Inside Danica Roem’s historic victory (VIDEO)

Danica Roem made history Nov. 7, becoming the first transgender person to be elected and seated to a state legislature. Diana Tourjee, Broadly’s (the women’s site at VICE) beat reporter covering issues facing the trans community, spent the final 48 hours of Roem’s campaign with exclusive access to the candidate, and the resulting documentary is an immersive, emotional…

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Danica Roem makes history as VA’s first out transgender public official

Danica Roem made history last night becoming Virginia’s first out transgender public official and the nation’s only out transgender state representative. Roem unseated Bob Marshall, a 26-year member of the state’s House of Delegates, in the Virginia District 13 election. Marshall, who described himself as the state’s “chief homophobe,” never debated Roem and referred to…

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Virginia legislator says trans opponent defies ‘Laws of Nature’

Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, who is up for re-election next week, told Religious Right radio host Sandy Rios that he would not refer to his opponent, who is a transgender woman, by using her correct pronouns because he “never flunked biology” and understands the “laws of nature,” writes Jared Holt on Right Wing Watch. Marshall…

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GLAAD calls out Ed Gillespie’s anti-LGBTQ record in race for Virginia governor

NEW YORK – As the the race for the governor’s mansion in Virginia goes down to the wire, GLAAD today called out Republican candidate Ed Gillespie’s anti-LGBTQ record leading into next Tuesday’s election. GLAAD states that Gillespie’s actions during the 2017 gubernatorial race so far have proven that he is no “moderate” as he was…

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HRC endorses Justin Fairfax for lieutenant governor of Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced it has endorsed Democratic candidate Justin Fairfax for lieutenant governor of Virginia. With an estimated 185,366 LGBTQ eligible voters and hundreds of thousands more allied voters in the commonwealth, HRC has also endorsed Ralph Northam for governor and Mark Herring for attorney general. “Justin Fairfax is the…

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LGBT advocacy groups condemn violence in Charlottesville

Today, President Donald Trump finally “condemned” the violence coming from the white nationalist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend.  GLAAD responded with a tweet (below) adding in an email ” … it was about three days too late, and it took a PR crisis and universal backlash for the president to even address this issue.”…

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LGBTQ advocates convene in Alexandria to build power of movement

Leaders of state-based equality organizations—from Equality California to Equality Maine—and key national partners, will convene at Equality Federation’s 20th annual Leadership Conference in Alexandria, Virginia July 26-29. Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of Equality Federation, said this year’s conference is especially consequential: “As our movement resists an extraordinarily hostile Administration and continued attacks on our freedoms…

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Trans candidate Danica Roem wins historic primary in Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tuesday, Danica Roem beat three Democratic primary challengers to become the first out transgender candidate to win a state legislative primary in Virginia, and taking her one-step closer to becoming the only out trans state legislator in the entire nation. As the Democratic party representative in the District 13 Virginia House of…

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Virginia governor vetoes anti-LGBTQ ‘License to Discriminate’ bills

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has  vetoed Senate Bill (SB 1324) and House Bill (HB) 2025 — discriminatory legislation seeking to give taxpayer-funded agencies and service providers a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of religion. SB 1324 and HB 2025 sought to allow taxpayer-funded organizations, like homeless shelters and adoption agencies, a…

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Virginia legislature sends anti-LGBTQ ‘License to Discriminate’ bill to governor

RICHMOND, Va. — Tuesday, the Virginia House of Representatives voted 54 to 38 to pass House Bill (HB) 2025 —  legislation seeking to give taxpayer-funded agencies and service providers a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of religion. The dangerous anti-LGBTQ proposal now heads to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who has promised to veto the…

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