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Sarah McBride

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Sarah McBride
A portrait of Sarah McBride taken in 2016. She is wearing a fuschia-colored sweater and is smiling.
McBride, c. 2016
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Delaware's at-large district
Assuming office
January 3, 2025
SucceedingLisa Blunt Rochester
Member of the Delaware Senate
from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 4, 2020
Preceded byHarris McDowell III
Personal details
Born (1990-08-09) August 9, 1990 (age 34)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2014; died 2014)​
EducationAmerican University (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website
State Assembly website

Sarah Elizabeth McBride (born August 9, 1990) is an American activist and politician who is the U.S. representative-elect for Delaware's at-large congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Delaware Senate since January 2021, representing the state's 1st senate district. Prior, she was the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign from 2016 to 2021.[1] As the first openly transgender state senator in the country, she is the highest-ranking openly transgender elected official in United States history.[2][3]

Prior to her election, McBride lobbied for the successful passage of legislation in Delaware banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment, housing, insurance, and public accommodations.[4] In July 2016, she was a speaker at the Democratic National Convention, becoming the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in American history.[5][6][7][8] In 2018, McBride published her memoir Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality, with a foreword by Joe Biden. McBride has been credited with shaping President Biden's personal views and political evolution on transgender issues.[9]

McBride won the election for Delaware's at-large congressional district in the 2024 election and will succeed Lisa Blunt Rochester. She will be the first openly transgender member of the United States Congress.[10]

Early life

Sarah McBride was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to David and Sally McBride on August 9, 1990. Her father was a lawyer for Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor; her mother was a high school guidance counselor, and a founder of the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington.[11][12][13]

McBride graduated from Cab Calloway in 2009, and then attended American University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a bachelor's degree in 2013.[11] She was elected president of the American University Student Government in 2011, having earlier worked on "arts advocacy, the purchase of conflict-free minerals on campus and academic regulations" as a member of the undergraduate senate from 2010.[14] During this time she had already begun political advocacy,[15][16][17] including as a co-founder of Delaware's Young Democrats Movement and on the election campaigns for local Democrats, including Beau Biden, Matthew Denn, and Jack Markell. In a 2011 interview she cited Markell as a particular role model.[14]

Social and political activism

McBride says that she has been interested in politics since she was a child.[18] She worked as a staffer on several campaigns in Delaware, including that of Governor Jack Markell in 2008 and of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden in 2010. In 2011, McBride was elected student body president at American University. During her last week as student body president in 2012, McBride gained international attention when she came out as a transgender woman in her college's student newspaper, The Eagle.[19]

McBride's coming out was featured on NPR, The Huffington Post, and by Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation.[20][21][22] After coming out, McBride received a call from Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, saying, "Sarah, I just wanted you to know, I'm so proud of you. I love you, and you're still a part of the Biden family."[23] Vice President Joe Biden expressed similar sentiments, sharing that he was proud of her and happy for her.

In 2012, McBride interned at the White House, becoming the first openly transgender woman to work there in any capacity. McBride worked in the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, where she worked on LGBTQ issues.[24][23] In a speech in May 2015, Second Lady Jill Biden told McBride's story. She added, "we believe young people should be valued for who they are, no matter what they look like, where they're from, the gender with which they identify, or who they love."[25]

McBride in 2018

In January 2013, McBride joined the board of directors of Equality Delaware and quickly became the state's leading advocate for legal protections and hate crime legislation for transgender Delawareans. McBride and her family led the lobbying effort for legislation protecting Delawareans from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment, housing, insurance, and public accommodations.[26][27] In addition to serving as the primary spokesperson for the legislation, McBride built on her close relationship with Governor Jack Markell and Attorney General Beau Biden to gain the vocal support of both officials behind the bill. The legislation passed the state senate by a margin of one vote and the state house by a vote of 24–17. An amended bill was re-passed by the state senate and immediately signed into law by Markell in June 2013.[28]

Upon signing the legislation, Markell stated:[29]

I especially want to thank my friend Sarah McBride, an intelligent and talented Delawarean who happens to be transgender. She courageously stood before the General Assembly to describe her personal struggles with gender identity and communicate her desire to return home after her college graduation without fear. Her tireless advocacy for passage of this legislation has made a real difference for all transgender people in Delaware.

After passage of this legislation, McBride worked on the LGBT Progress team at the Center for American Progress.[30] McBride has spoken at a number of colleges and LGBTQ events, including the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner,[23] the Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles Dinner,[31] the Victory Fund National Brunch,[32] the University of Pennsylvania,[33] and Gettysburg College.[34] McBride was ranked the Most Valuable Progressive in Delaware by DelawareLiberal.net[35] listed in the 2014 list of the Trans 100,[36] and named one of the fifty upcoming millennials poised to make a difference in the coming years by MIC.com.[37]

A 2015 article in the New Statesman on transgender representation in elective office predicted McBride would be the first transgender American elected to high public office.[38] McBride was a panelist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "GLOBE Pride 2016" on youth and workplace bullying. McBride has been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, Teen Vogue, North Carolina Public Radio, The New Yorker, MSNBC, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, and NPR.

