app, just search for “Are you okay, America?”Fabian Fellmann has been writing regarding political issues for more than 20 years. Since summer 2021, the political scientist has been reporting as a USA correspondent from Washington, DC. Before that, he worked as a Brussels and Bundeshaus correspondent for various newspaper editorial teams. More information@fabian_fellmann
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