Sarah McBride earns Victory Fund endorsement in State Senate campaign
If elected, McBride would become first openly transgender state senator in U.S. history
Sarah McBride, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign who is now running for Delaware State Senate, received a boost on Wednesday after the LGBTQ Victory Fund announced it was endorsing her bid for elective office.
If elected, McBride, a Delaware native who is running for an open Democratic-leaning seat in 2020, would become the first openly transgender state senator U.S. history, as well as the first out LGBTQ person elected to Delaware State Legislature.
Currently, there are four out trans legislators in the United States: Virginia Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who was re-elected to a second term in November; Colorado State Rep. Brianna Titone (D-Arvada); and New Hampshire State Reps. Gerri Cannon (D-Somersworth) and Lisa Bunker (D-Exeter).
A former White House intern for the Obama administration and employee of the Center of American Progress, McBride has served as a board member of Equality Delaware and has been credited as one of several influential activist who successfully rallied local politicians behind passage of Delaware’s LGBTQ nondiscrimination law. In 2016, she earned a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention, making her the first openly transgender person to address a major political party’s convention.
McBride, who also served as an intern for the LGBTQ Victory Fund, is an alumna of the LGBTQ Victory Institute’s 2012 Candidate & Campaign Training, an annual four-day “bootcamp-style” training that teaches out LGBTQ leaders how to run for political office.
Related: Running for Change: Sarah McBride is ready to make history
“Sarah continues to revolutionize what is possible for a trans person — whether inside the White House or from the largest stage in Democratic politics — and she will almost certainly be making history again as the nation’s first out trans state senator,” Annise Parker, a former mayor of Houston and president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement.
“Former Governor Jack Markell, state legislators and countless advocates describe Sarah as the lynchpin in lobbying efforts to secure statewide gender identity non-discrimination protections six years ago. That was with Sarah working from the outside,” Parker added. “The impact of her presence and voice in the state legislature will be transformative, changing hearts and minds and leading to more inclusive legislation.”
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