WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support Tuesday for a Republican effort to ban Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress — from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol once she’s sworn into office next year.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” a statement from Johnson said in part.
A resolution proposed Monday by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at McBride, who was elected to the House this month from Delaware.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy and gaslighting to tell women, you lose your rights, and then a man walks in the room. I don’t think so,” Mace said Tuesday on NewsNation’s “On Balance.” “I’m very socially sensible, but this is about women’s safety. It’s about women’s security, it’s about women’s privacy, and we have rights.”
The debate over whether transgender people should be allowed to use the bathrooms that align with their gender identity has been prevalent across the U.S. and was a focal point of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. At least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools and in some cases other government facilities.
McBride was elected to the House this month after building a national profile as an LGBTQ+ activist and raising more than $3 million in campaign contributions from around the country. She became the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States in 2016 when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
“We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care and child care, not manufacturing culture wars,” McBride said. “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that’s what I’m focused on.”