5 things to know about PrideFest speaker
Thursday marks the start of Milwaukee’s annual PrideFest celebration at Maier Festival Park. The festival, which runs through Sunday, will feature Danica Roem as the keynote speaker.
As the first openly transgender person to hold an elected seat in a state legislature, Roem isn’t your typical state legislator. Jorna Taylor, the vice president of development at Milwaukee Pride Inc., worked with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele to select Roem to speak at opening ceremonies at 3 p.m. Friday at the Dance Pavilion. She said Roem’s story needed telling.
“Everybody has a neighbor or a family member or a son or a daughter or a friend who is LGBTQ and those stories need to be told that they’re just like us,” Taylor said in an interview.
“I hope that it inspires folks to take that step to be more involved in public life and civic engagement no matter what, whether that means running for public office or that means getting involved in their local community organization or club or nonprofit group and being a little less afraid potentially to live proud and be who they are,” she said of Roem’s selection. “If she can inspire one person in the crowd to do that, it’s 100 percent worth it,” Taylor said.
Here are some interesting things to know about Roem:
She used to be a journalist
Roem was a reporter at the Gainesville Times for just over nine years. She also covered state and federal politics for The Hotline, which is part of the National Journal in Washington D.C.
She’s in a metal band
Roem does vocals for the band Cab Ride Home.
She beat one of Virginia’s most conservative delegates
Her opponent, Bob Marshall, refused to debate her. Her win ended his 26-year stint in the seat. Throughout the campaign he also refused to acknowledge her gender transition, which began in 2012.
Her campaign focused little on being transgender
Instead, Roem campaigned on fixing Route 28, one of the region’s most congested highways.
She strives for transparency
She’s been known to give her cellphone number to constituents.
Admission to Pridefest will be free Friday between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 with a $1 donation to Diverse and Resilient, a nonprofit with the goal of improving the health and safety of LGBTQ people in Wisconsin.
The B-52s, Jussie Smollett, Daya top PrideFest lineup.