SARAH MCBRIDE

Though Caitlyn Jenner is one of the most famous transgender people in America, the announcement of her candidacy for California governor was greeted hostilely by one of the state’s largest LGBTQ-rights groups.

When Sarah McBride was sworn in as a Delaware State Senator last month, she made history, becoming the country's highest-ranking elected official who is transgender. But for many years, she and David McBride did not know that the child they thought of as their youngest son had a secret. Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride. Still struggling to fit in as a male, McBride attended American University in Washington, D.C., and was elected student body president. Sarah's work as an advocate for LGBTQ rights helped earn her another historic role: in 2016, at the invitation of the Clinton campaign, she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention.

LGBTQ rights advocate Sarah McBride Newly-inaugurated Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride talks with correspondent Rita Braver about her road to becoming America's highest-ranking transgender elected official.

"Sunday Morning" Full Episode 2/14 Hosted by Jane Pauley. In our cover story, Jim Axelrod interviews New York Times columnist Suleika Jaouad, who followed her nearly-four-year treatment for leukemia with a 15,000-mile road trip in search of healing. Plus: Mark Phillips sits down with actress Kate Winslet ("Ammonite"); David Pogue explores what goes into the making of a 21st century diamond; Rita Braver profiles Sarah McBride, the country's highest-ranking elected official who is transgender; Major Garrett outlines this week's historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump; Mo Rocca visits the final resting places of former presidents; Dr. Jon LaPook has a story of maintaining childhood wonder in the age of COVID; and Martha Stewart offers her recipes for a delicious Valentine's Day brunch.

Martha Stewart prepares a Valentine's Day brunch. CBS NewsPRESIDENTS DAY: Mo Rocca with lively thoughts about our deceased presidents (Video)The "Sunday Morning" presidential scholar-in-residence visits the final resting places of our former chief executives. For more info:Hart Highlands Elementary School, Prince George, British ColumbiaNATURE: Trumpeter swans (Extended Video)"Sunday Morning" takes us this Valentine's Day to (where else?) For more info:The Emmy Award-winning "CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. Find out when "Sunday Morning" airs in your city"Sunday Morning" also streams on CBSN beginning at 9:00 a.m.

According to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which recruits and supports LGBTQ candidates, that leaves only Alaska, Louisiana and Mississippi as states that have never elected an LGBTQ legislator. With the addition of Jones and Torres, there will be nine openly LGBTQ members of the House as of January. Two other Democrats became the first openly transgender people to win seats in their states’ Houses: Taylor Small in Vermont and Stephanie Byers in Kansas. And in New York, Jabari Brisport, a gay math teacher, became the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to the legislature. And in southwestern Michigan’s 6th District, Jon Hoadley, seeking to become the state’s first openly gay congressman, lost to 17-term GOP Rep. Fred Upton.

While most Americans continued awaiting the presidential election results, history was silently being made in Delaware. Sarah McBride, 30, made history on election night by becoming the first openly transgender person to be elected to the state Senate in U.S. history. “I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too,” McBride tweeted Tuesday night after the election was called. McBride is a former spokesperson for the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and also became the first trans person to speak at a major political convention. McBride will represent parts of Bellefonte, Claymont and Wilmington, the state’s largest city.

(AP Photo/Jason Minto)Among transgender-rights activists, there’s a powerful mix of hope and fear heading toward the Nov. 3 election. “The stakes are extremely high,” said Shannon Minter, a transgender attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. — Support from administration attorneys for efforts to prevent transgender girls from competing in Idaho K-12 girls' sports and university women sports and from doing so in Connecticut high school girls' sports. There have been at least 33 violent deaths of transgender or gender nonconforming people this year in the U.S., according to the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ-rights organization. “If Trump loses, I’m hopeful we’ll see federal agencies reversing the many anti-trans policies that the Trump administration has adopted,” Strangio said.

Transgender activist Sarah McBride, who hopes to win in the primary for the Delaware Senate, watches a computer screen at her watch party in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Jason Minto)

Transgender activist Sarah McBride, who hopes to win in the primary for the Delaware Senate, watches a computer screen at her watch party in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. – Transgender activist Sarah McBride won a Democratic state Senate primary in Delaware on Tuesday and is poised to make history as the first transgender person elected to the state's General Assembly. If elected, McBride would join a handful of other transgender legislators around the country but would be the first transgender state senator. Denn and McBride’s father both worked at a Wilmington law firm known for its close ties to the Democratic Party establishment. McBride later worked on the campaigns of former governor Jack Markell and former state attorney general Beau Biden.

Amid their annual vigils for transgender homicide victims, trans rights activists in the U.S. are trying to maintain long-term optimism even as many hard-won protections are under threat. Strangio and other activists contend that political efforts to roll back transgender rights contribute, at least indirectly, to the persistent phenomenon of anti-trans vitriol and violence. During Barack Obama's presidency, the cause of transgender rights advanced on numerous fronts, notably with policy changes enabling trans people to serve openly in the military. Some trans rights activists view the controversies over sports participation and parental decisions as evidence that trans people have become a target of choice for social conservatives who failed to stop the legalization of same-sex marriage. For all the setbacks, trans rights activists have had recent occasions to celebrate, ranging from the critical acclaim for "Pose," a TV series featuring several trans characters, to the Nov. 5 reelection of trans legislator Danica Roem to Virginia's House of Delegates.

Sarah McBride is the first transgender person to speak at a major political convention. See her historic remarks here.