History was made on Election Day after voters in Delaware elected the first transgender state senator in American history. On Tuesday, Democrat Sarah McBride defeated Republic Steve Washington to win a seat that became open following the retirement of the longest-serving legislator in Delaware history.
McBride isn’t new to the political spotlight. You might remember McBride from 2016 when she became the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention, and she interned at the White House under former President Barack Obama.
As stated by Vox, McBride’s victory comes at a time when lawmakers in state legislatures across the country have been introducing laws targeting transgender and nonbinary people — from barring health care for trans youth to banning female trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Hopefully, her inclusion in the US senate can help lead to the reversal of those oppressive laws and inspire the creation of more inclusive legislation for the LGBTQ community.