Sarah Mcbride Quotes

Hope can be limitless. Inspiration can always be found. Ideas are endless. But time, that is the one resource that none of us can afford to waste.

There are few things more dangerous to a transgender woman than the risk of a straight man not totally comfortable in his sexuality or masculinity realizing he is attracted to her.

Compromise is often necessary [in politics], but entire marginalized identities are not expendable chess pieces.

We must never be a country that says there’s only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live.

When you've never felt like you really belonged somewhere, it's almost impossible to know what it will feel like to finally feel at home.

Each of us has a deep and profound desire to be seen, to be acknowledged, and to be respected in our totality. There is a unique kind of pain in being unseen. It's a pain that cuts deep by diminishing and disempowering, and whether done intentionally or unintentionally, it's an experience that leaves real scars.

None of us know how long we have, but we do have a choice in whether we love or hate. And every day that we rob people of the ability to live their lives to the fullest, we are undermining the most precious gift we are given as humans. [... E]ach time we ask anyone—whether they are transgender, Black, an immigrant, Muslim, Native American, gay, or a woman—to sit by and let an extended conversation take place about whether they deserve to be respected and affirmed in who they are, we are asking people to watch their one life pass by without dignity or fairness. That is too much to ask of anyone.

Having certain privileges does not mean that your life is easy or that you do not face challenges. It just means that you don't experience specific kinds of obstacles or barriers faced by someone with a different identity or background. And our empathy should require us to acknowledge the plight of others in both its similarities to ours and in its differences.

The best way I can describe [being transgender] for myself [...] is a constant feeling of homesickness. An unwavering ache in the pit of my stomach that only goes away when I can be seen and affirmed in the gender I've always felt myself to be. And unlike homesickness with location, which eventually diminishes as you get used to the new home, this homesickness only grows with time and separation.

And every day that we rob people of the ability to live their lives to the fullest, we are undermining the most precious gift we are given as humans.

Principles are worth something only if you stick by them, even when they feel inconvenient. It's easy to rationalize and find seemingly altruistic reasons for betraying a moral imperative, but that's exactly when principles are most important.

Our identities matter. They help make us who we are and shape our outlook. Existing in them is a radical act, one that requires, in many instances, courage, hard work, and determination. I am a better person because of the experiences and insights that I've had because I'm transgender. I'm a more compassionate person than I was before I accepted that part of my identity.

Losing Sarah and my boy was the hardest thing I've ever lived through. But even then, you see, I knew that Eleanor was with me. If not here, then at least in the world, where I could find her. I could think of her living in that old house with her father, I could write to her if I chose. She was the anchor in my world, no matter how far I was from her. But if I lose her... Ian, I lose myself. I can't live. Not without Eleanor.

A government cannot be “of the people, by the people, and for the people” if wide swaths of the people have no seat at the table,

As I said to that state representative in Delaware who had admonished us for moving the trans equality bill too quickly, each time we ask anyone - whether they are transgender, Black, an immigrant, Muslim, Native American, gay, or a woman - to sit by and let an extended conversation take place about whether they deserve to be respected and affirmed in who they are, we are asking people to watch their own life pass by without dignity or fairness. That is too much to ask of anyone.

But nothing inspired me more than the fights for equal rights at the center of our history. Each generation, it became clear, was defined by whether they expanded equality, welcoming and including people who had once been excluded or rejected.

We must never be pacified by our progress or content with the pace of change. But we must always remember just how far we've come and hold firm to our vision of a fairer, more just society. Every day matters in this fight. But I remain as hopeful as ever that tomorrow will be different.

As trans activist Faye Seidler quipped, more Americans said they had seen a ghost than knew a transgender person, according to some polls.

Representation in popular culture is key. It is often the first way many of us learn about different identities, cultures, and ideas.

There is no doubt that society places unfair and unjust barriers in front of transgender people, but that is a flaw in society, not a problem with being transgender.

If our pursuit of equality is built on the ability of some of us to blend in, then we will leave many of the most marginalized behind.

It wasn't discomfort at being in the presence of a trans person. It was discomfort at the slow realization that the caricatures they had in their minds were unfounded.

...we all live our lives with multiple identities intersecting with one another, creating a mix of privileges and challenges that all people carry with us. Race, gender, economic background, religion, immigration status, family acceptance, and so much more create a complex matrix that sometimes erects obstacles but other times ensures support in overcoming barriers put in your way.

Transgender people shouldn't be treated with dignity because of how some of us look; we should be treated with dignity because we are human beings. The trans community is as diverse as any community.

How could I not take it personally, thought? For all of us, the political is personal. And the truth is this: Sometimes vulnerability is the best, or only, path to justice. Those with power or privilege won't extend equality easily.

