Sarah McBride

McBride in 2018

In January 2013, McBride joined the board of directors of Equality Delaware and quickly became the state's leading advocate for legal protections and hate crimes legislation for transgender Delawareans. McBride and her family led the lobbying effort for legislation protecting Delawareans from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment, housing, insurance, and public accommodations.[18][19] In addition to serving as the primary spokesperson for the legislation, McBride's close relationship with Governor Jack Markell and Attorney General Beau Biden was credited with getting both elected officials vocally behind the bill. The legislation passed the state senate by a margin of one vote and the state house by a vote of 24-17. The amended bill was then re-passed by the state senate and immediately signed into law by Markell in June 2013.[20]

Upon signing the legislation, Markell stated:[21]

I especially want to thank my friend Sarah McBride, an intelligent and talented Delawarean who happens to be transgender. She courageously stood before the General Assembly to describe her personal struggles with gender identity and communicate her desire to return home after her college graduation without fear. Her tireless advocacy for passage of this legislation has made a real difference for all transgender people in Delaware.

After the passage of Delaware's gender identity protections and hate crimes legislation, McBride worked on the LGBT Progress team at the Center for American Progress.[22] McBride has spoken at a number of colleges and LGBT events, including the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner,[16] the Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles Dinner,[23] the Victory Fund National Brunch,[24] the University of Pennsylvania,[25] and Gettysburg College.[26] McBride was ranked the Most Valuable Progressive in Delaware by DelawareLiberal.net[27] listed in the 2014 list of the Trans 100,[28] and named one of the fifty upcoming millennials poised to make a difference in the coming years by MIC.com.[29] A 2015 article in the New Statesman on transgender representation in elective office predicted McBride would be the first transgender American elected to high public office.[30] McBride was a panelist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "GLOBE Pride 2016" on youth and workplace bullying. McBride has been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, Teen Vogue, North Carolina Public Radio, The New Yorker, MSNBC, ThinkProgress, Buzzfeed, and NPR.

In April 2016, McBride delivered a TED Talk titled, "Gender assigned to us at birth should not dictate who we are."[31] She also served on the steering committee of Trans United for Hillary, an effort to educate and mobilize transgender people and their allies in support of Hillary Clinton.[32]

On July 28, 2016, McBride became the first openly transgender person to speak at a national party convention when she spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. In her speech, which lasted less than four minutes, McBride paid tribute to her late husband Andrew Cray and his commitment to LGBT rights.[33]

On July 9, 2019, McBride formally announced her candidacy for the Delaware Senate.[34] Sarah stated that her focus will be health care and paid family and medical leave.[35]

McBride was sworn in as a member of the Delaware Senate in January 2021. She is the first transgender state senator in United States history. She replaced fellow Democrat Harris McDowell III, who retired at the end of his term.[36]