Public backing for transgender rights has slipped from where it stood five years ago, and the movement needs to rethink its approach, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), a transgender activist and lawmaker, told a pro-transgender religious broadcaster.
“Many of the strategies and tactics that we employed over the last five years didn’t work,” McBride said, before pointing to one approach in particular:
That includes a strategy of cutting off relationships. We need you to stay in conversation with people [family members, politicians] who aren’t on our side. You might not say everything perfectly. It’s okay to be imperfect. You don’t have to be the perfect ally.
McBride made the remarks in an Epworth United Methodist Church video titled “Dignity, Grace, and Better Angels.”
She acknowledged that cutting ties can feel justified when LGBT people are confronted with painful or hostile comments.
“This strategy of cutting off conversation and even cutting off relationships, it was done from a good place. I get when you’re an LGBTQ person, for instance, if you’re in a space where a person is saying deeply hurtful things about LGBTQ people,” McBride said.
“You’re going to want to extract yourself from that situation. I have no problem with that happening, especially if someone’s mental and physical health is really at risk.”
At the same time, McBride urged supporters and allies of transgender rights to keep talking with people who disagree rather than abandoning those conversations altogether.
“I don’t want all of my friends and family members and allies though to do the same with that person because I want my friends and family and allies to be able to be proximate to that person so that they can continue to have conversations — to push back, to hold them accountable,” McBride stated.
McBride’s comments drew criticism on X, with users pushing back on the call for allies to stay engaged.
