A ten-year-old transgender girl once got severely bullied at school; she tried to jump out of a two-storey window. One day, she saw Danica Roem on the news and thought: “How can a transgender do such things, regardless of all the struggles? Well then, if Danica can do that, I can do that too”. Who is Danica Roem, really?
Two days ago, I saw this picture on Twitter which showed Danica kneeling and crying after she received a phone call from former Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden:
The next day, I watched a short documentary from Broadly about her winning a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Watching that documentary, I was in absolute awe at her passion on small yet relevant things for society, such as reducing traffic in a congested highway (Route 28) and facilitating teacher’s payment. Danica is a 33-year-old transgender woman who graduated with a journalism major from St. Bonaventure University in New York. A myriad of young LGBT adults choose to flee their childhood hometown, especially those who used to live in more conservative Southern states. Nonetheless, Danica is a different case: after finishing her studies, she moved back to her hometown in Virginia to be the lead reporter for several local newspapers. In 2017, Danica joined the election for 13th District of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the Democratic party.
She ran against Bob Marshall, an outspoken anti-LGBT Republican representative who had been involved in politics for 25 years. Bob opposed the LGBT community so much to the point that he proposed a “bathroom bill” that banned transgender kids from choosing bathrooms according to their personal preferences. Instead of focusing on his own political campaign, Bob chose to focus on Danica being transgender and even mis-gendered her in interviews, using male pronouns to refer to her.
When facing belittling allegations from Bob Marshall, Danica stated that, “It’s not about you when people are nitpicking about your gender. I have been told for so many times about how deep my voice is, and so on. It tells more about their personalities”. Back in the 5th grade, Danica already knew that she was trans. In 7th grade, she became extremely sure about how she was different; however, she did not have anyone to talk to. She has been scared her whole life, especially when she transitioned. Fast-forward to 2017, Danica now chooses to help insecure queer people, who get hindered by society due to their identity, by joining the state election. By being very real, down-to-earth and confident, Danica received support from former Vice President Joe Biden and Tim Kaine (Hillary Clinton’s running mate for the 2016 U.S Presidential Election). Her winning the election shows how inclusion is the only answer when it comes to marginalized people, such as the LGBTQ individuals and people of color, to help build a stronger community together. She was absolutely all-in to win this state election to prove that discrimination is disqualified.
“To every person who has ever been a misfit, my winning is for you! No matter what you look like, what you worship, who you love -— bring your ideas to the table. We are stronger together”.
People can succeed because of who they are, not for discriminatory people telling them what they are supposed to be. Danica Roem’s winning proves the fact that people should see beyond the gender spectrum of LGBT individuals. See, it’s not always about their queerness! It’s also about their impressive capabilities as a living, breathing human being. People who hate on the LGBT-Q community love to use bible verses as their weapons (“How it’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”), but don’t they realize that God teaches us to love others as we love ourselves? (“Love thy neighbor as thyself” -Galatians 5:14)
