Sarah McBride wants the LGBTQ+ rights movement to fight smarter, not harder

“Sarah McBride was elected to represent Delaware. As the highest-ranking transgender elected official in the country, however, she is also being asked to speak on behalf of all transgender Americans. Every day, she navigates how to govern effectively alongside colleagues who don’t recognize her for who she is, as more and more trans people fear for their rights — and are looking to her to speak out.

“But to make real change in this moment, she believes that she needs to choose her battles wisely — and so does the LGBTQ+ movement.”

“She’s not going to take the bait about where she uses the bathroom; she expects that would just invite more attacks. And she won’t take up every fight that transgender Americans want her to; she’s not an activist, and she didn’t campaign on being one. McBride believes the best way she can change hearts and minds, including among her Republican colleagues, is by staying focused on the job she was elected to do for Delaware.”

“Last month, the House voted to ban trans girls and women from playing school sports with other girls. Democrats campaigned against the bill on the House floor, saying that it would put a target on the backs of all young women who play sports in school. Democrats gave impassioned speeches against the bill, which depicts trans women as men. McBride was not among them.”

“While House Republicans pushed a trans sports ban, McBride introduced her first bill — making her the first freshman Democrat to do so in the 119th Congress. She partnered with a California Republican, Young Kim, on a bipartisan bill to fight credit repair scams.”