State Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Wednesday became the first transgender person seated in the Virginia Senate.

The Manassas Democrat last November defeated Republican Bill Woolf to represent the 30th Senate District. Roem in 2018 became the first trans person seated in a state legislature in the country when she assumed her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“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,” said Roem after she defeated Woolf.

Democrats last November regained control of the House of Delegates. They have a 21-19 majority in the state Senate. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will remain in office until his term ends in 2025.

State Dels. Rozia Henson (D-Prince William County), Laura Jane Cohen (D-Fairfax County) and Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) took office on Wednesday. They are gay, bisexual and queer respectively. State Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg), a bisexual man who was in the House of Delegates from 2020-2022, returned to Richmond on Wednesday. 

House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) is the first Black House of Delegates speaker.

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County), who are both gay, won re-election last November. State Dels. Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-Virginia Beach) and Marcia “Cia” Price (D-Newport News), who are bisexual and pansexual respectively, returned to the House of Delegates.

Ebbin and Sickles have introduced resolutions in their respective chambers that seek to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Ebbin and Henzon have also sponsored bills that would reaffirm marriage equality in Virginia.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014.

The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.

The state Senate last year approved Ebbin’s resolution that sought to repeal the marriage amendment. Senators in 2023 also passed the gay Alexandria Democrat’s marriage equality affirmation bill.

A House of Delegates subcommittee last year tabled the resolution. State delegates also did not consider the marriage equality affirmation bill before the 2023 legislative session ended.

“Virginians want a chance to remove the noxious marriage language that was added to our constitution in 2006,” said Sickles in a press release. 

The marriage equality resolutions and bills are among Equality Virginia’s 2024 legislative priorities.

Roem on Tuesday noted to the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that Republican lawmakers have once again introduced anti-LGBTQ bills. These include a measure to ban trans athletes from school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

“Those bills died last year,” said Roem. “The patrons of those bills lost their election.”

“They learned nothing from the election,” she added.

Md. General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session begins

The Maryland General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session also began on Wednesday.

FreeState Justice in a press release notes the organization this year is “working with our partners in government and advocates across the state to remove statutes that stigmatize and criminalize HIV, to codify protections for gender affirming care and to respond to a recent state Supreme Court decision that weakened our anti-discrimination protections.”

“We will fight against harmful rhetoric and mean-spirited bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth and students,” said FreeState Justice. “We are collaborating with advocates and government officials to secure real oversight and other reforms for our criminal justice system. We’re working to make vital documents more trans-inclusive, advocating for healthcare access and affordability, urging state leaders to push their federal counterparts to publish the Equal Rights Amendment, and seeking necessary updates to pay practices for the benefit of workers.”

State Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) has reintroduced a bill that would create a Commission on History, Culture and Civics in Education. The Montgomery County Democrat on Wednesday told the Blade the commissioners would represent African American, Latino, LGBTQ, Indigenous, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

“Their responsibility is to essentially look at our school curriculum, figure out how it can be more inclusive and teaching of the various histories of all these groups,” he said. 

State Del. Ashanti Martínez (D-Prince George’s County) has introduced a bill that would explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in insurance and credit lending in Maryland.

“We have federal protections that are already in place, but it’s always good to have state level protections, especially with what potentially can happen on the national level with the Trump presidency,” Martínez told the Blade on Wednesday. “We want to make sure that our communities are protected here in Maryland, no matter who’s in the White House.”

This year’s legislative session began weeks after Meghan Lewis, a trans woman, was killed outside her Bel Air home. FreeState Justice in its press release notes it supports “efforts to keep our communities safe by reducing gun violence, stepping up enforcement against hate crimes, and expanding victims’ access to emergency shelter and other resources.”

“The General Assembly has an excellent opportunity to continue its work uplifting Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community during this legislative session,” said Phillip Westry, the group’s executive director.