Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride, who is poised to become the first openly transgender member of Congress, thinks she can help garner respect for transgender people by being a strong legislator in Washington. McBride, 33, already the nation’s highest-ranking openly transgender elected official, said diversity in Congress has both a symbolic and substantive effect, but she isn’t running on her identity. Instead, by proving to be an effective legislator, she hopes to inspire acceptance through what she called the “power of proximity.” “Once you respect someone as a really, really hardworking legislator, it’s hard not to then see them as a person; it’s hard not to see other people like them as people,” she said in an interview.