Sarah McBride Makes History as First Trans Member of Congress
Associated Press has not yet called the race, but McBride was leading James Whalen III, a former police officer, by a margin of 58% to 42% for Delaware’s sole congressional seat.A former White House intern during the Obama administration, employee of the Center of American Progress, and board member of Equality Delaware, McBride has been credited as one of several influential activists who successfully lobbied for the passage of Delaware’s comprehensive nondiscrimination law protecting the rights of LGBTQ individuals.She is also a passionate advocate for increased health care access and paid family and medical leave, positions informed by the loss of her late husband to cancer, as she told Metro Weekly in a 2019 interview.She previously made history when she became the first out transgender person to address a Democratic National Convention in 2016.She made history again when she ran for a state senate seat, becoming the first out transgender person to be elected to the upper chamber of a state legislature four years ago. (Virginia State Sen.
Danica Roem became the first transgender person to serve in the lower chamber of a state legislature three years earlier.)McBride will replace Democratic U.S.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who gave up her House seat to successfully pursue a bid for the U.S. Senate.The LGBTQ community celebrated the historic milestone — a glimmer of good news on a night when the close race between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was still undetermined, and results were slowly trickling in. “America now has the opportunity to learn what Delawareans have long known — Sarah McBride is a devoted public servant, a bulldog for her constituents, and someone who represents the interests of everyone she serves,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.“As the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress, her service is a landmark achievement on the march toward equality.
