A transgender war has erupted on Capitol Hill after a Republican lawmaker proposed a measure that would prevent the first transgender member of Congress from using biological women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Nancy Mace is pushing for the new rule, ahead of the arrival of newly elected Congresswoman Sarah McBridewho will take office in January as the first openly trans lawmaker in the United States.
McBride blasted Republicans after the proposal, claiming they were using it as a “diversion” tactic.
“This is a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride said in a statement.
“We should focus on reducing the costs of housing, health care and child care, not on creating culture wars.”
Mace, a staunch conservative, stuck to her guns.
“Playing dress-up doesn’t mean you’re allowed access to women’s private spaces,” she wrote on X.
Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace introduced the measure, which would ban transgender women from using biological women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol
The proposal has caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill, with Democrats defending their soon-to-be colleague. McBride was elected last month and will take office in January.
“The cruelty is what it’s all about,” Democrats Becca Balint, co-chair of the Equality Caucus, said Axios.
“This isn’t just bigotry, this is just bullying,” the Democratic Rep. said. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Mace’s proposal would ban members and staff of the House of Representatives from “using same-sex facilities other than those that correspond to their biological sex.”
The proposal would require the sergeant to enforce the measure.
‘Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces. Period. Point. End of story,” Mace said in a statement.
She told reporters on Capitol Hill that she stood up for women’s rights and protected women’s space.
Republicans supported the proposal, with some suggesting expanding it to all taxpayer-serving facilities.
“I support a resolution that would keep biological males out of women’s restrooms,” Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told reporters on Capitol Hill.
She even proposed expanding it to “all taxpayer-funded facilities.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene supported the proposal
“He’s a man,” Greene said of McBride. ‘He is not allowed to use our women’s toilets, our women’s gym, our changing room, our areas specifically intended for women. He’s organic. He’s got plenty of places he can go.”
She rejected the idea of adding gender-neutral bathrooms to the Capitol.
‘No, he can go to the men’s room. And he has a bathroom in his office,” she said.
She pointed out that the election was the solution, when many Americans voiced their disapproval of biological males participating in women’s sports.
“The American people spoke during the election. They’re tired of this stuff,” Greene said.
Transgender issues have become a political flashpoint and Republicans have used this to their advantage in the elections.
Donald Trump’s campaign ran ads against Kamala Harris touting her support for transgender athletes. The strategy is said to have helped him win the White House.
McBride, 34, is from Delaware. Her candidacy was supported by President Joe Biden. She replaces Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was elected to the Senate.
McBride came out as transgender during her studies in 2012. She had worked as a campaign staffer for Beau Biden when he ran for attorney general of Delaware. He supported her when she came out, as did Joe Biden, who was vice president at the time.
Joe Biden wrote the foreword for McBride’s 2018 memoir. His administration has tried to expand transgender rights in schools and federal health care programs, but those proposals have faced legal challenges from conservatives.
As part of her response to Mace’s proposal, McBride asked for kindness: “Every day, Americans get to work with people who have a different life journey than their own and treat them with respect. I hope members of Congress can extend that same kindness.”
Nancy Mace was accused of ‘bullying’ after proposing legislation that would prevent the first transgender member of the House of Representatives from using the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill
McBride, a longtime political activist, is part of a series of transgender firsts.
In 2012, she became the first openly trans woman to intern at the White House; in 2016, she was the first to speak at the Democratic National Convention; and in 2020, she was the first to be elected to a Senate.
Now she has been elected to Congress, amid a growing culture war in the United States.
Mace is pushing for the measure to be included in the rules package for the 119th Congress, which would be approved Jan. 3 when new lawmakers take the oath of office.
If it’s not part of the rules package, Mace will push for it to be brought up and voted on as a standalone rule outside of the package.
Republicans are considering implementing the measure.
‘We’re going to talk about that. We are working on the issue,” Chairman Mike Johnson told Axios.