Transgender Woman Beats ‘Chief Homophobe’ In Historic Election

If you found yourself feeling trodden, defeated, and utterly hopeless over the last few months, I can’t blame you. In between gun massacres blamed on lack of prayer/poor mental health (it’s hard to determine which, apparently) and inflammatory tweets via our commander in chief, room for optimism has been scarce.

But a beautiful thing in Virginia has just happened, and it may just give you a modicum of confidence in the future of our nation; 33-year-old Danica Roem became the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature in American history. And that isn’t even the best part! The best part is, she was able to oust on of the most notoriously anti-LGBT politicians in our country, 73-year-old Bob Marshall, a self-described “chief homophobe” social conservative who introduced Virginia’s anti-trans bathroom bill and has been in power for decades. The irony is delicious.

ICYMI, Marshall was the evil mastermind behind a bill that would require Virginians to use bathrooms based on the gender they were born with. He refused to debate Roem and in campaign ads referred to her solely using male pronouns. He thought his 13 terms could protect him. He thought wrong.

The former journalist gathered support from LGBT groups and other progressive advocates across the U.S., outraising Marshall 3-to-1.

GTFO of here, “chief homophobe.” Go rot the rest of your sad hateful little days in a dark regressive sewer somewhere. The tides are turning! The resistance is strong. We! Will! Replace! You!

Roem’s win is one of fourteen red-to-blue successfully flipped seats in Virginia. Democrats also won key races in New Jersey and several liberals— including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio— won mayoral elections. This isn’t just a big deal because it marks the first instance Democrats were able to make a heady political comeback since Trump’s election, marking a potential end to his nightmare of an administration. It’s a big deal because it demonstrates the tide is finally— FINALLY— turning against the good ol’ boys club, proving that the majority of Americans are good people who do the right thing and are simply unwilling to stand for bigotry and hate.

Needless to say, non-Nazis on Twitter were pleased:

https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/928021718123327488

https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/928133384072699904

https://twitter.com/OhNoSheTwitnt/status/927922583495954432

And here is Danica Roem in action, in case you are curious:

As Roem said, “No matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship or who you love, if you have good public policy ideas, if you’re qualified for office, you have every right to bring your ideas to the table.” How can you argue that?