On Tuesday (September 24th) I attended the first event in the Sharp Viewpoint Series. The speaker of the evening was Sarah McBride. She is the press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign which is the largest LGBTQ advocacy and lobbying group in the United States. She is a graduate of American University, running for Delaware state senate and she is also a transwoman.
Sarah began her speech with telling her own story of how she came out to her family and her university. She came out to her school in an op-ed in the school newspaper and shared that the support was overwhelmingly positive which she also recognized was not the norm for many LGBTQ people, especially people who are trans. I never though about it this way but Sarah said that people in general are less accepting of trans people than gay people because most people know how it feels to love someone or love someone they are not supposed to, but most people do not full understand the identity crisis trans people go through. Her story was very moving and she spoke with such eloquence and passion it was easy to follow her emotions both in the moments she was retelling and during the speech.
One quote from the event that really stuck with me was when Sarah said people claim being anti-LGBTQ under the guise of religious freedom but religious freedom should not be a “sword to harm already marginalized people”. This is an example of intersectionality we talked about in class. Transpeople, especially trans women are subject to transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, sexism and more.
Sarah left the audience with two very powerful pieces of advice. One: there is no wrong way to be you. And two: you are powerful. Everyone has insecurities but if you accept and replace those insecurities with pride, bullies will see that power and become jealous.
Sarah is a great example of a leader. She has not only taken on local leadership but has taken her personal experiences and beliefs to the national level through her work with the Human Rights Campaign and her campaign for Delaware senate. She is an example of a charismatic leader who recognized her circumstances and rose to be the voice of people like her and people who support her.
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