Take me back to that year. What was it like for you in the months before you came out making that big decision?

It was scary. I had thought about my gender identity every single waking hour of every single day up until that point.

The first time I interviewed Sarah McBride, it was 2012. I was writing for a local blog here in Washington, DC.

She was the student body president at American University, and she had just done something pretty groundbreaking.

I wasn't quite sure how my campus would respond to an out transgender student body president.

Certainly, I didn't even know how they'd necessarily respond to an out transgender student.

Sarah had always had an interest in politics. She'd always wanted to run for office.

It's why she worked on campaigns back home in Delaware and got involved with student government when she got to AU.

But there was a part of her, a big part of her, that thought when she came out as trans, she'd be kissing those dreams goodbye.

I had to say there are just some things more important that there might be other ways that I can contribute,

that I can feel proud of the life that I've lived. None of those will be possible if I don't take this step toward authenticity and wholeness.

But I, in many ways, had to give up on those dreams. I had to say that I'm not going to let a career in government get in the way of alleviating a nearly constant pain and completeness.

So Sarah came out in an essay in the school newspaper, and the reaction she got wasn't exactly what she expected.

What was incredible from the first moment my coming out note posted, every single message that came in was a message of love and support.

One of the things I always said as student body president was that our college campuses should look like the country we want to build in 10 or 15 years.

And on that night at American University in 2012, well, before sort of trans identities and trans rights burst into the national conversation,

our campus was trying to send a small but important message to the broader country, which is that while we may just be learning about transgender people and their identities,

this is how you respond with love, with acceptance and with support.

After graduation, Sarah jumped right into national politics. She worked in the Obama White House. She became the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign,

and she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

LGBTQ people are still targeted by hate that lives in both laws and in hearts. Many still struggle just to get by.

But I believe that tomorrow can be different. Tomorrow we can be respected and protected.

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