5 things you should know about transgender democrat

History was made on Tuesday as the first openly transgender person was elected to a U.S. statehouse. Democrat Danica Roem defeated conservative state lawmaker Robert G. Marshall to win her seat in Virginia’s 13th District.

In her victory speech, Danica said that her win was dedicated “to every person who’s ever been singled out, who’s ever been stigmatized, who’s ever been the misfit, who’s ever been the kid in the corner, who’s ever needed someone to stand up for them when they didn’t have a voice of their own. This one is for you.”

As she gets ready to take office, here are five things you should know about the ground-breaking candidate:

1. She used to be a journalist

Before announcing her intention to run for public office, Danica was pursuing a career in journalism, according to NBC News. She worked for two local Virginia newspapers: the Gainesville Times and the Prince William Times, as well as Maryland's Montgomery County Sentinel. According to her website, she worked in news for over 10 years. She began her transition in 2012 while working at the Prince William Times. She says that "no one cared" about her identity or her name change while in journalism. "It was great. I could just keep doing my job," she says on her campaign website.

2. She defeated an opponent who once wrote his own "bathroom bill"

Danica ran against encumbent Robert G. Marshall, who is a longtime opponent to LGBT rights. Robert has referred to himself as Virginia’s “chief homophobe” according to the Washington Post, and introduced a "bathroom bill" earlier this year that would restrict transgender people from using public restrooms affiliated with their gender—similar to the controversial bill passed in North Carolina. It died in committee.

While both Danica and Robert focused on issues in the state’s Prince William County like traffic, Danica’s gender identity was repeatedly brought up by Robert, who refused to debate her and referred to her by using male pronouns, The Washington Post reports. Robert also told NPR that Danica's identity "clearly goes against the laws of nature and nature's God."

3. She wants to focus on more than just her identity

While her gender repeatedly came up during the campaign, Danica made it clear that she wants to focus the attention on getting stuff in her district done, including clearing up traffic congestion, which is a huge issue in her area. She also ran on a platform of job growth and increased teacher salaries.

"Transgender people have really good public policy ideas that span the gamut of transportation policy to health care policy to education policy, and yes, to civil rights as well,” Roem told Mother Jones in a pre-election interview. “We shouldn’t just be pigeonholed into the idea that we’re just going to be fighting about bathrooms.”

4. Shes a heavy metal singer

Yes, you read that right. According to Pitchfork, Danica provides the vocals for the heavy metal band Cab Ride Home. "Just because I sing in a heavy metal band while spinning my head in circles and getting paid to do it, why can't I run for government?" she told Noisey earlier this year. "For people who are into metal, it's a lifestyle. It's the aesthetic that you have. It's the personality that you put on display. It's the way that you talk to your friends. It's not just what you listen to in your car on the way home. The lyrics inspire part of your life. The music tells your story."

5. She wont be the first openly transgender woman to be in public office

Danica won by nearly nine percentage points but she wasn’t the only transgender politician to win in this election. Andrea Jenkins became the first openly transgender woman of color elected to any office in the U.S. after winning a seat in the Minneapolis City Council, per The Washington Post. Both women follow in the footsteps of trailblazer Althea Garrison of Massachusetts, the first openly transgender woman to serve in a state legislature in 1992. (She, however, was not out while she campaigned in 1992, according to CNN.)

Congrats!