11-25-2024
Newly elected Sarah McBride is the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. A Republican lawmaker wasted no time in targeting her. As McBride participated in the new member orientation before her January swearing-in, Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a new resolution that is all about McBride. Mace’s resolution would bar McBride, as a transgender woman, from using women’s restrooms and changing rooms in the Capitol buildings.
Mace was blunt that McBride was her target. “Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say. I mean, this is a biological man.” She asserted that McBride “does not belong in women’s spaces, women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms—period, full stop.” This bill joins other House Republican efforts over the last couple of years to push back against the rights of transgender American citizens. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not yet publicly commented on the passage of Mace’s resolution, but Mace says Johnson told her he would include it in a bigger package of House rules. Johnson did say that it was a new issue and that the House would “accommodate the needs of every single person.” When pushed on the subject again later, he stated, "A man cannot become a woman.” However, Johnson said that he believed they could treat everyone with dignity.
McBride wants to focus on fighting for her constituents. In a social media post, she said Mace’s bill distracts from the real issues facing Americans. She expressed the hope that her colleagues will engage respectfully with her and others on life journeys that are different from their own. Her Democratic colleagues spoke strongly on her behalf, calling the resolution “cruel” and “disgraceful.” One female member pointed out that there was no women’s restroom off the House floor until the 1990s.