Virginia

Transgender State Legislator

b. September 30, 1984

“What I hope people across the country are able to see in [our victories] is that transgender people can be really good at doing their jobs in elected office; we can make really good legislators.”

Danica Roem is a journalist and the first openly transgender person in the United States to win a seat in a state legislature. On November 7, 2017, she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. 

Roem was born male and raised in Manassas, Virginia. Her father committed suicide when she was 3, and her maternal grandfather, Anthony Oliveto, helped raise her. Oliveto instilled in Roem a passion for reading newspapers, which influenced her interest in journalism. 

In 2006 Roem graduated with a degree in journalism from St. Bonaventure University in New York. Her college professors described her as a student who worked for those whose voices were ignored. Her interest in politics was sparked initially in 2004 when President George W. Bush proposed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. 

Roem secured her first job after college at the Gainesville Times in Virginia. She worked for the paper for nine years as a lead reporter and also wrote for the Prince William Times in Manassas, Virginia. The Virginia Press Association honored her with seven awards. 

In 2012, 28-year-old Roem began the transition to female—from Dan to Danica. Three years later, she became a news editor at the Montgomery County Sentinel in Rockville, Maryland. She left the paper in 2016 to pursue a career in politics.

Rip Sullivan, state delegate and recruiting chair of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, reached out to Roem to run for state delegate. She accepted the challenge and successfully defeated Republican incumbent Bob Marshall, who had represented the district for 13 years. As the state’s self-described “chief homophobe,” Marshall sponsored Virginia's “bathroom bill,” designed to restrict the use of public restrooms by transgender people, along with a bill to end same-sex marriage. 

Progressives endorsed Roem, including former Vice President Joe Biden and groups such as the Victory Fund, EMILY’s List, the Human Rights Campaign and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Roem’s campaign raised over $500,000—three times more than her opponent. She received more than a thousand donations under $100, the second highest number of any Virginia delegate candidate. 

Roem defeated Marshall by approximately eight percentage points. Her victory was hailed nationally as a milestone for transgender rights. In January 2018 she and other newly elected female politicians appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.

Teen Transgender Activist 

b. May 4, 1999

“I’m just Gavin. I have frustrations, stress, hopes, and dreams like millions of other young people in America. And like everyone else, sometimes I have to use the restroom. It’s not political. It’s just life.”  

Gavin Grimm was thrust into the national spotlight in 2014 as a transgender high school student, when he sued for the right to use the boys’ restroom in his Virginia public high school.

Born female, Grimm struggled with his sexual identity from an early age. At 15, he was diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria and began medical treatment. With his high school’s permission, he began using the boys’ restroom in his sophomore year. He told The Washington Post, “It just seemed like the natural progression of things.” 

Grimm used the boys’ restroom without issue for nearly two months. Then, following transphobic complaints from parents and residents, the high school and the Gloucester County School Board voted to ban Grimm from using the bathroom matching his gender identity. 

At a subsequent school board meeting, Grimm endured insults, threats and inflammatory rhetoric. The board voted to segregate him by relegating his bathroom use to the nurse’s restroom or to a makeshift restroom meant only for him.

After learning of Grimm’s plight, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf, contending that the school board’s restriction of his bathroom use was unconstitutional. They argued that the school’s policy violated Title IX laws prohibiting sex discrimination under the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972.

The lower courts dismissed the case. In 2016 the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the lower courts’ decision in Grimm’s favor. The Gloucester County School Board then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The request was rejected. 

Throughout the appeals and during his graduation from Gloucester High School in June 2017, Grimm remained barred from the boys’ restroom. In 2018 the U.S. District Court declared that the school violated the rights of transgender students by excluding them from the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.

Grimm has received numerous awards. In 2017 TIME magazine honored him on its list of “100 Most Influential People.” Major news outlets, including as The New York Times and The Washington Post, have reported his story.

Grimm is working toward his college degree and advocates for transgender equality.

Feminist Singer-Songwriter

b. 1946

“She was a big tough woman, the first to come along that showed me being female meant you still could be strong” – Lyrics from “Ode to Gym Teacher.” 

Meg Christian is an American feminist folk singer-songwriter and a founding member of Olivia Records. She became a leader of the women’s music movement, focusing on feminist causes and lesbian rights. 

Christian was raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a double degree in English and music. She moved to Washington, D.C., where she performed in nightclubs and began to shift her musical focus to social justice and feminist themes. Christian became one of the first singers to incorporate lyrics about lesbianism and feminism into her music.  

Christian came out as a lesbian in the 1970s. At that time, such an acknowledgement confined her to the fringes of the music industry. It relegated her music to independent labels and limited her media exposure. She turned this into an asset, becoming a leader in the women’s music movement. She embraced women’s separatism, and during periods of the ’70s, performed exclusively at women-only venues. 

In 1973 Christian and other feminist and lesbian activists founded Olivia Records. Christian recorded the label’s first album and toured extensively throughout the country, particularly at music festivals.

Olivia Records successfully recorded and marketed women-produced music, which often contained feminist lyrics or themes. To celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary, Christian performed at Carnegie Hall with pioneering lesbian singer-songwriter Cris Williamson. 

Christian began a two-decades-long break from performing in the mid 1980s. She studied and embraced Eastern mysticism and focused on her spirituality.

In 1988 Olivia Records founded Olivia, a lesbian cruise ship company. Christian has performed frequently on the cruise line. 

