Transgender Activist Sarah McBride made history last week as the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States.
“My name is Sarah McBride and I am a proud transgender American!”
McBride addressed the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as she spoke about living an authentic life. “Today in America LGBTQ people are still targeted by hate that lives in both laws and in hearts,” McBride said in her address. “Many still struggle just to get by, but I believe tomorrow can be different.”
Born in Delaware, McBride was student body president at American University. She was also the first Openly transgender woman to intern at the White House. McBride was instrumental in getting the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act passed in her home state. She now serves as the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign.
No stranger to public speaking, Sarah McBride also made a video for TEDx MidAtlantic back in April.
“I had finally come out of the closet, only to find myself stuck in the kitchen.”
In the video, McBride talks about the new barriers she faces after coming out as transgender. She discusses coming out, transitioning, misogyny, sexism, gender roles and attitudes towards transgender people in general. She describes how the same forces that perpetuate sexism are also the same forces that are against equality for transgender people.
Watch Sarah McBrides Ted talk, titled, “Gender Assigned to Us at Birth Should Not Dictate Who We Are” below.
