Author: Sofia Gonzalez

State of Firsts Follows Sarah McBride’s Historic Journey to Congress

Posted on by Sofia Gonzalez

A new documentary, State of Firsts, released during Pride Month, chronicles Delaware Representative Sarah McBride’s historic path to Congress as she campaigns amid growing anti-transgender rhetoric. Directed by trans filmmaker Chase Joynt, State of Firsts offers a behind-the-scenes look at McBride’s journey to becoming the first openly transgender elected official in the U.S. Congress.

Now showing in select theaters across the country, this documentary contrasts McBride’s optimistic campaign, filled with conversations with Delaware voters, with the political climate in Washington. 

Throughout the election, opposing groups aired anti-trans advertisements and sought to undermine support, not only for McBride’s candidacy, but also for trans people as a whole from holding positions of power. Despite the attacks, McBride won the election, making history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. 

Soon after her arrival in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) implemented a strict policy banning transgender individuals from using single-sex facilities that align with their gender identity. The policy was largely pushed by Rep. Nancy Mace (SC-01) of South Carolina.

In addition to the criticism McBride faced from some Republican colleagues, some groups also accused her of not doing enough to fight back against these unjust laws. They were upset that McBride chose to abide by the bathroom ban by using a private restroom in the Capitol. 

As she explains in the documentary, “It’s not just that they don’t want me in bathrooms; they don’t want me in Congress. There would be a bounty on my head if I said I would not comply. I refuse to be martyred. I want to be a member of Congress.”

Much of McBride’s work has taken place outside the spotlight. She has built bipartisan relationships and successfully lobbied Republican colleagues to remove every single anti-trans policy rider from the 2026 spending package. The legislative process often happens through behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Even as McBride continues her work in Congress, legal challenges affecting transgender Americans persist. 

On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court decided to uphold bans on transgender athletes participating in women’s and girls’ sports at publicly funded schools. Writing for the majority, Justice Kavanaugh concluded that Title IX does not require schools to allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ and women’s teams.” In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, argued that the ruling “inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions.”

This decision affects transgender students across the country, including plaintiffs such as middle school student Becky Pepper Jackson, who just wants to enjoy running track with her fellow peers, and is now facing systematic exclusion. 

As the film State of Firsts gives audiences an inside glimpse of McBride’s journey to the Capitol and beyond, the fight for trans equality under the law cannot fall on her alone. While Pride Month might be over, the political discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community continues to intensify. Real advocacy requires year-round support, and the fight against these policies must continue everyday.

The Secret Classrooms of Afghanistan Demand Our Support

Posted on by Sofia Gonzalez

Imagine, for one second, achieving new milestones, engaging in relevant conversations with peers, and even learning a new language. And then one day, all of that is instantly stripped away. You are now fearful at every corner you turn, scared someone may be right behind you, as you make the life-threatening journey to the dark basement of someone’s home, hoping to encounter that sliver of hope, to continue achieving those aspirations that were abruptly cut from your life.

Unfortunately, this is the tragic reality in modern-day Afghanistan, where 2.2 million girls could be jailed for something as simple as getting an education. Despite this oppression, many of these young girls are still determined to reach their full aspirations that only education can provide. One unnamed NGO provides education to roughly 1,000 students aged 13 to 45. Many of these young girls take the risks to attend hidden basement schools, even if it potentially means they could be jailed or beaten, all for trying to get what should be considered a fundamental right.

Many tactics are utilized to prevent both the teachers and students from getting caught by the Taliban. Some of these strategies include spacing out classes to prevent large numbers of girls from being seen arriving at and leaving school together, changing up how they get to school, and, if questioned, using witnesses to claim they were at the doctor’s.

The fact that these women and girls are willing to risk their lives daily proves just how important education is to them. According to an article by The Meteor “These secret rooms provide a space to connect, laugh, dance, and preserve dreams of becoming future doctors, psychologists, or leaders.”

If these young women and girls are willing to put their lives on the line, the greater global community must do the same. Instead of standing by and observing passively from the sidelines, we must actively work and find safe ways to support these girls to receive an education. Because no girl should endure the fear these women face each and every day.

The Answer to Falling Birth Rates Isn’t More Pressure on Women

Posted on by Sofia Gonzalez

America’s total fertility rate has reached a new low of 1.57 children per woman, a 1% decline from 2024. According to the Wall Street Journal, some organizations warn that declining birth rates could eventually leave too few young people to enter the workforce and help sustain programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. 

This is a complex societal issue with potentially significant consequences. However, addressing it will not be as simple as increasing women’s fertility rates, as some pro-natalist groups suggest.

Harvard economist Claudia Goldin has found that declining birth rates often coincide with greater educational and professional opportunities for women. Her research also shows that  more than one-quarter of the decline in the fertility rates since 2007 can be attributed to falling teen pregnancies rates in the United States.

