- Trans Sen. Danica Roem stormed out of the Virginia Senate on Monday after being called “sir” by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears
- The comment caused the legislature to go into recess twice, with footage since emerging of the exchange between the two
- Roem was the first transgender member of the House of Representatives when she was first elected in 2017, before being elected senator last year
A transgender senator from Virginia stormed out of the chamber and a rising lieutenant governor called her “sir.”
Democrat Danica A. Roem, 39, of Virginia, was seen marching out of the chamber moments after being mishandled by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, 59.
The comment caused the legislature to go into recess twice, with footage since emerging of the exchange between the two.
Senator Roem asks, “Madam President, how many votes are needed to pass this bill with the emergency clause.”
The lieutenant governor responds, “Yes sir, that is 32,” causing Senator Roem to leave the room.
Senator Roem had asked Earle-Sears during the exchange on Monday about the necessary votes needed to pass a new bill
The comment caused the legislature to go into recess twice, with footage since emerging of the exchange between the two
According to The Sacramento BeeEarle-Sears initially declined to apologize for the comment, but later apologized to the chamber.
She said, “I’m not here to upset anyone, I’m here to do the work the people of Virginia called me to do.
‘That means treating everyone with respect and dignity. I myself have sometimes not been given the same respect and dignity.
“In this body, as long as I am President of the Senate, and by the grace of God, I will be treated with respect and dignity. And I will treat all others with respect and dignity.
‘We are all equal before the law. My apologies, and I hope everyone understands that the intention was not to offend.”
CBS reported that Roem returned home a day after the comment and that she has not commented publicly since the interaction.
Roem was the first transgender member of the House of Representatives when she was first elected in 2017.
She dethroned Republican Bob Marshall, a 13-term incumbent and socially conservative lawmaker who proudly called himself Virginia’s “leading homophobe.”
After the comment, Roem was seen leaving the room and reportedly heading home for the day
Roem was the first transgender member of the House of Representatives when she was first elected in 2017. Last year, she became the state’s first transgender senator
In an interview during the campaign, Marshall called Roem “a guy who thinks he’s a girl wearing a dress” before claiming that most people don’t realize she is transgender, and instead see her as “a strange-looking woman ‘.
During her campaign, Roem hit back at comments from Marshall, who also repeatedly called her a he and refused to debate her.
Roem said at the time: ‘This is just who I am. There are millions of transgender people in this country, and we all deserve representation in government.”
Last year, she became the first transgender senator elected to Virginia’s upper chamber and only the second to be elected to a Senate.
Sears, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, was elected lieutenant governor in 2021, joining popular Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Both are seen as rising stars within the Republican party – and potential candidates for president in the White House.