The Hill’s Changemakers: Sarah McBride, congresswoman-elect

When Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) takes her oath of office in January, she will make history as the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress.  

McBride is no stranger to trailblazing. In 2020, she became the nation’s first out trans state legislator, and before that, she made history as the first trans person to address a major party convention when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.  

At least seven other openly transgender people have been elected to state legislatures since then, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to increasing LGBTQ political representation. McBride says she hopes to see that number grow — in state legislatures, Congress and all levels of government.  

“My hope is that we get to a world where it’s no longer newsworthy that people like me are in politics or get elected to public office,” McBride, 34, told The Hill in a previous interview.  

Her election comes at a pivotal moment for transgender rights in the U.S. Statehouses have become hotbeds for legislation threatening transgender Americans’ access to health care, school sports and bathrooms, and Republicans in Congress, who will control the House and Senate next year, as well as the presidency, have proposed dozens of bills targeting trans Americans, including measures that target McBride.   

Sweeping policy changes put forward by President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance would drastically reshape trans life in America.  

McBride, who first ran for office after acting as a caretaker for her late husband, Andy, plans to champion affordable health care and housing in Congress. She’s brushed off Republican-led attacks against her gender identity as “distractions.”  

“I didn’t run for the United States House of Representatives to talk about what bathroom I use, I didn’t run to talk about myself. I ran to deliver for Delawareans,” McBride told “Face the Nation” last month. “And while Republicans in Congress seem focused on bathrooms and trans people, and specifically me, I’m focused on rolling up my sleeves, diving into the details, setting up my office and beginning the hard work of delivering for Delawareans on the issues that I know keep them up at night.”