WASHINGTON: As the United State Elections vote counting sees a neck to neck contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender state senator after claiming a seat in Delaware.
The Democrat was elected in Delaware, defeating Republican Steve Washington. The win makes her the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the US.
“I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too,” she said on social media Tuesday night.
McBride earned herself something of a national profile when she addressed the Democratic National Convention in 2016, with a speech in which she celebrated the chance to elect LGBT+ candidates across the country.
“Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, one way to look, one way to live?” she asked the crowd. “Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally; a nation that’s stronger together?”
In the previous US Presidential elections in 2016, she became the first openly transgender person to speak at any major-party convention in the country.
At present, there are four openly transgender state legislators: Virginia state Del. Danica Roem; Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone; and New Hampshire state Reps. Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon and McBride will be the first Senator.
This time, McBride’s campaign focussed around affordable health care, improving minimum wage and school funding, among other issues.
“From the start, I knew I wanted to be the healthcare and paid leave candidate,” said McBride. “Even before COVID, people were feeling that need. This has just reinforced and deepened that need. For Delawareans, for those in poverty, those struggling through the pandemic, the issues we re talking about aren t abstract.”
