Sarah McBride made models of the White House when she was 6. Her childhood dream, as a Delawarean, was to meet Joe Biden. Then last November, one of her ambitions came true when was elected to the House of Representatives. She became the first openly trans member of Congress, a historic achievement that also happened to coincide with a rise in anti-trans sentiment and the election of Donald Trump. We talk with McBride about how she navigates Congress, personally and politically, and how she thinks Democrats can make it through the minefield of the culture wars. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Sarah McBride and what is her significance?
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In November, two weeks after Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first trans member of Congress, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a bill that would forbid transgender women from using female restrooms in the U.S. Capitol, which was McBride's new workplace.
And when asked if this was in direct response to McBride's win, Mace responded with, quote, yes, and absolutely, and then some.
I'm not going to stand for a man. You know, if someone with a penis is in the women's locker room, that's not OK.
Then last month, in March, at a House hearing. I now recognize the representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride. Representative Keith Self of Texas introduced McBride by misgendering her, to which she replied. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ranking Member Keating, also wonderful. Mr. Chairman, could you repeat your introduction again, please? That is the biggest takeaway for me. One of the biggest takeaways for me is how much Congress is sadly a reality TV show.
Meaning that it's performative?
And meaning that the goal of the day is to get airtime. And in order to get airtime, the easiest way is to use the strategies of folks on Bravo TV shows where to get airtime, you pick a person, pick a fight with them, throw wine in their face, and that gets airtime.
And that's not only the strategy, but really the defining feature of what is a win versus a loss for a lot of the Republican members of Congress.
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Chapter 2: What challenges did Sarah McBride face in Congress?
Thank you, Madam Speaker. You know, I've been intentionally misgendered. Before I came to Congress, I wasn't getting misgendered pretty much ever. And occasionally, I would get misgendered intentionally, someone trying to score points. You know, I'd be in a parade and someone would yell something out. And That doesn't bother me, right?
Like, I know they're doing it in a way that's crude, but, like, it's not news to me that I'm trans, right? I'm proud of who I am. That's not a problem. I didn't think it would be sort of emotionally heavy for me. It is a different thing when it's coming from the dais of the United States House of Representatives, right? It is a different thing when it's in the congressional record, and that does—
That does hurt more than it would typically. I think for me, in that moment, what hurt on the floor was I could see people in the gallery snickering. And I'm a person, right? This is the first time I'm on the floor of the House of Representatives. I'm nervous to deliver my first floor speech. And so I just went into my speech and delivered it.
In the instance in committee where I did respond by saying, to a man who was presiding. That was a good.
I was wondering, did she have that in her head already prepared? Or did that just come spontaneously when you called him Madam Chair? Because that was pretty good.
I truthfully regretted saying Madam Chair right after I said it. Did you? I went back to my office and was not happy with myself. It's just not my style. I'm really here to focus on the job and to be serious. And like you can have humor and like sometimes it's right to just sort of respond in kind.
But I don't think I fulfill my responsibilities to anyone, whether that's Delawareans or any other community I'm a part of, by consistently sinking to their level.
It is a lot of pressure. It immediately popped into my mind, Jackie Robinson, Tour of the South, sort of having to play. I mean, the amount of—it's a lot of pressure, I think, for you to be perfect. Like, look perfect, be perfect, act perfect, do everything perfectly.
I mean, it seems like that's—maybe that's the pressure on a first, and you somehow recognize that, or you're a naturally diplomatic person. I'm not sure, but—
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Chapter 3: How is misgendering used as a political tactic?
I mean, I just had never experienced that level of hate. Now it's essentially an everyday occurrence. Really? I mean, online, it's pretty incessant.
To what, though? Like, any time you have a picture or you're... Oh, anything I do.
I mean, I said the other week I live rent-free in some folks' heads, and it's... I mean, I will say stuff that have nothing to do with me, and literally just saying it will result in a torrent of anti...
trans commentary but like I mean that it doesn't bother me anymore because of that experience that I had then where I realized so I I got this hate including a lot of people telling me I should kill myself Yeah, what was the phrase? It's KYS. KYS, KYS, KYS. And I never would have expected that people telling me that I should do that would ever actually impact me.
But at a certain point, the volume and velocity of it became so much that I couldn't help but feel it. And I remember after this, I remember thinking, I don't know that I can do this, do this work. And I went on this sort of information adventure to understand the psychology and bullying of trolling, and I came across a This American Life episode that really just allowed things to click for me.
It was a Lindy West who wrote about her body and her weight a lot, and she would get trolled, and then she wrote about how much that trolling hurt her, and the troll reached out and apologized.
Oh, was this the episode where they actually talked to the troll?
Yes.
And I will remember that episode forever because they talked to the troll. And it was very weird, that episode. It was like the troll was like, yeah, I don't know, no biggie. I was just doing my thing.
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