Senator Danica Roem is a Democrat from Prince William County who was making a parliamentary inquiry when it happened.
"And what would be the exact number for that, Madam President?
"Yes sir, that would be 32."
That second voice was Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. After she misgendered Roem, the senator put her microphone down and walked out of the Senate chamber. After two very tense delays in the action, the lieutenant governor apologized.
"Let it be known I am not here to upset anyone. I am here to do the job that the people of Virginia have called me to do, and that is to treat everyone with respect and dignity," the lieutenant governor said. "I myself have at times not been afforded that same respect and dignity."
Couching her apology in victimhood did not work for Patricia Lynn Stevens, who was at the Capitol to lobby for women and gender studies.
"I don't think that it is fair that is used as an excuse almost for misgendering someone," Stevens said. "Especially the only trans woman in our Virginia elected stuff."
Roem was the first transgender member of the House of Delegates when she was first elected in 2017, and this year she became the first transgender senator. Earle-Sears is Virginia's first Black woman lieutenant governor.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.