Transgender Rep. Sarah McBride reacts to Trump's policy on gender
Jan 21, 2025
In Congresswoman Sarah McBride’s office, there is a photo of her with now-former President Joe Biden.
She was in the Capitol Rotunda this week for the last moments of his term and the first moments of President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I did think it was important to show that Democrats and Republicans were coming together for this peaceful transfer of power,” McBride said.
McBride represents Delaware in the House of Representatives and she’s also the first openly transgender member of Congress.
She is serving as the issue of transgender rights gets a new spotlight in the Trump Administration and the inauguration address.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: Male and female,” Trump said.
When asked what her reaction was to that moment, McBride says she stayed in her chair and she did not clap.
“Neither did many people in that room,” McBride said.
Trump then went on to issue an executive action on that policy in his first hours in the White House on Monday.
“No executive action, no legislative action for that matter, can erase the reality of diversity across gender in our society,” McBride told NBC Philadelphia.
McBride said that it’s not clear what the practical impact of this order may be.
“There may be consequences for privacy for some LGBTQ people with regard to identity documents. There may be impacts across federal programs,” she said.