Throughout the Republican midterm convention, Republicans consistently fearmongered about transgender people, the possibility of their playing in women’s sports and Democratic support for children under 18 receiving health care to transition.
But ahead of the convention, the first openly transgender member of Congress had an important message for transgender youth: do not give up hope.
And Rep. Sarah McBride should know. In 2024, she became the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress in 2024 after serving as a state senator from Delaware — and despite a wave of anti-trans sentiment across the country.
“I can tell them, as someone who is trans and who every single day spends my day talking with people across the political and ideological divide,” she told The Independent. “I can tell you that most people are good and decent and kind, and we are not as divided as the algorithms make it seem.”
But as Republicans remain down in the polls — even in red states like Texas — they have increasingly leaned into anti-trans advertisements. On Friday, the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC affiliated with Majority Leader John Thune, launched an attack ad criticizing Senate candidate James Talarico for voting against a piece of legislation that would ban puberty blockers and transition surgeries for children under 18.
“Radical liberal James Talarico, for They/Them, not you,” the ad says. The line harks back to President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign ad that used the same line: “Kamala is for They/Them, President Trump is for you.” In addition, Vice President JD Vance attacked Talarico for talking about Talarico’s support for transgender youth.
Vance also seemed to imply that Talarico preys upon transgender youth.
“A guy that age who was so obsessed and focused on transgender children, I don't know about you, but I never want to see that guy's web browser history,” Vance said in Dallas Thursday night.
But McBride said that the focus on transgender people rings hollow amid the war in Iran.
“Well, they're still obsessed, they've been obsessed,” she told The Independent. “They are the party that is fomenting culture wars while also starting forever wars.”
Republicans have not just attacked Democrats for supporting transgender people competing in women’s sports. Polling shows a majority of Americans oppose allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.
McBride said that Republicans have focused on transgender issues as a bogeyman issue consistently since returning to power. The majority party has attempted to pass legislation that failed that would ban trans women from competing in sports. They also tried to include a provision in the One Big, Beautiful Bill to prevent Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for transgender people of all ages.
“I think it's hard for the far right to foment fear around this issue when everyone around the country sees that the only thing that's happening at the federal level, and frankly, really the only thing that's happening in most states right now is an onslaught of culture war-obsessed, cruel anti-LGBTQ legislation,” McBride said.
Republicans have also taken aim at McBride since she came to Capitol Hill. Some of her Republican colleagues have misgendered her in committee hearings or when she speaks on the House floor. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) attempted to ban McBride from using women’s restrooms before McBride was even sworn in.
“I think I think the public has not only grown tired of it, but they see the cruelty,” she said. “They see the meanness of it, regardless of what they think on particular specific policy issues.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have struggled to come up with a response.
This week, Talarico angered some of his supporters when he told Fox News, “I oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.”
In Iowa, Elon Musk’s America PAC has spent money against Democratic nominee for Senate Josh Turek attacking him for votes in the state legislature saying “Josh Turek voted to spend our tax dollars on sex change surgeries for children” and “to let biological men enter enter girls' locker rooms and bathrooms.”
The anti-transgender sentiment has not been restricted to politics. The WNBA has seen swarms of anti-transgender protesters after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she opposed transgender women participating in women’s sports.
But McBride said that she had an important message for transgender youth who might be bullied.
“The first thing I'd say is that what you see on the TV and what you see on the news is not reflective of where most people are,” she said. “People are good and decent and kind, and our community, all of us, can still tap people's better angels, but we have to maintain our belief that those angels exist within them.”
McBride also said that as a transgender person, she interacts with people every day who disagree with her.
“The second is, you matter, and you're not alone, and there are a lot of people, not just here, but around the country, who see you, who love you, and who are fighting every single day to make sure that all of us are treated with dignity and respect.”
