Sarah McBride speaks at a 2018 event in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ted Eytan | CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sarah McBride made headlines earlier this year when she became the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress. Once she’s sworn in on Jan. 3, McBride will represent the State of Delaware in the House of Representatives.

And though she’s from the other side of the country, McBride – curently a member of the Delaware State Senate – has a strong connection to the Chippewa Valley: She was married to Andrew McCray, a Chippewa Falls native and LGBTQ rights activist who focused on health care access for members of the LGBTQ community, particularly through the Affordable Care Act. Cray, who was also transgender, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2014. He and McBride married shortly after the diagnosis, and Cray died a few days later. President Barack Obama subsequently named Cray a “Champion of Change” for his work on LGBTQ health.

Today, Cray is remembered through the Andrew Cray Higher Education Fund, which provides college scholarships for LGBTQ+ youths in northwestern Wisconsin. Learn more about Cray and the fund at cvlgbt.org/scholarship.