Post submitted by Stephen Peters,  former Senior National Press Secretary and Spokesperson

HRC announced the Public Policy Committee of HRC’s Board of Directors has voted to endorse longtime local reporter Danica Roem in her bid to represent Virginia’s District 13. Challenging anti-LGBTQ Delegate Bob Marshall in the November 2017 election, if elected, Roem would make history as the first out transgender person seated in a state legislature, according to the Washington Blade.

"Danica Roem is breaking down barriers while building bridges for her bid for the Virginia House of Delegates," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "By electing Danica Roem, voters will send a tireless advocate for fairness, equality, and Virginia values to represent them in Richmond. We are proud to endorse Danica Roem and are committed to helping her make history by moving the commonwealth forward."

"I'm honored to earn the support of an organization dedicated to building people up instead of tearing each other down," said Danica Roem. "As I'm focused on improving our core quality-of-life issues in the 13th District — traffic, jobs and schools — I'm working to make Virginia a more inclusive commonwealth, one where we value our residents for who they are, not for what other people tell them they're supposed to be."

Roem is committed to making Virginia a more inclusive commonwealth for all, no matter where they come from, what they look like, how they worship, or whom they love. Roem would fight to pass non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, improve affordable access to health care, update the Virginia Human Rights Act to include gender identity and sexual orientation, and remove outdated, unconstitutional language on marriage equality that still exists in the Virginia code.

As the first out transgender nominee for public office in Virginia, Roem is working to unseat Delegate Bob Marshall, who has a vicious, anti-LGBTQ record. Among a host of anti-equality positions, Delegate Marshall authored Virginia’s anti-marriage equality amendment, praised North Carolina’s harmful and deeply discriminatory HB2 targeting transgender people, and even opposed allowing gay troops to serve in the Virginia National Guard.

In Virginia, HRC has also endorsed Dr. Ralph Northam for governor and Attorney General Mark Herring in his bid for re-election. With an estimated 185,366 eligible LGBTQ voters and hundreds of thousands more allied voters in the commonwealth, HRC’s get-out-the-vote effort for the pro-equality candidates could make all the difference.

HRC recently announced a bold, proactive grassroots expansion with the launch of HRC Rising — a campaign to accelerate progress in states from coast-to-coast, resist the politics of hate, fight anti-LGBTQ legislation, and fuel pro-equality candidates and initiatives. The expansion is the biggest strategic investment in the organization’s 37-year history.