‘History often happens one step at a time’: Delaware Sen. Sarah McBride is witnessing history — while making it herself

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The atmosphere inside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is energizing, said Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride.

McBride has now attended the two Democratic National Conventions where women have been the presidential nominees, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“History often happens one step at a time,” she said. “With trailblazers standing on the shoulders of previous trailblazers.”

But McBride continues to make history herself. In 2016, representing the Human Rights Campaign, she was the first transgender person to speak at a major party’s national convention. She became the first openly transgender person to serve as a state legislator two years later and is campaigning to be the first transgender woman to serve in Congress.

On Monday night of the DNC Convention, Clinton told attendees she helped pave the way for Harris, who would, if elected, be the first woman and the first Black woman to become president.

“Together, we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “Tonight [we’re] so close to breaking through once and for all.”

McBride said she hopes Harris can finish that breakthrough Clinton started in November.

“I firmly believe that this year, we will shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling and elect the first woman president in our nation’s history,” she said. “That is, I think, where the excitement is, and that’s where the hope comes from, and that’s the real history at the end of the day that this convention is about.”

In 2016, McBride told the DNC crowd in Philadelphia that more work reducing discrimination for LGBTQ people lay ahead.

“Will we be a nation where there’s only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live,” she said eight years ago. “Or will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally?”

While states have passed a handful of anti-LGBTQ bills every year, there has been an uptick in federal and state efforts since 2016 that has targeted transgender care for minors, and restricted bathroom usage for students that align with their gender identity and limited access to books with LGBTQ characters and themes.

McBride said speaking at the DNC in 2016 made her feel like she belonged.

“It was comforting, because it was one of the first times that I and so many other people like me had the opportunity to see that there may be a place for us in our Democracy,” she said. “That we could have our voices heard, that we could have a seat at the table in a very public way, and that the Democratic Party was a party that truly welcomed and embraced everyone’s talents and potential.”

The First State senator said despite all of the history she’s made, her campaign for Congress isn’t just about that.

“I’m running to make a difference,” she said. “To do what I have done in the Delaware State Senate, which is to deliver for working people and their families.”

McBride said she is also concerned about attacks on people’s ability to live their lives free from interference from those who don’t like their choices.

“The attacks we’re seeing target and impact a large majority of Americans across different backgrounds and identities,” McBride said. “Fundamentally, it’s about control. It’s about controlling people’s bodies and decisions.”

McBride faces Earl Cooper and Elias Weir in the September 10 primary. Whoever wins will compete against Republicans Donyale Hall or John Whalen in the November general election.