Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D-Wilmington) made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
McBride, best known for serving as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, was declared the projected winner by NBC News, which reported 70% of the vote. of Associated Press Although McBride has not yet announced his candidacy, he leads former police officer James Whalen III by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin in Delaware’s only House seat.
A former White House intern during the Obama administration, a staff member at the Center of American Progress, and a board member at Equality Delaware, McBride lobbied for passage of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in Delaware. He is recognized as one of the few influential activists who are successful in their work and protect people’s rights. LGBTQ individuals.
She also said she is a passionate advocate for expanding access to health care and paid family and medical leave after losing her late husband to cancer. metro weekly In a 2019 interview.
She previously made history in 2016 when she became the first openly transgender speaker to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
She made history again four years ago when she ran for state senate and became the first transgender person to be elected to the state senate. (Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem became the first transgender person to serve in the state House of Representatives three years earlier.)
McBride will replace Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who gave up her House seat to run a successful Senate race.
The LGBTQ community celebrated a historic milestone. This was a sliver of good news on a night when the close race between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was still unresolved and the results were starting to trickle in.
“America now has an opportunity to learn what Delawareans have known for years: Sarah McBride is a dedicated public servant, a bulldog to her constituents, and someone who represents the interests of all the people she serves. ” Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. .
“As the first openly transgender member of Congress, her accomplishment is a milestone in the march towards equality. It reflects not only the increased acceptance of transgender people in society ushered in by her courage, but also her tenacious efforts to prove that she is an effective legislator who will deliver real results.”
Robinson called McBride a “history-making champion.”
LPAC, the nation’s only organization dedicated to advancing the political representation of LGBTQ women and nonbinary candidates, also congratulated McBride on her victory.
“Throughout her time in the Delaware State Senate, Sarah McBride has continually demonstrated her commitment to serving and serving the people of the United States,” LPAC Executive Director Janelle Perez said in a statement. Ta. “In addition to blazing a trail as our nation’s first openly transgender member of Congress, she is an advocate for health care, reproductive rights, environmental justice, racial justice, and gun safety. She is also a leader, and we are lucky to have her in Congress as she fights for all of us.”
Representatives Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), co-chairs of Equality PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Equality Caucus, called McBride’s victory “a watershed moment in American politics.” moment,” he praised. ”
The political action committee was an early investor in McBride’s campaign, spending $365,000 to help him win the Democratic primary in Democratic-leaning states and the subsequent general election. was.
“Equality PAC’s mission has always been to ensure that all segments of our community have a seat in our nation’s most important seat: Congress,” Takano and Torres said in a statement. “With Sarah’s victory tonight, we can finally make that goal a reality. In the midst of a tough national election cycle plagued by anti-LGBTQ and especially anti-transgender Republican fear-mongering, Sarah tonight… The moral arc of the universe is toward justice, and in the end, most people are good. Sarah is one of Equality PAC’s greatest success stories.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