There's a saying that goes, 'If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.' . . . A government cannot be 'of thepeople, by the people, and for the people' if wide swaths of the people have no seat at the table, if large parts of the country feel like there is literally no one in their government who can understand what they are going through.

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill My Life with Bob by Pamela Paul True Grit by Charles Portis Mister Monkey by Francine Prose Excellent Women by Barbara Pym American Pastoral by Philip Roth All That Is by James Salter The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill My Life with Bob by Pamela Paul True Grit by Charles Portis Mister Monkey by Francine Prose Excellent Women by Barbara Pym American Pastoral by Philip Roth All That Is by James Salter The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido

Somehow society manages to treat women like both a delicate infant and a sexualized idol in the same moment. Our thoughts are dismissed and our emotions minimized. And the mundane decisions that I never had to think about when I would wake up before I came out -- the clothes I'd wear, the route I'd take, and all of the other tiny decisions one makes just merely going about their day -- now became central to avoiding a thousand judgments or, worse, violence. I finally had come out of the closet, only to find myself stuck in the kitchen.

For me, gender is a lot like language. Language, too, is a social construct, but one that expresses very real things. The word “happiness" was created by humans, but that doesn't diminish the fact that happiness is a very real feeling. People can have a deeply held sense of their own gender, even if the descriptions, characteristics, attributes, and expressions of that gender are made up by society. And just as with happiness, for which there are varying words, expressions, and actions that demonstrate that same feeling, gender can have an infinite number of expressions.

In that short time I’d saved Dahlia House from the developers, found a stray dog that turned out to be a real treasure, obtained the best partner in the world, and been gifted with a horse from my friend Lee McBride.

What are the chances?,” out of awe and not out of self-pity—a place where my parents could see that they had raised children who were confident and strong enough to live their truths and whose different perspectives enhanced our family’s beauty.

Each of us has a deep and profound desire to be seen, to be acknowledged, and to be respected in our totality. There is a unique kind of pain in being unseen. It’s a pain that cuts deep by diminishing and disempowering, and whether done intentionally or unintentionally, it’s an experience that leaves real scars.

None of us know how long we have, but we do have a choice in whether we love or hate. And every day that we rob people of the ability to live their lives to the fullest, we are undermining the most precious gift we are given as humans.

Umhmm. I also told him that out of all of the gentlemen visitors you and Cousin Jane have, I think he is the most handsome," Sarah smiled and had that dreamy look in her eyes again.

Every day without protections, I am just one person's kindness and acceptance away from being discriminated against.

Being me appeared so impossible that changing the world seemed like the more realistic bet. And the thought of doing both at the same time was, in a word, incomprehensible. Something became abundantly clear to me as I read my history books: No one like me has ever made it very far.

Most people are good, no doubt, but when we are faced with issues we haven't yet thought about or interacted with, we often look to one another for how we should respond. Our behavior models for others the acceptable reaction; acceptance creates an expectation, while rejection provides an excuse.

This effort -- coupled with the overlapping fights for racial justice, disability rights, and equality for religious minorities -- shares a similar thread. We are fighting to be seen in our personhood, in our worth, in our love, and as ourselves.

Dozens of transgender people are killed each year in the United States and every year trans women of color make up a majority of those killed, a significant overrepresentation that results from the toxic combination of racism, misogyny, transphobia, and homophobia, a blend that can have deadly consequences.

It's impossible for our rights to remain abstract when a person is, quite literally, sitting across from you.

Our identities matter. They help make us who we are and shape our outlook. Existing in them is a radical act, one that requires, in many instances, courage, hard work, and determination. I am a better person because of the experiences and insights that I've had because I'm transgender.

As a society, we often get so consumed by the gender identity of transgender people that we forget that behind these national debates on trans rights, behind newspaper stories and policy papers, are real people. Real people who love and laugh, hope and cry, fear and dream -- just like everyone else.

Americans presume that all forms of discrimination against LGBTQ people are permanently and clearly illegal, the reality is surprising and, sadly, far bleaker.

Just as these arguments preyed on people's stereotypes and ignorance about gay identities, so too do these new antitrans arguments. They feed on the lack of understanding of trans identities.

She knew the indignity of having to plead for your most basic rights.

A government cannot be "of the people, by the people, and for the people" if wide swaths of the people have no seat at the table.

And in the absence of a stronger understanding of trans people and identities, fearmongering and scare tactics fill the void, embedding themselves as rational ideas in the public imagination.

That's how we continue our nation's march towards justice and equality," he told us. "That's how we build a more perfect union -- a country where no matter what you look like, where you come from, what your last name is, who you love, you've got a chance to make it if you try.