A momentous occasion
As voting in the US election rumbles on this morning, there are celebrations underway in Delaware as a 30-year-old LGBTQ+ activist becomes the first ever trans woman elected to the US Senate.
Sarah McBride has made history as the first trans woman elected to Delaware’s state senate. Speaking to Buzzfeed News just moments after her win Sarah said she “hopes her achievement as the first-ever openly trans state senator will encourage other young LGBTQ people to follow their dreams”.
I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too.
— Sen. Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 4, 2020
McBride, a former White House intern under the Obama administration, came out during her tenure as president of the student body president of the American University in Washington, DC, in 2012. When she is sworn is she will become the highest-ranking transgender elected official in the United States.
Meanwhile in the race for the White House it’s too close to call as election officials in key swing states continue to count valid ballots. The process could continue for days as the US counts an unprecedented number of absentee ballots, and president Trump is already laying the groundwork for a legal battle over the validity of the results.
Speaking at the White House late on election night, Trump falsely declared victory, called the election a ‘fraud’ and expressed his desire for vote counts to stop.
