Delaware state senator Sarah McBride won a seat in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, making her the first openly transgender politician elected to Congress.
American news networks projected that the Democrat was a comfortable winner against Republican John Whalen III, as she held an unassailable lead with nearly two-thirds of the ballots counted.
“Delaware has sent the message loud and clear that we must be a country that protects reproductive freedom… and that’s a democracy,” he said in a statement posted on social media. Which is huge for all of us.”
McBride told CBS in a recent interview that her other priorities would be “affordable child care, paid family and medical leave, housing, health care.”
Transgender rights have become a major issue in the US election – sparking heated debate over the participation of trans people in competitive sports and access to gender-affirming care for minors.
Democrats broadly support transgender rights, but many Republicans see it as political correctness that ignores the erosion of biological women’s rights in their own spaces, from bathrooms and prisons to sporting events.
The White House race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has been dominated by a fight over TV advertising, with the Republican former president last year accusing Democrats of “left-wing gender madness” with regard to transgender youth.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund congratulated McBride for “making history” in American politics.
“Sarah’s voice is important and she will continue to be a tireless advocate for her constituents and community,” the group said.
The fund has identified at least 62 transgender candidates running across the country this year — nearly double the 34 who ran in 2020.
They include former Spanish teacher Mel Manuel, who considers herself transgender and non-binary and was running for a seat in Louisiana, one of the most traditionally conservative in the country.
But in the early stages of the count he trailed Republican heavyweight Steve Scalise by nearly 50 percentage points.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
