The first time I ran into Danica Roem in 2019, I literally bumped into her in a mosh pit at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland. The former heavy metal musician, journalist and pioneering lawmaker was taking a quick break from running for her second term in the Virginia House of Delegates to enjoy some Swedish metal.
Her years of tussling with fellow headbangers likely primed and prepared her for her days leading the charge to defend the rights of transgender people and LGBT+ people, as a whole as Republicans seek to restrict them in Virginia’s state legislature, where she is currently serving in her third term and is currently seeking a promotion from delegate to state senator.
