Republican introduces anti-transgender bathroom resolution at Capitol after first transgender woman elected to Congress

A House Republican is pushing to ban transgender women from women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol, two weeks after history was made with the election of America’s first transgender person to Congress.

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution Monday to change U.S. House rules less than two months before Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride, a Delaware state senator, is sworn in in January.

“Sarah McBride has no say. I mean, this is a biological man,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters Monday, adding that the legislator “doesn’t belong in women’s spaces, women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, locker rooms.” dot, dot.”

Later Monday, McBride wrote in an open response to

“This is a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solution to the problem facing Americans,” the congressman-elect continued in another post.

“Instead of generating culture wars, we should focus on lowering the costs of housing, healthcare and child care,” he continued. “Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Pressed earlier in the evening by reporters about whether he was going after a marginalized person, Mace told CNN: “This is a biological man trying to intrude himself into women’s space, and I will not tolerate that.”

She continued, “I’m the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina Military College. If a man in a skirt walks up and says, ‘No, this is my accomplishment.’ I’ll be there and I’ll block the way and I’ll say, ‘Absolutely not.’ I won’t allow it.”

The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Roe v. Following her overturning of the Wade lawsuit and her party’s efforts to retain female voters, Mace, the first woman to graduate from the Citadel’s Student Union, has often said she was looking for ways to show the GOP was strong. It is “pro-women”.

McBride did not rely on the historic nature of his campaign during his race in the reliably blue state to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who ran a successful Senate race. He highlighted his work leading a bipartisan effort to pass paid family and medical leave in the state and touted support from unions and his work to raise the state’s minimum wage. But he touched on a broader theme of respect along the way; especially the idea that everyone deserves a member of Congress who respects them and their families.

Similar bans targeting trans people, especially those using toilets associated with their gender identity in schools, have sparked controversy in recent years; While supporters argue these measures protect students, critics say they are dehumanizing and unnecessary.

In 2023, Republican-led legislatures in many states will pass bills banning transgender students from using locker rooms and bathrooms associated with their gender identity, in what the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., is calling the biggest year for “bathrooming.” did. bills.” The Ohio Senate last week greenlit its own measure, which now awaits the signature of the state’s Republican governor.

CNN’s Arit John, Jack Forrest and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.
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