How valuable will Sarah McBride be in the fight for trans rights?
She's a Zionist, so my money is on "not very."
A history making achievement…but at what cost?
On November 5, 2024, Sarah McBride, currently a Delawarean state senator, won the election for her district to serve in the House of Representatives. This was, undoubtedly, historic - it was also one of very few “victories” for the Democratic party in this general election. The first out transgender person to be elected to federal office is absolutely a win, but as Sarah was thrust into the national spotlight as a result of this victory, many went from excited to deflated.
Sarah McBride is a Zionist. This is abundantly important to state, plainly and nakedly. This is also, sadly, not uncommon among Democrats. Much of the party support Israel. To put it in often repeated words, they “support Israel’s right to defend itself.” A “defense” that is actually an offensive, killing civilians and keeping Palestinians in an open air prison, making them fight back to try and stop the oppression and colonization of Palestinian land. Great stuff Democrats.
But McBride is actually even more Zionist than many. In an interview with Jewish Insider back in 2023, McBride said she has “serious concerns about any policy that would single out Israel” in regards to how aid given by the United States is used. So she is just…completely ignorant on what Israel is truly doing? Oh, but in a debate for the election she ended up winning, she said that she is “heartbroken” over the violence in the middle east. She’s very empathetic I’m sure to the plight of Palestine…
I mean, she has voiced support for a ceasefire! Sure she wants to and cheers on giving Israel more aid, and champions how well the United States’ aid has helped Israel “defend” itself. But she wants a ceasefire!! Conveniently ignoring the fact that the ceasefire proposals have been accepted by Hamas but shot down by Israel.
However, this piece is not about McBride’s support for Israel. At least, not fully. I think it is an important first piece of the puzzle when analyzing if and how, exactly, McBride will fight for her fellow transgender people (of which I, the author, am one).
When to push, when to pull, and when to give up
While Sarah McBride was elected to represent her district in Delaware, undoubtedly she realized and knew that if she was elected she would be in part representing all transgender folks. So it is not like she did not know what she was getting into. In a time of increased bigotry toward transgender people having someone in federal government standing up for transgender folks, speaking up about the issues that affect us, it seems important and a big milestone for transgender rights.
McBride has experience in politics. She interned for the Obama administration, and won state office in 2020. She is not unaware of how to navigate politics. Which is why it was very disappointing that she did not even attempt to put up resistance in the first real fight that she had in office - the bathroom.
So called bathroom bills have become a defining feature of the Republican party’s legislative bigotry towards transgender people. Bathroom bills and sports bans have become the two big pillars for this, because it is relatively easy to fearmonger these points to uneducated, ignorant cis folks who believe the lies they are peddling. And, predictably in a Republican controlled congress, a “bathroom bill” for Congress was enacted in response to McBride being elected. Who would’ve though?
But instead of even trying to push back and dispel the myths surrounding the idea of these bathroom bills, McBride simply tweeted “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”
She also would say, on CBS New’s “Face the Nation” that “every single time we hear the incoming administration or Republicans in Congress talk about any vulnerable group in this country, we have to be clear that it is an attempt to distract.”
It’s hard to truly accurately describe how hard McBride misses the mark with this response. Interestingly, she makes the exact same “mistake” as most of the Democrat party when trying to push back on republican nonsense - she just says that it is a distraction without really digging into any meat on that. At this point in 2024, after so many years of the bigoted nonsense from the other side of the aisle, you’d think Democrats would have wised up to the fact that it’s not simply a distraction but instead a core part of their beliefs as a party, right? You’d think a transgender person, at least, would recognize it.
Maybe, deep down, she does and is trying to blend in with the party. Transgender people, like all minorities, are held to far higher standards than cisgender, heterosexual white folks. So maybe she thinks that not rocking the boat will lead to long term success for her. But if that is her belief, I think it begs the question - why the heck would she ever believe that?
The Republican party of the United States, in 2024, is deeply bigoted not as a distraction but as a value. This is who they are, and we must believe them. Yes, they want to use culture war issues to drive a wedge and “distract” but we must also accept that the cruelty is the point. They don’t have a platform outside of “make the rich more wealthy” and “be cruel to minorities.” When will that sink in for liberal Democrats, even for members of one of those minorities?
Given that, why wouldn’t she fight for something so basic? Why did she turn her back on all of us who are fighting for the same thing?
As usual, it’s up to us and not politicians
On December 5th, 2024, trans activists lead a bathroom sit in at the Capitol. Among those leaders are Chelsea Manning (the same one that Grimes left Elon Musk for! And also, far more importantly, is a national hero for being a whistleblower and the recipient of Obama commuting her sentence to time served in 2017 - one of the very few positive things Obama did). Proving once again that the people must do what our elected politicians are too afraid to.
The activists held a sign that said “Congress stop pissing on our rights!" Hard to put into words how awesome this is. In response, Nancy Mace’s office is looking for a bullhorn, apparently. Nancy Mace is one of the congresspeople who lead the charge for and championed the Capitol “bathroom bill,” and has consistently peddled the same backwards, bigoted rhetoric that has been used by groups opposing minorities gaining equality since forever.
This sit in is also in the context of the Supreme Court holding a hearing on if Tennessee’s gender affirming care for minors ban will be upheld or not (as of now, no ruling has been given, but it is looking like they will uphold the ban). This is a landmark case, and if the supreme court upholds it, there will likely be a wave of similar bans in Republican controlled states. These bans, designed to restrict access to HRT for minors, aims to prolong the suffering of these trans kids, which will increase suicide rates. The cruelty is the point, as there is absolutely no medical reason behind the bans. This is why the bigotry is not a distraction, as McBride claimed - they want us dead and suffering, and the younger we die the better for them.
In the wake of the Supreme Court hearing and the subsequent protest, McBride has been tight lipped. The only thing she has posted since Thanksgiving is a post about the opening of a health center in Delaware, and about Greg Casar being elected to Progressive Caucus chair. While both great things to be talking about, for sure, it is curious how silent she is on the protest and hearing. Is it really that difficult or controversial to tweet support for the protest - or better yet have actually been there? Is it so hard to talk about how backwards and genuinely dangerous for trans youth the Supreme Court hearing is?
Given the Court has not given a ruling, I am holding out hope on her speaking up then. But if she does, won’t it feel a little too late? What is gained by waiting until a ruling, when she could help to rally support to put pressure on the court and gain support of allies that maybe otherwise wouldn’t be paying attention without someone like an elected official making noise about it?
It is still early, and she has not even taken office officially yet. But sadly, I think we can safely say that McBride’s relationship to the fight for trans rights is going to take a similar route as her fight for a ceasefire in the middle east - she is going give vague platitudes about wanting “peace” or wanting us to note that the bigotry is a “distraction”, but like most all liberal Democrats, will never interrogate those points beyond that, will never appeal to populist sentiments, and will not be what the kind of elected official we want or need especially in the face of the rise of American fascism.
Trans people need representation, but McBride will instead continue to lead the only way that her and her liberal democratic colleagues' can - being ineffective and weak.
