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Danica Roem elected to the Va. Senate

Democrats now control both General Assembly chambers

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Virginia state Sen.-elect Danica Roem (D-Manassas) speaks to supporters at the Virginia Portuguese Community Center in Manassas, Va., on Nov. 7, 2023.(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

MANASSAS, Va. — Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Tuesday won her race the state Senate.

The Manassas Democrat defeated Republican Bill Woolf by a 51.5-48.2 margin.

“I’m grateful the people of Virginia’s 30th Senate District elected me to continue representing my lifelong home of western Prince William County and greater Manassas,” said Roem in a statement after she declared victory. “The voters have shown they want a leader who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding kids and protecting our land instead of stigmatizing trans kids or taking away your civil rights.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson is among those who canvassed with Roem and other Democratic candidates on Monday in Manassas.

HRC in a tweet noted Roem will be the second transgender person elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Roem in 2018 became the first trans person seated in a state legislature in the country. Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride took office in 2021.)

“Congrats to pro-equality and HRC-endorsed Senator-elect Danica Roem,” said HRC. “Senator-elect Roem is only the second openly transgender person elected to a state senate in the country. This is an historic step toward building power for the transgender community and LGBTQ+ folks everywhere.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, center, with now state Sen.-elect Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Nov. 6, 2023, in Manassas, Va. (Photo courtesy of HRC)

The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and Equality Virginia’s PAC also congratulated Roem.

“Danica faced an unprecedented deluge of anti-trans hate on the campaign trail, but she was not fazed nor distracted,” said Victory Fund President Annise Parker in a statement. “She made LGBTQ+ history tonight because she put constituents first, speaking to the real issues that impact children and their families in Virginia, from fixing roads to ensuring kids and families have food on the table.”

Roem spoke to supporters at the Virginia Portuguese Community Center in Manassas after she declared victory.

(washington blade video by michael k. lavers)

Democrats regain full control of General Assembly

Democrats on Tuesday regained control of the Virginia House of Delegates, which they lost in 2021 when Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won the governorship. Democrats maintained control of the state Senate.

Abortion and trans rights — including new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students — are among the issues that loomed over Tuesday’s election.

“Today, Virginians made their voices heard at the polls and sent a clear message to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and MAGA Republicans that we will not follow other Southern states who turned back the clock on progress,” said former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn in a statement. “Virginians have voted to reject extreme abortion bans and have once again chosen a vision of a Virginia that is more open, welcoming, and prosperous.”

Robinson also highlighted these issues when she spoke with the Washington Blade on Monday.

“We’ve seen more bills attacking trans youth in the state of Virginia than at any other point in the commonwealth’s history,” she said. “People are clear about what’s at stake right now and really wanting to get politicians in office who are going to put the state back on track.”

Other LGBTQ incumbents, candidates win races

Roem is among the many LGBTQ candidates who won their respective races on Tuesday.

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) defeated Republican Sophia Moshasha in Senate District 39 by a 78.1-21.6 percent margin. State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) won re-election in House District 17.

Ebbin and Sickles are both gay.

“Virginians don’t want the government banning books, and interfering with their personal freedoms — whether it’s their reproductive rights, the right to breathe clean air, the safety of our communities from gun violence or the sanctity of our democracy,” said Ebbin in a statement.

“Despite breaking spending records, Gov. Youngkin was just served the biggest political rejection by voters of any Virginia governor in over three decades,” he further stressed. “Virginians sent Youngkin a message loud and clear tonight. In spite of his unprecedented campaign spending — and attempts to deny the right to vote to thousands in the run up to this election — his campaign to divide Virginia failed.”

State Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-Virginia Beach), who is bisexual, defeated Republican Mike Karslake in House District 96 by a 54.9-41.5 percent margin. Pansexual state Del. Marcia “Cia” Price (D-Newport News) won re-election in House District 85.

Former state Del. Joshua Cole, who is bisexual, defeated Republican Lee Peters in House District 65 by a 52.6-47.1 percent margin.

