Sarah McBride has made history and will be the first openly transgender member of Congress, after winning the race for Delaware’s at-large House seat.
Her victory “is a watershed moment in American politics,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, co-chair of the House Equality Caucus, said in a statement to NOTUS. “In the midst of a fraught national election cycle plagued by anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans fearmongering from the GOP, Sarah has proven tonight that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice and that, ultimately, most people are good.”
But as Republicans campaigned on anti-trans initiatives throughout the election cycle, Democrats say they are preparing for a world where McBride’s future GOP colleagues don’t welcome her.
McBride “is a role model for so many people across the country, which is very exciting,” Rep. Becca Balint, co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, told NOTUS. “But of course, given the really nasty, gross anti-trans rhetoric in the presidential election, we can expect more of this fearmongering from some of our GOP colleagues and their enablers.”
Balint added that Democrats “need to do everything we can to push against” Republicans’ attacks “in committee, on the floor and in the news. Sarah and other trans-identifying Americans need to know that we are standing with them and against the hatred.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has already acknowledged that McBride’s security will need to be addressed, NOTUS reported in October.
Trans rights advocates have been calling out Democrats for not doing enough to fight back against Republicans’ anti-trans messaging this cycle. Donald Trump and his campaign have spent millions of dollars on anti-trans ads.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality, said that, in general, Democrats have “mostly stood by their transgender constituents and their families.”
“I think a lot of Democratic candidates have ignored these ads in the public narrative because they know that most voters aren’t moved by that,” Heng-Lehtinen added. “Only really the most partisan people care about that, and that’s not the majority of your voting base, no matter what party you represent. So I think that’s why you have Trump making such an issue about it … he gains from polarization. But then you have most other candidates ignore it because they’re trying to unify the country.”
Heng-Lehtinen, who is trans, is the son of former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican. She has advocated for members of her own party to stop using anti-trans rhetoric.
Some House Republicans, like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Banks, are known for their anti-trans stances and actively misgendering trans people.
Former Rep. Marie Newman, whose daughter was attacked by Greene on X, said that she hoped Democrats would make sure to stand beside McBride.
“She should not be alone for at least the first year,” Newman told NOTUS. “She should have her chief with her and/or another Democrat because … I don’t think she’s going to get physically assaulted, I doubt that very much, but we need her to represent her district the way that district deserves. In order to do that, everybody’s got to pitch in to make sure she has the ability to [do so].”
Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican who has introduced legislation to make it harder for schools to teach about transgender issues, told NOTUS on Monday that he wasn’t aware that “there was a transgender person running for office” but added that he thought her presence wouldn’t “have any impact” in the House.
When asked about House Republicans who have publicly made strong anti-trans remarks and how they’d interact with McBride, the congressman texted NOTUS, “They’re all entitled to their opinions. 😉”
Rep. Robert Garcia, another Equality Caucus co-chair, told NOTUS that members like Greene are “not representative of a vast majority of folks in Congress”. He called McBride a “transformational member in the House.”
“I think it’s important to note that Sarah McBride is like so much more than her, you know, who she represents, and she has been a hardworking legislator in Delaware,” Garcia added. “She is going to be a bridge builder, and I think that she will be received and respected as a member. She won her seat just like everybody else did.”
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS.