AU College Democrats kicked off their semester of events on Aug. 31 by hosting guest speaker Sarah McBride, an AU alum, former student government president and LGBT rights activist.
McBride serves as the press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBT rights, according to the organization’s website.
McBride spoke to students, including many freshmen, about topics ranging from freedom and justice to canvassing and voting for Democrats. Additionally, McBride, who is transgender, spoke about how she has seen progress surrounding transgender rights in society.
“I see that change is possible in a young transgender girl named Lulu and when I met her, her first question to me was filled with so much pride,” McBride said. “She asked me ‘what’s your favorite part of being transgender?’”
McBride also mentioned another transgender girl she met, an 11-year-old named Stella.
“I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, she proudly declared without hesitation the first transgender president,” McBride said. “Stella and Lulu, the very fact that they exist today shows how far we’ve come.”
Thank you so much @SarahEMcBride for coming to our first meeting last night and giving us the passion we need to fight. pic.twitter.com/YamBgYXyw7
— AU College Democrats (@AUCollegeDems) September 1, 2017
After McBride spoke, she took questions from the audience. One student asked about how to continue supporting Democrats.
“Showing up and being here is step one, step two is continuing to be involved, continuing to campaign for Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey in 2018 because these politicians need to understand that when they stand by Donald Trump, they’re going to lose their seats,” McBride said.
McBride expressed anger about President Trump’s recent comments about violent protests in Charlottesville.
“I don’t care if someone tells me that I can’t say this, it means speaking truth to power and that means when Donald Trump calls neo-Nazi and white supremacists fine people, we will call Donald Trump exactly what he is -- wholly and completely unfit to serve as president of the United States,” McBride said.
In the audience, sophomore Peri Kirkpatrick said he enjoyed hearing from McBride.
“She’s amazing and I have to echo what I heard from Yaz [club president Yazan Hanouneh], I watched her at the Democratic National Convention and then I followed her on Twitter and Facebook,” Kirkpatrick said. “She is so funny and she stays true to what she preaches.”
