Rep. Sarah McBride rejects being seen as ‘walking trans flag’ in ‘State of Firsts’ doc

In The Know Rep. Sarah McBride rejects being seen as ‘walking trans flag’ in ‘State of Firsts’ doc Comments: by Judy Kurtz - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Judy Kurtz - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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She made history as the first openly transgender member of Congress, and now a documentary is giving an inside look into the 2024 run that landed Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) in the Capitol.

“State of Firsts,” McBride told ITK, details the highs and lows of the campaign trail, but also “the nuances that come with not only running for office, serving in public office, but doing so as a first.”

“This is, as far as I can tell, the first time that someone has been a first, and the identity that makes them a first is at the center of national political debate, and the district that they’re representing is not significantly or predominantly made up of that same very identity,” McBride, 35, said.

Part of the “unbelievable challenge,” she said in the film of her House bid, was “figuring out how to ensure that I am seen as a whole human being rather than just a walking trans flag.”

“I’m proud of who I am and the journey that I’ve been on throughout my life toward a deeper authenticity and a living of my truth that guarantees that I have as few regrets at the end of my life as possible,” McBride said, “but I am also so much more than that one part of my journey.”

Her political opponents, she said, “try to paint me as a single-issue legislator or an activist who’s here just to work on one set of issues.”

“In the face of that, it’s incredibly important for me to be crystal clear that not only am I a whole person, but that my priorities reflect the priorities of my constituents.”

In the documentary, McBride opened up about defending herself against “mean and rude” jabs from some of her new colleagues after she was sworn in last year. Her job, she told the cameras, was “to not give them the response they want.”

“When people try to make me the issue, I am not going to take their bait,” McBride told ITK, calling them “very cynical ploys for attention.”

“Unfortunately, so often this place is defined by a politics of reality TV,” McBride said of Congress.

“And how do you get attention on a reality TV show? You throw wine in a person’s face. That gets a person a little bit of air time.”

“But the way to get a season-long story arc is that the person who you threw wine in the face of responds by throwing wine back, because then you have a feud,” the lawmaker said.

“I knew that these folks were coming after me for attention — for clicks and virality — and that they would not get as much attention if I turned the other cheek,” McBride said.

“Fortunately that has resulted not only in those indignities diminishing, it’s also resulted in so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle coming up to me and saying not only, ‘Welcome to Congress,’ not only, ‘I’m sorry that you’re facing these indignities,’ but also, ‘Let’s find opportunities to work together to show people that not everyone here is like that.'”

When asked which of her Republican colleagues she’s been able to find common ground with, McBride — who noted that she introduced more bipartisan legislation in the 119th Congress than any other freshman Democrat — said with a grin, “Listen, I want to be mindful of the political careers of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who face primary challenges themselves.”

“One person who I always fist bump in the hallway is Tim Burchett from Tennessee,” McBride said of the GOP congressman, who she said, “always makes me laugh.”

“I disagree with them strongly on a lot of issues. I certainly wish to see more courage from my Republican colleagues in standing up to this administration, but from a professionalism standpoint, most of my colleagues have been professional and cordial, and many have been eager to collaborate and work together.”

“State of Firsts,” which is out in select cities and theaters across the country, also documents McBride’s reaction after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instituted a bathroom ban in the Capitol and House office buildings that barred transgender people from single-sex facilities that match their gender identity. In the wake of the 2024 move, McBride said she made a conscious effort to smile everywhere she went, so photographers wouldn’t capture images of her “looking sad.”

“I didn’t want people to see me be shaken. I wanted to not give them that power, and making sure that I was smiling — even in moments that were actually personally hard — was important for me not to give them that power,” she said.

By next year, two of McBride’s most vocal GOP critics, who frequently attacked and misgendered her, will no longer be in Congress. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) resigned earlier this year, and Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) lost her GOP gubernatorial primary bid in the Palmetto State last month.

Asked if she wanted to share a message with either Greene or Mace, McBride deadpanned, “Well, my only regret is that I won’t get to spend more time with them as we move forward.”

A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing last year was adjourned after Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) referred to McBride as “mister.”

“It’s one thing for all of us to have disagreements. It’s another thing to go into a workplace and to intentionally seek to disrespect a colleague. That’s not behavior that would be tolerated in any traditional workplace, and it should, it shouldn’t be behavior that we are happy to accept in the halls of Congress.”

The “vast majority of colleagues,” McBride said, have gotten to know her and have sought to “see in me the wholeness of who I am and what voters in my district valued in me.”

“I’m sorry that there are a handful that refuse to engage in that way, and I’m sorry that they won’t have the time here to get to see that.”

McBride, who spoke with The Hill before the Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday allowing states to bar transgender girls from competing on girls’ and women’s school sports teams, said that there are lessons to be learned from the 2024 election cycle on how best to push back against transgender-related attacks as Democrats approach the midterms.

“We have to be willing to respond, and the best inoculation against culture war attacks is an economic focus,” she said, ripping President Trump’s abrupt cancelation of the signing of a bipartisan housing bill last week, which she called the “perfect example” of a Republican Party that’s “obsessed” with “deprioritizing affordability and prioritizing going after and fear mongering vulnerable people in our society.” Trump said he wouldn’t sign the legislation until the Senate passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.

“He’s prioritizing the so-called Save America Act, which is just a culture war buffet,” McBride said.

But, she said, Democrats need to strike a careful balance.

“As we respond, we should not be judgmental. We should not denounce anyone with understandable concerns about specific issues. We should not dismiss them as bigots. We should not dismiss them as evil. We should not dismiss them as transphobic. We should engage with people of good will and good intentions who have questions or understandable concerns.”

The hardest thing about being a “first” in Congress, McBride said, has been “the desire by some people to try to draw attention for themselves at my expense.”

“I’ve employed a particular strategy. It’s a strategy that firsts throughout history have employed, and I’ve seen the byproduct of that strategy in the receipts that I’ve brought for the people that I represent,” she said.

McBride said that her hope with “State of Firsts” is that it offers “a lot of lessons for those who may come after me — not just other trans people — but anyone else who questions whether the heart of this country is big enough to love them too, questions whether they can have a seat at the table as well.”

“Hopefully, it provides them some lessons for how to navigate a moment like this, and that they too can not only run, but end up serving, and hopefully end up being an effective legislator.”