Today is Trans Day of Visibility, a day to celebrate the growing representation of transgender people in business, the arts, and politics. And when it comes to trans representation, it’s safe to say that we’ve come a long way since I was a kid.
But this year’s Trans Day of Visibility hits differently than in years past. This is a frightening time for so many in our country.
But we must remain firm in our values and our vision in this moment — and, just as importantly, we should never give up on our ability to win over more people to more fully see our humanity and support our rights. It’s not always fair work, and it’s certainly not always easy work, but through the power of our proximity we can still open the hearts and change the minds of imperfect or unlikely allies.
That’s what we celebrate on this Trans Day of Visibility. Our visibility not only has the ability to inspire one another. It also has the capacity to push past the caricatures to invite more people in, to grow the tent of allies, to defeat the hateful attacks, and to lay the foundation for freedom and safety for trans people in every corner of our country and every part of our globe.
Growing up, I never imagined that I would one day serve in public office — let alone Congress — as my authentic self. But last November, because of hundreds of thousands of voters and supporters in Delaware and across the country, we shattered the national lavender glass ceiling and proved that our democracy can be big enough for all of us.
And as the first trans member of Congress to be elected, the way I can guarantee I’m not the last is to quite simply be the best member of Congress that I can be. To continue to fight for what’s right and for who needs it most. And to show that trans people are multi-dimensional human beings.
That’s exactly what I plan to do — and I’m going to need your help every step of the way.
Because in addition to Trans Day of Visibility, today is also important for another reason. We’re coming up on a critical end-of-quarter fundraising deadline at midnight tonight, after which we’ll have to publicly report all of our fundraising so far this year.
In solidarity,
Sarah McBride
