LGBTQ+ Stories You Should Know About

Knocking Doors in the Lone Star State: Out on the Texas Campaign Trail

Vice President of Outreach and Engagement Marty Rouse recently hit the campaign trail for GOTV and campaign events with our Texas candidates in Pasadena and Brownsville. Our Spotlight candidate Andy Garcia will be the youngest and first out LGBTQ+ person to serve on the Pasadena ISD School Board and incumbent Jonathan Estrada will continue to be an important LGBTQ+ voice on the Pasadena City Council!

Marty also joined Bryan Martinez on the campaign trail – Victory Fund's first time campaigning in Brownsville, Texas. Bryan will be an important voice for equality on the Brownsville City Commission and is committed to supporting the Brownsville community.

Our Texas candidates are fired up and ready for Election Day on Saturday, May 6th!

Spotlight Candidate: Danica Roem!

Victory Fund Spotlight candidate, Danica Roem, is running for Virginia state Senate this year and will be the first out trans state senator ever elected in the South! Danica has helped lead the charge in the state House to safeguard and strengthen LGBTQ+ rights, including a push to repeal conversion therapy and ban the state’s ‘gay panic’ defense.

“'We know what we’re up against in this race,' Roem told the Washington Blade on April 23 during an interview before the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch. 'We know it is absolutely going to get personal, as well as its going to get on policy. We know that there’s going to be a lot at stake.'”

Danica is standing by state Representative Rep. Zooey Zephyr, criticizing the Montana legislature for their treatment, saying that their actions are “an arbitrary and capricious abuse of power.”

Adele McClure’s New Endorsements

Big news for Spotlight candidate Adele McClure – Blue Virginia is standing with her! Read the full endorsement and learn more about Adele’s commitment to equality here. Adele also launched a new campaign ad this week. Watch her tell her story and learn more about who inspired her to run for office here.

“Trans Rights Are Human Rights.”

“Trans rights are human rights,” shouted a local Iowa high school student. As the kids say, Gen Z won’t be slept on and they’re going to keep fighting back.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds recently signed bills banning trans youth from using school bathrooms and gender-affirming care, but when she showed up to a local high school to present the governor’s scholarships, high schoolers protested her bigotry. The high school students voiced their disapproval in various ways when received the scholarships, one by shouting “trans rights are human rights,” another by wearing a shirt with the same phrase, and another by wearing her pronouns and a pride flag proudly on her shirt. Nearly one in four U.S. teenagers now identify as non-heterosexual, according to a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This type of freedom is indicative of a more accepting society. Allowing kids the freedom of self-expression SAVES lives. That’s a fact.