Christian has recorded nine major albums, most of which were produced and distributed by Olivia Records. In 2009 Equality Virginia honored Christian as one of its “Outstanding Virginians.” She continues her music and LGBT activism.

Author

b. December 7, 1873

d. April 24, 1947

“The end is nothing, the road is all.” 

Willa Cather was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and one of the most prominent American writers of the early 20th century. She is best known for her novels “O Pioneers!” and “My Antonia.” 

Born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia, Cather was the oldest of seven children. At age 10, she and her extended family moved to Red Cloud, Nebraska. During adolescence, Cather was known for her masculine style of dress and referred to herself as “Willie.” She grew up listening to the stories of immigrants and was fascinated by the people and the nature of prairie life. This experience would inspire much of her novel, “My Antonia,” published in 1918. 

Following high school, Cather attended the University of Nebraska with aspirations of becoming a doctor. After one of her essays was published in the Lincoln Journal, Cather decided to pursue writing. Having earned her degree, she relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She worked for newspapers and magazines, and began publishing her poetry and short stories.

Her work caught the attention of famed editor S. S. McClure, who hired her for McClure’s magazine. She moved to New York and became acquainted with many prominent writers. By 1908, Cather was one of the most influential editors in the country. Her first of 12 novels, “Alexander’s Bridge,” was published in 1912. By the 1920s, Cather was considered one of the leading American novelists. 

In 1922, Cather received a Pulitzer Prize for her novel “One of Ours.” She received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan, Columbia, and Yale, and became the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Princeton. 

From 1908 until Cather’s death in 1947, she lived with Edith Lewis, a prominent New York editor. In her later years, Cather continued writing short stories, novels and nonfiction essays. She has been hailed as one of the great writers, especially for her depictions of rural American life. 

Minister/Activist

b. July 26, 1940

"I'm perfectly happy going on TV now and saying I'm a gay man. I'm happy and proud to say that."

Mel White is an ordained minister who left his career as an adviser to prominent Christian evangelists when he came out during the mid 1990’s. White has dedicated his life to gaining acceptance for GLBT Christians.

In 1962, White graduated from Warner Pacific College. He received a master's degree in communications from the University of Portland and a Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he was also a professor.

Early in his career, White served as a speechwriter for evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. He married a woman with whom he had one son. When he realized he was attracted to men, he tried to “cure” his homosexuality with therapy and exorcism.  Acknowledging that nothing could alter his sexual orientation, White attempted suicide.

White ultimately accepted his sexuality and amicably divorced his wife. In 1993, he publicly acknowledged that he was gay when he was named dean of the Dallas Cathedral of Hope of the Universal Fellowship at Metropolitan Community Churches. Two years later, he published “Stranger at the Gate,” a book that chronicles his struggles as a gay Christian.

In the early 1990’s, White shifted his focus to GLBT advocacy, both within and outside of the church. In 1996, White led a two-week fast on the steps of Congress as the Senate considered and ultimately passed the Defense of Marriage Act. He moved the fast to the White House, where he was arrested. "How can we stand by in silent acceptance while the president and the Congress sacrifice lesbian and gay Americans for some ‘greater political good’?” he asked.

In 1998, White and his partner of more than 25 years, Gary Nixon, founded Soulforce, an organization whose mission is to "seek freedom from religious and political oppression" for GLBT people. Its name comes from "satyagraha," a term meaning "soul force" used by Gandhi in to describe his civil rights struggle.

White is the author of nearly 20 books, including "Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the Christian Right" (2009). His story is featured in "Friends of God" (2007), a documentary film about evangelical Christians.

In 2008, White and Nixon were legally married in California. In 2009, White and his son, Mike, were a team on the 14th season of "The Amazing Race."

Author

b. November 28, 1944

“Don't ask to live in tranquil times. Literature doesn't grow there.”

An author and screenwriter, Rita Mae Brown is best known for her semi-autobiographical lesbian-themed novel, “Rubyfruit Jungle.” She is a groundbreaking activist for lesbian and civil rights.

An only child, Brown was adopted and raised in York, Pennsylvania. At age 11, her family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Brown’s interest in political activism began with the black civil rights movement. In 1964, after losing her scholarship at the University of Florida due to her involvement in a rally, Brown was forced to drop out of school. She hitchhiked to New York where she lived in an abandoned car before enrolling at New York University (NYU).

At NYU, Brown cofounded the Student Homophile League. In 1968, she joined the National Organization of Women (NOW). She worked there until a schism over whether or not to support lesbian issues caused her to resign. She says she was “kicked out” for raising the gay issue.

Betty Friedan is largely blamed for Brown’s expulsion from NOW. Years later, Friedan publicly apologized and admitted her actions were wrong.

After severing ties with NOW, Brown joined the Redstockings, a liberal feminist group. She helped form the lesbian feminist  newspaper Furies Collective. Thereafter, she earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank in Washington, D.C.

Brown’s coming-of-age lesbian novel, “Rubyfruit Jungle,” sold over 70,000 copies and made her a champion of lesbian rights. The book’s success encouraged her to author other lesbian novels.

In addition to more than 50 books, Brown has written numerous television screenplays. She received Emmy nominations for the variety show “I Love Liberty” and the miniseries “The Long Hot Summer.”

Brown lives on a farm outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. She is a Master of Fox Hounds and advocates for animal rescue.