Sarah Mcbride Becomes First Trans Member Of Congress In Inspiring Win

Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride has made history by becoming the first transgender person elected to Congress.

McBride was elected by more than 15 percent  by Delaware voters in the state’s only congressional district, according to the Associated Press, which called the race on Tuesday evening. In her race, she beat out Republican John Whalen, a retired police officer.

Though McBride has tried to lead with her policy rather than her identity as a transgender woman, her Republican opponent made an effort to publicly endorse the Heritage Foundation’s radical agenda Project 2025, which classifies “transgender ideology” as equivalent to pornography.

“There are a lot of people right now in this country who don’t see themselves reflected in government, and they deserve to see that,” says McBride about her gender identity. “But on a day-to-day basis, it’s not what I’m talking about or thinking about. It’s not what voters are talking to me about.”

At the age of 34, McBride has already made waves in her political career. In 2016, at age 25, she became the first openly transgender person to address a major U.S. political convention when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. And in 2020, she was elected to represent Delaware’s 1st Senate district, becoming the first openly transgender state senator.

During her time in office, McBride helped to pass universal paid family and medical leave. Most recently, she introduced successful legislation to generate more than $100 million in new Medicaid funding for Delaware. Her efforts are in part to honor her late husband, who died of cancer in 2014. In Congress she hopes to “shift our health care system from a sickness system to an actual health and wellness system,” she told The 19th.

But in Congress, she’ll be met with Republicans who have banked their political careers on opposing the bogeyman of “transgender health care.” According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, a staggering 662 anti-trans bills have been introduced across the country this year, 80 of those on the federal level. That makes this the fifth year in a row that a record-breaking number of bills targeting transgender people have made it to politicians’ desks.

With McBride in the House of Representatives, both transgender people and Delawareans will have another voice advocating for them. “I’m running to make historic progress for Delawareans,” said McBride. “I’m not running to make history.”