Sarah McBride becomes the first trans woman to be targeted in the US Congress

Donald Trump fought his way back into the White House with hatred and incitement. His campaign was fueled by insults and baseless accusations against his political opponents, immigrants – and especially – the LGBTQ community.

In recent months, Trump has repeatedly portrayed trans people as a threat to national identity, problematized their participation in sporting events and spoke of alleged surgeries that were carried out on schoolchildren without the knowledge of parents. Vice President-elect JD Vance accused young people of pretending to be transgender in order to get places at elite universities. According to analyzes by ADImpact, Republicans invested more than 200 million euros in commercials that questioned the rights of trans people during this election campaign.

But Trump and his MAGA Republicans could not prevent a young representative from the state of Delaware from making history: Sarah McBride was the first trans woman elected to Congress. The 34 year old is what is known in the USA Trailblazer is called: a trailblazer. According to her, she was already the first trans woman to work in the White House. The first trans woman to speak at a national Democratic convention. And the first trans woman in the Delaware Senate, of which she was also the youngest member.

The visibility of the LGBTQ community is not the only motivation for McBride’s commitment. At the age of 24 she became a widow, which was to have a lasting impact on her political career. As she told the magazine, she met her future husband, Andy Cray, at a party in the White House. Under President Barack Obama, Cray worked on a federal patient protection law known as Obamacare. After about a year of dating, he was diagnosed with tongue cancer and had operations.

Sarah McBride cared for her partner until he died as a result of his illness in August 2014. The couple had married a few days earlier. Since his death, McBride has been committed to improving the healthcare system. As a member of the Delaware Senate, she introduced legislation that would allow paid parental and care leave. “For years, people had to choose between their work and caring for relatives,” she says. And further: “This law was a good start. But the government should make it even easier for people to start a family.” That’s why McBride ran for the US Congress.

With success: In Delaware, the young politician clearly won against her Republican opponent, John Whalen III, with 57.9 percent of the vote. But with her Democrats, McBride will be outnumbered in the congressional chamber in the future. The Republicans were able to secure a majority of seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

This means that Trump and his conservatives can govern almost undisturbed for the next two years, until the so-called midterm elections. For McBride, that means being surrounded by Republican lawmakers who would like to strip trans people of their basic rights.

Even before Donald Trump’s inauguration, which traditionally takes place on January 20th, McBride is experiencing the first hostilities. Nancy Mace, who has been a representative for South Carolina in the House of Representatives since 2021, wants to ban trans women from using the women’s restrooms in the Capitol. The Republican presented a corresponding resolution at the beginning of the week.

She is concerned with protecting women in private spaces. Sarah McBride is a “biological male who wants to invade these spaces.” She will not tolerate this, Mace said in a television interview on . In a video on the X platform, she demonstratively sticks the word “organic” over the sign of a women’s toilet.

Democrat McBride learned about her new colleague’s personal attack from the media. She responded to X with a statement: “This is an attempt by right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to the problems facing Americans,” she wrote on the platform. And added: “We should focus on reducing the costs of housing, health care and child care, not starting culture wars.”

During the election campaign, the young Democrat did not allow herself to be provoked by the Republican campaign. “Too many politicians are trying to divide us,” said McBride. “Everyone deserves a representative who makes them feel seen and respected.”

While many Democrats were dismayed by Donald Trump’s victory, McBride was calm. . “There is enough space for all of us in this democracy.”

One thing is certain: McBride will have to defend her own position hard in the new Republican Congress.