Sarah McBride, who currently represents Delaware’s 1st State Senate District, is seeking reelection this fall as her first term comes to a close. McBride made headlines in 2020 when she became the first openly transgender state senator in the nation’s history, and for the past two years has worked to reform social services and on healthcare legislation in the Delaware Senate.

When seeking election for the first time in 2020, McBride campaigned on a platform of paid family and medical leave for working Delawareans. Two years later, McBride told the Blade that developing these policies – and, more specifically, passing the Healthy Delaware Families Act earlier this year – has been the highlight of her time in the General Assembly.

As a sponsor of the bill, McBride wanted to “help lead the effort to pass paid family and medical leave” in Delaware, and spearheaded the creation of a statewide program that enabled employees to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave for various personal, medical, and family events.

“A lot of observers laughed at the possibility of Delaware passing paid leave,” McBride recalled, “but we were able to work together to build a coalition … [and pass] the largest expansion of the social safety net in modern Delaware history.”

McBride also pointed to the General Assembly’s passage of a $15 minimum wage, protection over statewide reproductive healthcare, and creation of “the most significant gun safety package in state history” as successes of her first term. “There’s still so much more that we need to do,” she emphasized.

More recently, The Digital Citizenship Education Act – a youth media literacy campaign McBride sponsored – was signed into law by Gov. John Carney on Aug. 29. McBride noted that her work on the bill was linked to her experiences being sworn into the Delaware Senate on the heels of the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.

“In the days and weeks after the insurrection, some of my colleagues and I began having conversations about what more Delaware needed to do to heal our nation,” McBride said. “One of the ideas that my colleagues and I had was to introduce The Digital Citizenship Act to provide young people with the tools necessary to identify fact from fiction, hard reporting from opinion, and news from advertisements online.”

The bill will require the Department of Education to uphold standards of evidence-based media literacy in public and charter school classrooms across the state.

“We think of young people as digital natives who are able to seamlessly navigate the internet with an effortlessness that eludes many adults, but the reality is that young people, like all people, struggle with this increasingly complicated world and identifying what is true,” she added.

McBride is seated in a firmly blue district, but this year’s election still comes with intrigue: the state has recently redrawn its legislative districts, meaning this year McBride will be campaigning to roughly a third of her voters for the very first time.

“I’m talking and reaching those new-to-the-first-Senate-district voters to make sure that they understand that this change is occurring, and that to ensure that they have information,” she noted. “Making sure that we’re reaching those newer voters in this district is going to be critical over the next few months.”

On Aug. 23, LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization that advocates for the election of LGBTQ leaders in public offices across the country, endorsed McBride for the 2022 election. The District 1 general election is slated to be held Nov. 8, and McBride currently does not face opposition from a Republican nominee.

Reflecting on her time serving Delaware and her plans yet to come, McBride emphasized her responsibility to work against efforts from “far right-wing politicians and judges to roll back the clock on our progress and rescind critical rights for many, many people in this country.”

Further, McBride noted that, through reelection, she hopes to continue developing and expanding protections that promote the wellbeing of residents throughout the First State.

“I think more than anything else, seeing what people deem to be impossible not just become possible, but a reality here in Delaware has only motivated me to seek reelection and fight even harder for the remaining issues that Delaware needs to address,” McBride said. “I am ending my first term even more hopeful than when I began it.

Voter registration for the general election is open now through Election Day. To find out how to register, visit the state’s Department of Elections website.

This year’s AIDS Walk Delaware will be held Sept. 17 in two locations: Brandywine Park in Wilmington, and Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach. The annual event seeks to promote awareness surrounding HIV and raise money for HIV testing, management, and education programming through the state.

Hosted by AIDS Delaware and the Delaware HIV Consortium, AIDS Walk Delaware is the oldest and largest HIV fundraiser in the state, drawing more than 600 attendees in previous years, according to an Aug. 9 press release. The theme of this year’s walk is “Step Up, Step Out: Remove Stigma, Eliminate HIV, Improve Lives.”

Check-in will begin in each park at 9 a.m. with walks beginning at both locations at 10 a.m. Registration for the event is free, and those who raise $30 or more will receive a complimentary commemorative T-shirt.

In the press release, John Beckley, director of development and marketing for AIDS Delaware, noted that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected those living with HIV, who might have especially vulnerable immune systems.

“Many are struggling with isolation, depression and anxiety,” Buckley said in a statement. “This year, we walk with those folks in our hearts.”

“AIDS Walk Delaware is more important than ever,” the press release continued. “It is more important for people who have lived with compromised health for a long time. People who have just learned they are HIV-positive. People who love someone who is HIV-positive. People for whom the best and broadest prevention efforts still elude them.”

Those interested in participating in the walk, making a donation, or learning more can visit aidswalkdelaware.org for more information.

Rehoboth and Wilmington, Del. will host monkeypox vaccination clinics next week after the Delaware Division of Public Health authorized the administration of one-fifth of the original vaccine dosage — per federal recommendations — on Monday.

On Aug. 23 CAMP Rehoboth, a local LGBTQ organization, will host a vaccine clinic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in its community center at 37 Baltimore Ave. An additional vaccine clinic will be held on Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Wilmington on the ground floor of the city’s Community Service Building at 100 West 10th St.

According to a Tuesday CAMP Rehoboth news release, individuals “engaging in high-risk activities” should consider vaccination against monkeypox, namely men who have sex with men or anonymous sexual partners, trans and non-binary individuals assigned male at birth who have sex with men, sex workers, and staff at establishments where sexual activity occurs. 

To receive a vaccine at the Rehoboth clinic, individuals must register in advance by calling 302-227-5620 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To receive a vaccine at the Wilmington clinic, individuals must register in advance by calling 302-652-6776 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Two hundred slots are available at each clinic, and second doses will be administered on Sept. 20 in Rehoboth and Sept. 22 in Wilmington at the same time as the initial vaccination appointment.

The two-dose vaccination series is not considered effective until two weeks after the second dose, CAMP Rehoboth noted in a Tuesday news release. The vaccine, JYENNOS, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but may not provide protection to those who have received a smallpox vaccine more than three years ago, the news release added.

In addition, as of Monday, individuals living with HIV or taking pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV are eligible for vaccine access, and can contact their healthcare providers or DPH at 866-408-1899 to receive a vaccination appointment.

The state’s decision to expand vaccine access follows national trends, and comes after local and national organizations advocated for increased action from the Centers for Disease Control to combat the spread of the virus. On Aug. 12, more than 150 LGBTQ centers and organizations across the country, including Delaware’s Sussex Pride, signed a letter to the CDC in favor of “increasing the number of available vaccines” and expanding current data and testing on the virus nationally. As of Aug. 5, Delaware has administered 33 doses of the monkeypox vaccine, according to a DPH news release.

For more information, individuals can contact the DPH hotline for monkeypox-related questions and concerns on weekdays from 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 866-408-1899, or email [email protected]. Information concerning monkeypox prevention programs and resources can be found at de.gov/monkeypox.