Democrat Rozia Henson won in House District 19. Democratic Fairfax County School Board member Laura Jane Cohen defeated Republican Marcus Evans in House District 15 by a 61.2-38.6 percent margin, while Democrat Adele McClure won in House District 2.

Henson, Cohen and McClure are gay, bisexual and queer respectively.

State Del. Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) defeated Zach Coltrain, a gay Gen Zer, in House District 98.

Frisch re-elected to Fairfax County School Board

Fairfax County School Board Vice Chair Karl Frisch won re-election. Robyn Lady, who is a lesbian, and Kyle McDaniel, who is a bisexual, won their respective campaigns for the school board.

“Tonight’s results show people are fed up with the political attacks targeting our world-class public schools and teachers, and putting our students in danger,” said Frisch. “Fairfax County residents have made it clear: They want safe and inclusive schools for every student, including those who identify as LGBTQ+.”

Michael Pruitt on Tuesday became the first bisexual man elected to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Allison Spillman, whose child is trans, won a seat on the Albemarle County School Board.

Big Stone Gap Town Councilman Tyler Hughes, who is gay, won re-election. Blacksburg Town Councilman Michael Sutphin, who is also gay, won his race.

Christopher Kane contributed to this story.

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Virginia

New Virginia license plate celebrates LGBTQ diversity

450 applications needed for it to become official option

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(Image courtesy of Diversity Richmond)

Diversity Richmond has designed a license plate that allows Virginia drivers to celebrate and raise the visibility of LGBTQ diversity. The Virginia-based LGBTQ nonprofit needs 450 applications by January for the plate to become an official state option. 

The license plate design features a group of hands stacked on top of each other in the far left corner, and the Progress Pride flag runs horizontally across the bottom of the plate. The words “Celebrate Diversity” are prominently displayed over the flag. 

Rev. Dr. Lacette Cross, executive director of Diversity Richmond, said the design celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community.

“[The design] reflects the diversity of the intersecting identities of our community,” she said.  

Applications are available on Diversity Richmond’s website, and the license plate costs $25. Once completed, applicants should email the form to Diversity Richmond, not to the Virginia DMV, as Diversity Richmond will submit both the applications and fees to the DMV on their behalf.

If the organization gathers 450 applications and payments by the start of the 2025 Virginia General Assembly session in January, Del. Betsy B. Carr (D-Richmond) will sponsor the plate through the approval process to make it an official option. 

The initiative also serves as a fundraiser for Diversity Richmond, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the license plate registration fees. 

“The ultimate benefit,” Cross said, “is the continual visibility of LGBTQ persons, our allies, and our supporters that are driving around the Commonwealth of Virginia, spreading the message of acceptance and of allyship.”

She described Diversity Richmond as the hub of the LGBTQ community in Greater Richmond, noting the organization’s “really dynamic” work within the community. The nonprofit runs the popular thrift store Diversity Thrift, hosts the annual Virginia Pridefest in September, and exhibits the work of LGBTQ artists in its art gallery.

Diversity Richmond is planning to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a public party at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on Wednesday, Nov. 13. 

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Virginia

LGBTQ law student group invites community to ‘Pride On The Plaza’

Event to be held outside George Mason law school in Arlington

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The LGBTQ law student group OutLaw plans to hold its Pride on the Plaza event here at George Mason University's Mason Square Plaza in Arlington, Va. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

The LGBTQ student group called OutLaw at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Va., is inviting LGBTQ students at other law schools across the D.C. metropolitan area and the LGBTQ community and its allies to an Oct. 25 event on the school’s campus called Pride on the Plaza.

A statement released by OutLaw says the event will be held from 6-10 p.m. on Mason Square Plaza, which serves as a campus-like plaza in front of the law school building at 3301 Fairfax Dr. in Arlington.

“Coinciding with LGBT Pride Month, Pride on the Plaza is a gathering of the D.C. Metro area’s LGBTQIA+ law student organizations and the community at large,” the statement says. “It’s more than just a party; it’s a chance to stand together, to celebrate who we are, and to show our pride.”

