Transgender Virginia state senator Danica Roem storms out of chamber after she was called SIR by state lieutenant Winsom Sears, who’s up-and-coming GOP star

A transgender Virginia state senator stormed out of the chamber and a rising star lieutenant governor referred to her as “sir.”

Virginia-based Democrat Danica A. Roem, 39, was seen leaving the chamber moments after being misgendered by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, 59.

The comment caused the legislature to go into recess twice, and footage of the exchange between the two has since emerged.

Senator Roem can be heard asking, “Madam Speaker, how many votes would it take to pass this bill with the emergency clause?”

The lieutenant governor responds, “Yes, sir, that would be 32,” prompting Senator Roem to leave the chamber.

According The Sacramento BeeEarle-Sears initially refused to apologize for the comment, but later apologized on camera.

She said: ‘I’m not here to bother anyone, I’m here to do the job that the people of Virginia have called me to do.

‘That’s treating everyone with respect and dignity. At times I have 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. “I apologize and hope everyone understands that there is no intention to offend.”

CBS reported that after the comment, Roem returned home for the day and has not made public comments since the interaction.

Roem was the first transgender member of the House of Delegates when she was first elected in 2017.

He unseated Republican Bob Marshall, a 13-term incumbent, socially conservative legislator who proudly called himself Virginia’s “top homophobe.”

In an interview during the campaign, Marshall called Roem “a guy who thinks she’s a girl wearing a dress” before claiming that most people don’t realize she’s transgender and instead see her as “a strange-looking woman.”

During her campaign, Roem responded to comments from Marshall, who also repeatedly referred to her as he and refused to debate her.

Roem said at the time: ‘This is 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 house and only the second elected to the state Senate.

Sears, a U.S. Marine veteran, was elected lieutenant governor in 2021, alongside the state’s popular Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin.

Both are seen as rising stars within the Republican Party and potential candidates for the White House.