American University alum and activist Sarah McBride will return to AU’s campus Thursday night to discuss her new memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality.”
During her time at AU, McBride served as the student government president from 2011 to 2012. In her last week as SG president, McBride earned national attention when she came out publicly as transgender in an Eagle op-ed. She graduated from the School of Public Affairs in 2013.
She is now known for her activism within the LGBTQ community and her role as the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. In 2016, McBride was the first openly transgender person to speak at a national party convention when she delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention.
McBride’s memoir, published last May, details McBride’s childhood and her relationship with fellow trans activist Andrew Cray, who died from cancer in 2014 shortly after marrying McBride. The book also describes McBride’s journey into activism before, during and after college.
Known for her advocacy work for the transgender community, she is a member of Delaware’s main LGBTQ organization, the Board of Directors of Equality Delaware. With this organization, she led lobbying efforts to include gender identity and expression in Delaware’s nondiscrimination legislation. McBride has also worked for former Governor of Delaware Jack Markell and former Attorney General Beau Biden, and she was the first openly transgender person to intern at the White House.
The memoir “provides an insightful look into the LGBTQ community’s battle for equal rights and what it means to be openly transgender” and “weaves important political and cultural milestones into a personal journey that will open hearts and change minds,” according to the event's website.
Other reviews speak similar volumes. Washington Post critic Leigh Giangreco described her story as “heartening” and “inspiring”; Roz Kaveney, a commentator for The Guardian, called McBride’s journey a “fascinating look at how progress gets made.”
McBride is slated to discuss the fight for transgender rights and her journey as a transgender woman at the Katzen Arts Center at 7 p.m. Thursday. Interested students can register for the event here.
