Article snippet: As Democrats nabbed two major gubernatorial races, Election Day was historic for a number of LGBT and other minority candidates. Former journalist Danica Roem became the nation's first openly transgender woman elected to a state legislature. Roem unseated Virginia delegate Robert Marshall, who described himself as the state's "chief homophobe" and reportedly referred to Roem during the campaign with male pronouns. But Roem held steady. "No matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, who you love, how you identify or any other inherent identifier that you have ... if you have good public policy ideas, if you're well qualified for office, bring those ideas to the table, because this is your America too," she said in her victory speech Tuesday night. Roem added, "Discrimination is a disqualifier." Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, cautioned that such victories in off-year elections might not be an early indicator for the 2018 midterms. "These elections are notable and noteworthy, but it's going to be years before we know what the long-term impact is on diversifying the candidate pool," she told ABC News today. In Minneapolis, Andrea Jenkins became the first African-American transgender woman to win a council seat in a major city. "As an out African-American trans-identified woman, I know firsthand the feeling of being marginalized, left out, thrown under the bus. Those days are ove... Link to the full article to read more