• Sarah McBride has become the first transgender person elected to Senate
  • LGBT+ activist won in deep-blue Delaware, in a victory that was widely predicted
  • Win makes McBride the highest-ranking transgender person in Congress 
  • Platform included paid medical and family leave, and expansion of Equality Act

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE

 

 

Democrat Sarah McBride has become the first transgender person elected to the US Senate after winning in the state of Delaware.

The 30-year-old LGBT+ activist had been widely predicted to win the deep-blue state, which was called early for Joe Biden in the presidential race.

McBride joins a handful of transgender people in Congress, but will be the most senior on Capitol Hill when she is  sworn in.

She ran on a platform with policies including paid family and medical leave for all workers, reducing costs and increasing competition in the health care industry and strengthening public schools.

While in college at American University, she interned in the Obama White House, becoming the first openly transgender woman to work in the White House in any capacity.

Ms McBride, a transgender rights activist, has played a crucial role in the fight for LGBTQ+ discrimination protections in her state of Delaware and has lobbied for the Equality Act to extend protections nationwide.

McBride will join a handful of transgender people in Congress, but will be the most senior after being sworn in early next year

For her efforts advancing equality in Delaware, former Governor Jack Markell awarded Sarah the Order of the First State, making her one of the youngest Delawareans granted the state’s highest civilian honour.

She released a memoir in 2018, entitled ‘Tomorrow Will Be Different’, which earned acclaim from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

McBride worked on the campaign for Beau Biden, Joe’s son, when he was Attorney General. She also worked on the campaign of Delaware Gov. Jack Markell.

In 2016, she became the first transgender person to address a party conference, when she spoke at the DNC.

‘Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, one way to look, one way to live,’ she said.

‘Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally; a nation that’s stronger together?’

It recounted her experiences fighting for equality in America, as well as her relationship with her late husband Andrew Cray, for whom she was a caregiver throughout his cancer battle.