In April 2016, McBride delivered a TED Talk titled, "Gender assigned to us at birth should not dictate who we are."[39] She also served on the steering committee of Trans United for Hillary, an effort to educate and mobilize transgender people and their allies in support of Hillary Clinton.[40]

On July 28, 2016, McBride became the first openly transgender person to speak at a national party convention when she spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. In her speech, which lasted less than four minutes, McBride paid tribute to her late husband Andrew Cray and his commitment to LGBTQ rights.[41]

Electoral career

Delaware Senate

On July 9, 2019, McBride formally announced her candidacy for the Delaware Senate.[42] She stated that her focus would be health care and paid family and medical leave.[43]

McBride won her election in November 2020, becoming the first transgender state senator in United States history. She replaced fellow Democrat Harris McDowell III, who retired at the end of his term.[44] During her first term, she successfully sponsored the Healthy Delaware Families Act, which would allow families to take a paid 12-week family or medical leave.[45] The law provides for workers to receive up to 80% of their current wages or a maximum of $900 per week, with the program paid for through automatic payroll contributions.[46][47]

United States House of Representatives

In June 2023, McBride announced her candidacy to represent Delaware's at-large congressional district in the 2024 election to replace Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, who had announced she was running for the U.S. Senate seat left by retiring Senator Tom Carper.[48] Rochester endorsed McBride.[49]

During her campaign for Congress, McBride did not lean in to her transgender identity, but rather emphasized her record of passing paid family and medical leave in Delaware, along with working to increase the minimum wage.[50] Her key priorities also included protecting reproductive rights, expanding access to healthcare, and addressing economic insecurity.[51][52] In an August 2023 interview with Jewish Insider, McBride "framed herself as a staunch supporter of Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship, as well as a committed fighter against antisemitism".[53]

On September 10, 2024, McBride won the Democratic Primary election for the 2024 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, winning 80% of the votes against two other candidates, officially becoming the Democratic nominee.[54][55] She won the general election in November 2024 with 58% of the vote, and will become the first openly transgender member of the U.S. Congress.[10][56]

Transphobia in US House

Two weeks after McBride's election to Congress, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a bill to ban transgender women from using the women's bathroom on Capitol Hill, saying that the bill specifically was meant to target McBride,[57][58] and later following this up by saying “It’s offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he’s my equal”.[59][60] Shortly thereafter, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson enacted a ban to the same effect.[61] McBride subsequently announced that she would comply with the ban, saying "I'm not here to fight about bathrooms, I'm here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families."[62]

Personal life

On August 24, 2014, McBride married fellow LGBTQ rights activist Andrew Cray in a small, private wedding ceremony on their apartment rooftop in Washington, D.C.[63][64] The ceremony was officiated by Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson.[63] Four days after their wedding, Cray died from oral cancer.[63]

Electoral history

2020 Delaware Senate election, District 1[65][66]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah McBride 7,902 91.3
Democratic Joseph McCole 752 8.7
Total votes 8,654 100.0
General election
Democratic Sarah McBride 16,865 73.3
Republican Steve Washington 6,144 26.7
Total votes 23,009 100.0
2022 Delaware Senate election, District 1
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah McBride (incumbent) 13,204 100.0
Total votes 13,204 100.0
2024 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware - Democratic primary results[67]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah McBride 66,747 79.9
Democratic Earl Cooper 13,551 16.2
Democratic Elias Weir 3,280 3.9
Write-in
Total votes 83,578 100
2024 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware[68]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah McBride 287,830 57.9%
Republican John Whalen 209,606 42.1%
Write-in
Total votes 497,436 100

Bibliography

Books

  • Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality , by Sarah McBride; Foreword by Joe Biden; Crown Archetype (2018).
  • Raising Kids Beyond the Binary: Celebrating God’s Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children, by Jamie Bruesehoff, Foreword by Sarah McBride; Broadleaf Books (2023).

Articles

  • "Op-Ed: The Real Me"; The Eagle (American University); May 01, 2012.
  • "Forever and Ever: Losing My Husband at 24"; HuffPost (2015).

See also

References

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  2. ^ Epstein, Reid J. (September 15, 2020). "Sarah McBride Is Set to Be the Nation's Highest-Ranking Transgender Official". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  3. ^ Johnson, Chris (November 3, 2020). "Sarah McBride Is Set to Be the Nation's Highest-Ranking Transgender Official". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  4. ^ Karlan, Sarah (June 20, 2013). "Delaware Passes Trans Protections, With Help From A Young Advocate". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  5. ^ Lorenz, Brandon (July 24, 2016). "HRC's Sarah McBride, Chad Griffin to Speak at DNC". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  6. ^ Badash, David (July 24, 2016). "At This Week's DNC Sarah McBride Will Become First Openly-Transgender Speaker to Address Major Party". New Civil Rights Movement. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
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  8. ^ "HRC's Sarah McBride to become first openly trans person to speak at a major party convention". Gay Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
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  40. ^ "Green Gard in USA: what is it? What kind of Benefits of Green Card you can get?". GreenCardinUSA.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
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Further reading

  • Reynolds, Andrew (October 15, 2018). The Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World. Oxford University Press. pp. 149–167. ISBN 9780190460952.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sarah McBride.
Delaware Senate
Preceded by Member of the Delaware Senate
from the 1st district
2021–Present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. House of Representatives
from Delaware's at-large congressional district
2024 		Most recent
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