Times are changing. Society is growing more and more accepting of marginalized populations, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The first openly transgender state legislator in America, Danica Roem, gave a firsthand example of how our modern world has developed at the moderated discussion she was featured in at the Howard Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium on Friday evening.
The lecture was held in conjunction with a UT curated art show entitled “Images of Intersectionality,” which took place on Friday evening at Central Collective. Susan Bryant, a coordinator in the College of Social Work, moderated the event and introduced Roem.
Bryant began the discussion by discussing what intersectionality means. She explained that people are comprised of many identities based off of where they’re from, their culture and many other elements, and intersectionality observes the way in which discrimination towards a certain identity interacts with discrimination towards another identity.
“As we’re exploring intersectionality, we look at the intersection of those identities and how multiple forms of discrimination combine, overlap, and they magnify the impact of that discrimination within marginalized groups of people,” Bryant said.
Danica Roem defeated a 26-year incumbent to win her place in the Virginia House of Delegates for the 13th district, and in 2018, she became the first openly transgender person in any U.S. state legislation. Throughout her campaign, Bryant did not accept any donations from for-profit organizations or their lobbyists. Instead, she knocked on thousands of doors in Virginia’s 13th district to speak directly to her future constituents and gain the support and financial backing of those who believed in her and wanted to see her win.
Bryant explained why Roem’s historic triumph is so important to intersectionality in politics.
“We’re honored to have her with us today because what she did has set a precedent—the way she did what she did has set a precedent for other marginalized populations for entering the political arena,” Bryant said.
Bryant then began the discussion with Roem by asking her to share her story of self-discovery and how she eventually gained the courage to become a politician.
Roem did not come out as transgender until she was 30, although she knew she was female from the time she was 10 years old. As a child, she attended Catholic school, and she feared that if she came out, she would be assaulted or teased, but despite refraining from coming out as an adolescent, Danica was still bullied; peers noticed her feminine qualities and ruthlessly made fun of her.
The way in which the media portrayed transgender people did not appease Roem’s feelings of hesitation towards sharing her identity, she explained.
“You look at mid-90s media portrayal of trans people. It’s not us as sympathetic characters here, or human beings as people who have the same right to dignity and respect as everyone else and should have the same right to live our lives because of who we are as anyone else,” Roem said. “We were instead treated as a curiosity.”
The perception of modern society towards transgender people is quite different than that of the 90s. Many more people live as openly transgender nowadays; when Roem asked the crowd to raise their hands if they did not know any transgender people prior to the event, only one audience member lifted a hand.
But when Roem was growing up, times were different, and the fear of outside perception kept her from living her true life for decades. A heavy metal fanatic, Roem herself played in heavy metal bands for over a decade and was deeply involved in the metal scene. At this period in her life, which was filled with heavy partying and drinking, Roem, although just a social drinker and never an alcoholic, began to use alcohol as a coping mechanism.
“For me, [alcohol] was a social crutch because it made it acceptable to have a moment that I could share with other people, and what was really funny was that the more I drank, the more I was letting my guard down, and I would start getting super flamboyant,” Roem said.
After decades of coping with serious gender dysphoria, Roem could no longer bear to live a life that was not true to herself. She sought the aid of a psychologist, who specialized in the treatment of transgender people, and began her transition.
Roem explained the desperate feeling of suffering through gender dysphoria.
“I’ve always described gender dysphoria as having a hand around your throat that slowly closes over time,” Roem said.
Nowadays, years after beginning her transition, Roem is serving as an advocate for so many other marginalized groups, including other transgender Americans. However, throughout the discussion, Roem emphasized that she is only able to be a light for others because she lives as her true self.
She advised the audience that if they want to serve as leaders and examples for those who are struggling, the only way to do so is to be wholly and honestly oneself.
“If I’m not trying to be open and discuss what it means to be an adult with gender dysphoria, or to have been an adolescent experiencing it and just not being treated with it, then how is someone who’s younger or someone who has a similar sense of self supposed to know where to go?” Roem said.
Roem explained that she is in the political position she’s in not despite of who she is, but because of who she is, and that everyone else deserves to be recognized because of who they truly are as well.
“It shouldn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, if you do, or who you love,” Roem said. “You should be welcomed, celebrated, respected and protected because of who you are, not despite it, and not for discriminatory politicians and other people telling you who you’re supposed to be.”
