Anti-trans Republican gets roasted by his own sister after losing to a transgender woman

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The sister of the conservative politician defeated by Danica Roem – the first openly transgender person to be elected to Virginia’s state legislature – has roasted her brother for his treatment of Ms Roem during the campaign.

Bob Marshall, who has referred to himself as “Virginia’s chief homophobe”, refused to debate Ms Roem in person and only used male pronouns to describe her.

“That was my brother who lost his seat in the House of Delegates race in Va,” wrote Paula Nucci on social media. “He wouldn’t debate her. He wouldn’t call her ‘her’ or ‘she’. Maybe if weren’t so judgmental and homophobic, he could have lost with dignity. I’m not happy my brother lost his job, but all I can say is, karma brother.”

Ms Nucci had posted her comments on her private Facebook account. It appears that someone then screenshotted her words and posted the image on Twitter.

Once Ms Roem is sworn in January, she will also be the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature in the US, according to the Victory Fund, a political action committee that works to get openly LGBTQ people elected, and has supported Ms Roem.

While Ms Roem openly discussed her gender identity during the campaign, the topic was not her main focus. Instead, she campaigned on issues regarding jobs, schools and – with particular fervour – northern Virginia’s traffic congestion.

“Discrimination is a disqualifier,” Ms Roem said after her victory. “You can serve if you have good public policy ideas, you’re well qualified and you have a commitment to do the work of the people you’re running to represent.”

On the campaign trail, Ms Roem said that Mr Marshall, who has served in Virginia’s House of Delegates since 1992, spent too much time on social policy.

Mr Marshall had recently proposed legislation for a ‘bathroom bill’ similar to what passed with great controversy in North Carolina last year. His bill would have required people to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their original birth certificates.

He later toned down the language on the bill, to remove the word “original” – but blasted the Republican committee that stuck the revised bill down as “disgusting”. Back in 2006 he had also labelled himself Virginia’s “chief homophobe” when defending his views on gay marriage.

In addition to this year’s so-called bathroom bill, he was also the author of a now-void constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and sponsored a bill banning gay people from openly serving in the Virginia National Guard.