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Democratic lawmaker Danica Roem—Virginia and the United State's first openly transgender lawmaker elected to state office—received a transphobic private message on Twitter.
It read:
"No such thing as trans gender. Only delusional people with mental disorders."
Rather than let this get to her, Roem turned the message around on the man, named "Joe," in the best way possible.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/danica-for-delegate\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/OlaKfpv26z— Del. Danica Roem (@Del. Danica Roem) 1623891782
Roem wrote back to Joe:
"Thank you so much for your message—not for the message itself but for your decision to send it to me because I'm going to screenshot our conversation thread here, post it to my Twitter page and use it to raise money for my re-election campaign."
"I would tell you to feel free to contribute too but, really, in so many ways, you already have."
Senior psych major here: for the record, there is no trace of transgender identities listed as disorders in the DSM-5, which is the diagnostic material used by all professionals in psychiatry to diagnose clients with mental disorders— Max (@Max) 1623929013
Donated. Enjoying making a habit of it; you are worth your weight in gold when it comes to excellence in governing and handling trolls, Ms. Danica. \npic.twitter.com/UMGJZE3aDb— NatsRallyCats \ud83d\udc3e\u26be\ufe0f\ud83d\udc3e (@NatsRallyCats \ud83d\udc3e\u26be\ufe0f\ud83d\udc3e) 1623893649
Ugh. It WORKED! Thanks Joe, I guess? Best of luck, Delegate Roem!pic.twitter.com/Bv7yVxvUBv— Mx. Robbie Barnhart \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83e\udd9a (@Mx. Robbie Barnhart \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83e\udd9a) 1623898642
Roem's experience is likely not uncommon.
Short, hateful messages with no point other than to hurt the person receiving them are pretty typical for marginalized people on social media, especially for trans people.
But Roem herself is uncommon.
She became the first out transgender legislator to win a seat in 2017 after a—in her words—"smart, issues-driven campaign focused on improving the lives of her neighbors."
yes, we are in An Election Year here in Virginia, and yes, this is one of the cases where screenshotting a message makes you look good https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— taber \ud83d\udfe3 (@taber \ud83d\udfe3) 1623979166
Regards https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— Jarod \ud83d\udc1d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jarod \ud83d\udc1d\ud83c\udf08) 1623970168
This is literally me, omg, gonna have to donate!https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 Doug Emhoffs at Pride Month \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 Doug Emhoffs at Pride Month \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1623960236
I freaking love her.https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— kristin (@kristin) 1623957381
Roem was constantly misgendered and attacked for her identity during her first campaign.
Her Republican opponent sent out fliers referring to her with the improper pronouns and constituents in her district began receiving anti-trans robocalls.
She ultimately won her election by 8 percentage points.
Update: $4,595 raised from 181 donations since last night!\nLet's get that to $5K from 200 donations.\n(Oh, how I love an ol' fashioned #backfire...)\nhttps://secure.actblue.com/donate/danica-for-delegate\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— Del. Danica Roem (@Del. Danica Roem) 1623952238
Complete class act, worthy of a @GeorgeTakei application, imo.\n\nIf you haven't got your #pride on, yet...help Delegate Roem with a donation or a RT. She's ALL THAT!!https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— #GiveHerTheGavel (@#GiveHerTheGavel) 1623952015
This is the level of clap we should aspire tohttps://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— Andrew Smith (@Andrew Smith) 1623951215
IN LOVE WITH THIS omg <3https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— Erin Corbett (@Erin Corbett) 1623955331
I\u2019d like to report a murder\u2026Also, toss my friend @pwcdanica a little love if you\u2019re into excellent transportation policy, heavy metal musicians, or sharp witted women.https://twitter.com/pwcdanica/status/1405330108395704321\u00a0\u2026— Rep. Kelly Cassidy (@Rep. Kelly Cassidy) 1623950557
In the time of Republican transphobic legislation being pushed by the GOP in every corner of the United States, more and more visibly open trans people are stepping up to make change.
Roem has never let the Joes of the world stop her before and she isn't going to start now.
You can donate to her campaign here.