With Sarah McBride, an openly transgender politician was elected to the Senate of a state of the United States for the first time in the US elections on November 3.

McBride was able to defeat the Republican Steve Washington and will be the first trans*person to enter the Senate, the second chamber of the United States Congress, in January.

At her inauguration, McBride will also be the nation’s highest ranking elected transgender official – the strongest proof that the LGBTIQ* community in the US will not be intimidated by Donald Trump. Trump’s administration had just overturned a regulation in the summer to protect transgender individuals in the healthcare system.

In her four-year term, McBride will not only focus on LGBTIQ* issues, but will also advocate for health policy issues in general. Among other things, she is campaigning for sick benefit.

A resumé that inspires

Like Joe Biden, Sarah McBride was born in Delaware. The second smallest state of the US, located on the east coast, is officially called “The First State”, because Delaware was the first state to ratify the constitution of the USA in 1787. Traditionally, Delaware is strongly democratic.

McBride, who grew up in her current constituency of Wilmington, identified herself as a girl from early childhood. However, it was a long struggle before she decided to go public – not only with her family, as president of the student body, but also with her fellow students at the American University. It was only after a Facebook post in which McBride dared to tell the truth went viral that she realised what a huge impact her story could have on the country. That was in 2012, and today, just a few years later, McBride is one of the most famous transgender activists in the country.

Her way into politics was through an internship at the White House, which she completed under the Obama administration. Later, she campaigned at the Delaware General Assembly for a law on transgender rights, which was signed into law in 2013. In 2017, she helped ensure the passage of laws to protect vulnerable youth from child abuse.

In 2016, at the age of 26, she was the first transgender person to speak at a national Democratic political congress. Since then, McBride has been working with senior politicians* to improve healthcare in the United States.

Currently, McBride is the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTIQ* civil rights organisation in the country. Alphonso David, President of HRC, was delighted with her victory in the election:

“Tonight Sarah has made history not only for herself but for our entire community. She gives a voice to the marginalised as a representative and advocate”.

In 2018 McBride published her life story as a book. “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss and the Fight for Trans Equality” is a very personal story about the LGBTIQ* community’s struggle for equality and what it means to be openly transgender. None other than Joe Biden wrote the preface to McBride’s book.

Sarah McBride shares another common ground with Joe Bilden: both have suffered a tragic loss. Biden lost his first wife and two of his children in a car accident. McBride’s husband Andrew Cray died of cancer in 2014, just three days after their marriage.

Please follow and like us: