In 2017, Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William) defeated transphobic incumbent Bob Marshall and became the nation’s first openly transgender state legislator. This year, she’s preparing for another battle against a similarly transphobic figure.

Roem, who has used her platform to fight for her constituents and help fellow Democrats, will face off against Kelly McGinn, a lawyer and conservative activist who has called marriage equality “morally repugnant,” and labeled LGBTQ+ adoption “absurd,” “irrational,” and “a social experiment on our children,” according to The Advocate.

McGinn also signed a 2007 letter condemning Catholic politicians who support marriage equality, stem cell research and reproductive freedom. The letter compares marriage equality, stem cell research and abortion to slavery and says abortion rights and marriage equality are part of a “Culture of Death” that is as “as much a part of history as the slave trade.”

This year, McGinn publicly opposed the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one’s sex.

While McGinn has been busy opposing equality, Roem has focused on kitchen-table issues affecting her constituents, such as expanding health care and solving the region’s infrastructure issues.

Roem doesn’t have a primary opponent and neither does McGinn, so they will both be on the ballot come November 5.

© Photo: Shelly Prevost