Sarah McBride Reveals She Fears for Her Life Amid Anti-Trans Attacks

Congresswoman Sarah McBride — the Delaware state senator who made history in 2020 as the first openly transgender state senator in the U.S.— has revealed that she lives in constant fear.

McBride has been a public servant her whole life. After college, she joined the Human Rights Campaign as national press secretary, where she turned up the volume on LGBTQIA+ rights from 2016 to 2021. That same year, she made history at the Democratic National Convention, becoming the first openly transgender person ever to address a major party gathering.

In June 2023, she announced she’d run for Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat, vowing to carry her state’s values to Washington. Her priorities were affordable healthcare, expanded childcare, reproductive rights, and worker protections. Voters spoke loudly, and in November 2024, McBride secured 58 percent of the vote. She became the first openly transgender member of Congress — and the nation’s highest-ranking trans elected official.

However, her time in politics has not been easy. The congresswoman now lives in fear that she is always in danger.

Sarah McBride lives in fear for her safety.

The Delaware congresswoman dropped jaws at the June 7 premiere of “A State of Firsts,” a documentary on her groundbreaking 2024 campaign. After McBride was barred from using the women’s bathroom at the U.S. Capitol, some expected her to fire back. However, McBride took a different approach, shocking opponents when she chose to comply with the order. “There would be a bounty on my head if I said I refused to comply. I refuse to be martyred. I want to be a member of Congress,” McBride said via Mother Jones. “It’s hard to play the long game when your short-term life is at risk.”

For America’s first openly trans member of Congress, that admission hits different, given the uptick in hate and doxxing aimed her way. McBride made history in January when she took the oath as the first out trans voice on Capitol Hill. But snagging that seat put her squarely on the right’s radar. In November 2024, House Republicans pushed through a resolution to bar trans members from using single-sex facilities — an attack Nancy Mace confirmed targeted McBride. McBride called the attacks political theatre, saying, “You have to remove the incentives for these people, because at the end of the day, the incentive is attention.”

Sarah McBride is unfazed by her political adversaries.

Even as threats swirl, McBride keeps her eyes on the prize. She told viewers during the doc that she’ll grind to lower housing, healthcare, and childcare costs instead of fueling nonsense. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and childcare, not manufacturing culture wars,” McBride said in “A State of Firsts.”

Through all these milestones, McBride has faced personal tragedy. In 2014, she married her longtime partner, Andrew Cray, on their rooftop in D.C. Just days later, he died of cancer. She channeled her grief into advocacy and published her memoir “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality” in 2018. The book includes a foreword by then–Vice President Joe Biden.

Do you think Congress should be doing more to protect LGBTQIA+ lawmakers from targeted hate and threats? Comment below!

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