The statement says organizers have invited lawyers and legal professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students at the university to participate in the event. It says there will be food and beverages and live entertainment, including a “first ever” drag show at the Scalia Law School.

Mackenzie Freilich, the OutLaw president, said the event will also include a raffle for items such as concert tickets and autographed sports memorabilia, a free sexual health screening clinic, and information stations provided by several LGBTQ organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign.

According to the group’s statement, the event will be limited to people 18 years of age and older and there will be an admission fee of $8 to help support the cost of putting on the event and the work of OutLaw. It says tickets can be purchased online in advance of the event or at the event itself

“We are rewriting the narrative from hateful rhetoric to impactful, long-lasting change for good,” Freilich told the Washington Blade. “We must not let hate win, we must rise up and unite the community, not divide.”

Morgan Menzies, another student at the Scalia Law School who is organizing the Pride on the Plaza event, said Freilich was referring to the anti-LGBTQ laws that several states have passed recently or are considering passing. 

She said organizers are also concerned about the anti-LGBTQ proposals in a document called Project 2025 that conservative advocates want Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to put in place if elected president.

Menzies said another concern organizers of the event have is the statement made by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the time the high court overturned Roe v. Wade. She noted that Thomas said the court should reconsider its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. 

The Scalia Law School is named after another conservative former Supreme Court justice, the late Antonin Scalia, who served on the court from 1986 to the time of his death in 2016.

Menzies said school officials approved the LGBTQ group’s plans to hold the event on the school’s campus plaza and some of the school’s law professors have expressed support for the event.

“We wanted to host this event to create visibility on our campus because we are a minority at our school and also provide a networking opportunity with the other progressive law students in the region so that we can strengthen those bonds,” Menzies told the Blade.

Additional information and ticket availability for Pride on the Plaza can be accessed here.

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Alexandria City Council approves ‘LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution’

Measure drafted by advocacy group, introduced by gay Council member

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Alexandria City Hall (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Alexandria, Va., City Council on Sept. 24 voted unanimously to approve an “LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution” that, among other things, calls on the city attorney and city manager to take administrative or legal action to oppose anti-LGBTQ policies or laws proposed or enacted on the national, state, or local levels.

The resolution was introduced by gay Council member Kirk McPike and drafted by an organization called the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Campaign.

“We reaffirm our commitment to equal protection and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex, including our commitment to ensuring LGBTQ+ individuals are free from discrimination, whether by individuals, businesses, or government actors,” the resolution states.

“We call upon the other elected leaders of Alexandria to use the legislative and administrative authority available to them to take such actions as may be necessary to protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination on the basis of sex due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and to enshrine such protections into law,” the resolution continues.

It concludes by stating, “We ask the City Attorney to actively seek participation, as a plaintiff or amicus curiae, in ongoing or future litigation to protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals.”

In 2020 the Virginia General Assembly passed and then Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The city of Alexandria and other Virginia jurisdictions, including Arlington, have passed similar LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws.

Lyra McMillan, a spokesperson for the Metro D.C. DSA Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Campaign, said the LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution is intended to strengthen and protect the state’s and Alexandria’s LGBTQ rights laws by defending them against attempts to overturn or weaken them from ongoing efforts by anti-LGBTQ lawmakers in Congress and other states.

McMillan points to efforts by Virginia’s current governor, Glenn Youngkin (R), to curtail LGBTQ rights, especially trans rights, in the state’s public schools.

“In the face of this sort of backlash, places like Alexandria need to stand up and push back,” McPike told ALX Now, an online Alexandria news publication.

The only visible opposition to the resolution came from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, which released a statement calling on the community to ask the Council not to pass it.

“This resolution would assert the authority of the City Manager to independently interpret the U.S. Constitution, direct city officials to use public funds to engage in future federal litigation, and encourage transgender surgical interventions, including for minors,” the statement says

McMillan said the resolution had widespread support in the community.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done together with the City Council to help protect and reassure our LGBTQ+ comrades of their safety, respect, and liberty when living, visiting, and traveling through the city,” she said in a statement. 

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