METAL VOCALIST DANICA ROEM BECOMES VIRGINIA'S FIRST TRANSGENDER LEGISLATOR
13th November 2017



danica roem

Danica Roem, the longtime lead singer of Heavy Metal band Cab Ride Home, last week became the first openly transgender person elected to a United States statehouse seat.

Roem, a Democrat and former journalist for the Montgomery County Sentinel and a lifelong resident of Manassas, Virgina, defeated Republican Bob Marshall, who is known best for his socially conservative views including his vehement opposition to LGBT rights.

Marshall, 73-years-old and a thirteen term incumbent who refers to himself as "Virginia's chief homophobe", reportedly refused to debate Roem and referred to her with male pronouns.

Roem raised nearly $500,000 in donations for the campaign from all over the country, much of it coming from national LGBT groups and other progressive organizations. This figure was over three times that of Marshall.

Cab Ride Home released their debut album, 'Crash The Gate', earlier this year.



Danica told Noisey in June:

"Just because I sing in a Heavy Metal band while spinning my head in circles and getting paid to do it, why can't I run for government? Why would I have to change who I am in order to run for government? I've already had to go through transformative change."

Danica was three-years-old when her father, John Paul Roem, took his own life. She began her physical gender transition in 2012 and three years later, she legally changed her first name from Dan to Danica.