Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) has introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from female bathrooms in the Capitol, two weeks after Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first openly trans person elected to Congress.
Story continues below advertisement “This is about women and our right to privacy, our right to safety,” Mace said of the measure that she introduced Monday.
It is the height of hypocrisy.” Advertisement McBride declined to answer questions on the matter while leaving a House Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday.
Advertisement Story continues below advertisement House Democrats have quickly come to McBride’s defense.
Advertisement Mace appears to have shifted on the issue.
Revision.
This article’s earlier version incorrectly credited Rep. California Democrat Jimmy Gomez. In reality, the quote comes from Rep. Robert Garcia (California, D). The story has been updated.
Rep. Two weeks after Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride was elected as the first openly transgender member of Congress, Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) introduced a resolution to bar transgender women from using the Capitol’s female restrooms.
McBride is one of the first-year House members to be sworn in January, even though she hasn’t joined Congress yet. 3. In order to prevent McBride and any other transgender person from using restrooms that correspond to their gender identity while they are in the Capitol, Mace’s resolution would change House rules.
Although McBride isn’t named in the resolution specifically, Mace stated on Tuesday that “it’s 100 percent because of McBride” and that the future congresswoman “doesn’t get a say” in the creation of the groundbreaking policy.
According to Mace, the measure she introduced on Monday is about women and their rights to privacy and safety. “I refuse to let biological men into women’s personal areas. The height of hypocrisy is this. “.”.
While departing a House Democratic caucus meeting on Tuesday, McBride refused to respond to inquiries about the issue. “Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different from their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness,” she wrote in a post on X in response to Mace’s resolution, which was filed Monday night. “”.
I love it.
Attend to politics.
“Far right-wing extremists are making a clear attempt to divert attention from the reality that they have no practical answers to the problems that Americans face,” McBride continued. Reducing the cost of housing, healthcare, and child care should be our main priority rather than starting culture wars. “.”.
How to interact with transgender people in the Capitol complex without violating their rights is a problem that has never been faced before, and the recently sparked debate is forcing the House to consider it. The issue was the focus of President-elect Donald Trump’s closing remarks; the Republican Party ran on a platform of targeting transgender people.
At Tuesday morning’s House Republicans’ weekly conference, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) spoke about the problem and told reporters that the House is “going to resolve the issue.”. “”.
“The Congress is dealing with a first impression issue,” he stated. Given the unprecedented nature of this issue, we will find a solution to address it. “.”.
Johnson stated at the press conference that House Republicans welcome “all new members with open arms,” but he would not say if he believes McBride is a woman or a man. The House will “accommodate the needs of every single person,” he said, promising to create “consensus” around Mace’s push. “.”.
“I think it’s a mandate that we treat everyone with respect and dignity,” he stated. “I won’t get involved in pointless arguments about this. “”.
Johnson tried to make his stance clear a few hours later.
“I want to be very clear: A man cannot change into a woman. A woman is a woman, and a man is a man,” Johnson stated. We can do and believe all of those things at the same time, though, if we treat everyone with dignity, in my opinion. “”.
According to Mace, she discussed the resolution with the speaker Monday, and Johnson would think about including it in the set of rules that govern how the House floor and complex are run during the 119th Congress. If Johnson did not eventually include it, she threatened to introduce a privileged resolution the following year, which would require a vote on the issue within 48 hours of its introduction in the new Congress.
Following Johnson’s remarks on Tuesday, Mace pledged to introduce a new bill on the matter, but he would not disclose to reporters what the measure would entail.
January’s rules are approved by the House. 3. Shortly after the newly elected House Speaker swears members into office. Republicans must support the rules, which are usually adopted along party lines, because of their slim majority and Democrats’ reluctance to assist in approving contentious conservative provisions.
Inquiring about the matter, Rep. Former House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) declared on Tuesday that he would “not get involved in bathroom debates.”. “.”.
Since Mace’s resolution is not currently privileged, the House is not required to vote on it right away. To take effect for the 119th Congress, the resolution would need to be reintroduced and passed in 2025, even if it were adopted this year.
McBride created history earlier this month when she was chosen by Delaware to replace Rep. The Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester is on her way to the Senate. “America’s democracy is big enough for all of us,” stated 34-year-old state senator McBride in her victory speech. Her ascent comes at a pivotal time for the nation’s trans community, as state legislatures are working to restrict the rights of trans people and violence against them is on the rise.
Republican Representatives in State Houses and the U.S. S. . There have been battles nationwide over bathroom access, and Capitol has pushed to restrict transgender rights. In almost every state, conservative lawmakers have proposed new legislation to limit access to care for gender transition or to prevent transgender girls from playing sports.
Leaving Tuesday’s House Republican conference, Rep. The men in the GOP conference, including Johnson, should “be defending” GOP women who seek to bar transgender people from restrooms, according to Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia). America has had enough of the trans ideology being pushed on us. “Women are not men,” Greene stated.
Mace used her chosen pronouns, “she” and “her,” to refer to McBride, while Greene has frequently misgendered her and used her birth name when discussing Mace’s resolution—a tactic used by anti-trans people to disparage trans people.
Democrats in the House have jumped to McBride’s support.
She recently reached Congress. She will use whatever restroom she needs to use. The fact that we must have this discussion is just unfortunate,” Rep. California Democrat Robert Garcia said.
Rep. On X, Becca Balint (D-Vermont) posted: “The cruelty has no bottom.”. We have a responsibility to resist. We all become more vicious when we tolerate assaults on someone’s fundamental human dignity. “.”.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) told reporters that discussing “where one member out of 435” is going to use the restroom was not a “great start” for the new Republican House majority as they began the 119th Congress.
Clark remarked, “The American people say: Mind your own business about where people do their business.”. She maintained that voters do want Republicans to discuss issues like child care, housing, and the economy.
It seems that Mace has changed his mind about the matter. Prior to her district being redrawn to be more Republican-friendly in 2021, Mace backed the “Fairness for All Act,” a Republican substitute for the Equality Act. In support of her decision to support the bill, Mace stated at the time that she “strongly” supports “LGBTQ equality and rights.”. “.”.
Then, she declared, “No one should face discrimination.”.
In support of her push to prevent McBride from using the women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill, Mace mentioned those credentials on Tuesday.
This puts women in danger, particularly those who have experienced abuse. It feels like rape to even consider a man entering a woman’s private area. It’s simply not acceptable,” Mace remarked.
Mace was overheard by Rep. The first openly gay congressman from Illinois, Eric Sorensen (D-Illinois), told reporters that her position is “completely ignorant.”. He expressed confidence that some Republican members who support LGBTQ rights would oppose Mace’s initiative.
Sorensen stated, “I don’t know where her worry is coming from because there is no statistic anywhere that shows that any trans person commits any crimes at any higher rates than anyone else.”.
