Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), the first out transgender member of Congress, said in an interview today that the Democratic Party needs to have a more open mind and be less dogmatic about transgender rights issues, implying that the party should be more willing to accept opponents of transgender equality.
“We have to create more space in our tent,” she told News of the United States (NOTUS), which says that she and her staff have been telling her Democratic colleagues that they shouldn’t be strident about trans rights — specifically when it comes to athletics — to avoid causing intra-party strife.
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“If, for instance, we want to have a majoritarian coalition — not just electorally, but specifically on issues around trans rights — that, by necessity, is going to have to include people who have a range of thoughts,” McBride continued.
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“A binary choice between being all-on or all-off is not constructive for anyone,” she said. “It impedes the very needed path toward winning electorally, winning hearts and minds, and, most importantly, winning progress.”
“I do think I understand, as a trans person, how to meet people who aren’t trans where they are, and how to find commonality with people,” she said. “Part of that is creating room for a lack of understanding, for disagreement, for grace and, therefore, to create room for growth.”
Transgender rights issues became a centerpiece of the 2024 election season as the Trump campaign, as well as several down-ticket Republican campaigns, focused on attacking Democrats as too supportive of transgender rights. One ad that the Trump campaign spent millions to air accused then-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris of supporting “they/them” instead of “you.”
Shortly after Election Day, some Democratic members of Congress, like Reps. Seth Mouton (D-MA) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), called for the Democratic party to reconsider its support for transgender participation in sports.
“The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” Suozzi said in November. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports. Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.”
McBride said that she met with both of them. She told NOTUS that they shouldn’t have faced the backlash that they did.
“I think it is an incredibly problematic instinct that many have to excommunicate people who aren’t in lockstep with you on every policy or even aren’t in lockstep with you on the messaging,” she said.
This isn’t the first time McBride has taken a non-confrontational approach to transphobia since she was elected to Congress.
Shortly after Election Day, McBride became the target of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who introduced several resolutions banning trans women from using women’s facilities, including one focused on the Capitol. Even though trans people have been visiting and working at the Capitol for decades without incident, Mace wanted trans women banned from women’s facilities and admitted that her crusade was a response to McBride’s election.
McBride chose not to fight Mace, accepting Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to ban trans women from women’s facilities at the Capitol. McBride issued a statement at the time, calling the entire issue a distraction.
“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” she said. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.”
In February, when a Republican called her a “gentleman” on the floor of the House and then bragged about it online, McBride chose not to respond and instead shared video of the “entire speech” that she delivered after she was misgendered, which was about the Trump administration’s illegal freezing of mandated funding for government services in her state, including funding for food, research programs, and opioid prevention programs.
In March, when Rep. Keith Self (R-PA) called her “Mr. McBride” in a subcommittee hearing, McBride responded by calling him “Madame Chair” to subtly call attention to his insult. Another Democrat stood up for McBride, and Self responded by adjourning the hearing.
McBride’s approach led to criticism from trans people.
“Saying she’ll ‘follow the rules’ because she was not elected to ‘fight about bathrooms’ is avoiding the argument,” wrote Stephanie Wade for LGBTQ Nation this past December. “McBride’s response using generic talking points about ‘working for the American people’ and bringing ‘down costs’ is just deflection.”
“Democrats like McBride should find their voice and rally not just trans Americans but all those who care for equality and justice. It’s not a policy problem but a conviction problem. A lack of strident commitment has undermined the trust of voters for decades,” Wade added.
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