At the same time, women are not necessarily choosing to avoid parenthood altogether. Many are simply prioritizing other milestones before having children, including pursuing higher education, building careers, securing financial stability, and purchasing a home. Raising a family is a major financial and personal commitment, and many women are choosing to wait. 

Current fertility data also reflects only a moment in time. According to Martha Bailey, an economics professor and director of UCLA’s California Center for Population Research, women who have completed their childbearing years continue to average between 1.9 to 2 children. In other words, many women are simply delaying parenthood rather than deciding against it entirely. 

Women should not be expected to address this “issue” on their own. Society as a whole, including the federal government, must be part of the solution. Yet, the U.S. has done little to create conditions that would make  raising children more affordable. Policies such as paid parental leave and accessible, affordable child care remain limited at the federal level. 

Instead, some proposals have focused on encouraging women to have more children. The current administration has considered ideas such as a “National Medal of Motherhood” for women with six or more children. Proposals like this place pressure on women while reinforcing traditional expectations about women’s roles in society. 

As the current administration and pro-natalist groups continue to panic about women delaying motherhood, we must reject the “alarming fertility statistics.” If women choose to have children, that decision should be guided by their own goals, circumstances, and desires, not by pressures to solve a manufactured problem. 

At the end of the day, supporting families means creating conditions in which people can make reproductive decisions freely. The solution to declining birth rates is not limiting women’s choices, but ensuring they have the resources and support needed to build the lives and families they want.

Child Marriage Surges as Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

Posted on by Sofia Gonzalez

Desperate times can call for desperate measures, like in war-torn Gaza, where suffering is rampant amongst the ruins of buildings and lives. This suffering may look like extreme hunger or flooded tents once called home, or entire families killed and maimed in the constant bombings and airstrikes by the Israeli government.  According to a detailed report by the Associated Press, these dire circumstances are pushing parents to marry off their daughters, reversing improvements over the years made for girls and women in this region.

Before the war in Gaza, child marriage was going down. Data gathered from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reveal that the marriage of girls under the age of 18 decreased from 22% in 2015 to 17.8% in 2022. However, recent data from the Supreme Shariah Court points to the conflict in Gaza reversing this trend entirely. In 2024 and 2025, records show that 20.6% of the 35,474 documented marriages had a minor involved, and 627 girls under the age of 15.  

According to Humanitarian experts, the actual numbers could be far higher than the ones reported. An article by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says that the precise data is difficult to get due to destroyed administrative infrastructure. Many of these child marriages are also unregistered until the girls reach legal age or become pregnant, leaving them without any form of legal protection.  

One of the major factors in these marriages is a dire lack of resources. One mother, by the name of Majda, told reporters that her life was in complete and utter ruin before making the difficult decision of marrying her daughters off. “Her husband and eldest son had been killed by Israeli airstrikes. Living in a ragged tent in Gaza with rats and the stench of the sewage, she couldn’t support her children and feared her daughters would be harassed going to the communal latrine in a camp with hundreds of strangers.”  By marrying her daughters off, not only would it ensure economic resources for her girls, but also their safety, she said.

It is important to note that it is not just families who decide to marry their girls off, but the girls themselves.  Many of the girls interviewed by the Associated Press said they viewed their decision to get married as a way to lessen the burden on their struggling families. Some girls even felt that with schools closed for the foreseeable future marriage was their version of some normalcy.

Although at the time, marriage may seem like a solution to a difficult situation, it can tragically result in both physical and sexual abuse.  Majda’s daughter describe vividly being tied up by their mother-in-law and raped by her husband. And, the younger sister suffered two miscarriages after her husband kicked her while she was pregnant. Both of the girls eventually fled and made it back home to their mother, but both suffered extreme trauma from the abuse they endured. Majda noted that after the marriage, there were significant changes she noticed in her younger daughter’s demeanor. “She does not talk to anyone, not to her husband and not to me,” she said.

It is no surprise that these traumatic experiences lead to mental health difficulties. According to data  published by Palestine News Network (PNN), four in ten young girls report symptoms of depression or moderate- to severe anxiety, and a staggering 61% present symptoms of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Furthermore, many girls face trauma due to medical difficulties when giving birth. The maternity ward of Awda Hospital located in central Gaza witnessed a drastic surge in teen pregnancies during the war. Many of these pregnant girls were extremely malnourished, putting them in the high-risk category for giving birth. One of the girls, age 16, nearly died from childbirth, as a result of severe bleeding.  She said,  “I was unconscious for many days (after birth), and I couldn’t hold my daughter for a while.” 

As a partial solution to these trends, the UNFPA has created 20 safe spaces, 15 youth hubs, and 11 girls’ tents throughout Gaza. These places are helping to reduce gender-based violence as well as give psychological support and reproductive information to girls. They also have self-awareness sessions to help shed light on the rise of child marriages and teen pregnancies.  

No family or girl should ever feel as though marriage is their only path forward or out of their harsh lives. This calls for urgent action by the international community to continue providing safe spaces and rebuild the education system for the girls so they can have access to the basic rights they need and deserve.

>