Virginia Statehouse candidate Danica Roem has released a powerful new campaign ad that puts her identity as a transgender woman front and center.

The 30-second video is meant to chastise her Republican opponent, Robert Marshall, for making numerous transphobic remarks and refusing to address her as a woman. It opens with a close-up on Roem as she takes her hormones and puts on makeup. Over the images of her morning routine, Roem says, “I’m running for office because my identity shouldn’t be a big deal. Because this shouldn’t be newsworthy or political, because this is just who I am. There are millions of transgender people in this country and we all deserve representation in our government.”

The shot changes to the faces of young queer people, and Roem creates a hypothetical world in which queer people have earned that representation. Read more via Out