A Republican congresswoman has proposed a bill to ban transgender women from using female bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol. This is coming mere weeks after the first-ever openly transgender lawmaker was elected to the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday, South Carolina’s Nancy Mace said her intention was “absolutely” a response to the election of Sarah McBride, who is to be sworn into office come January.
Meanwhile, McBride had tagged the move “a blatant attempt from far-right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing”.
Note that Republicans had campaigned heavily on opposing transgender rights during the election. At a closing rally, Donald Trump announced he would keep “transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and men out of women’s sports”.
The resolution proposed on Monday does not particularly mention McBride, but Mace informed reporters on Tuesday, that “it’s 100 percent because of McBride”, according to a Washington Post report.
“This is about women and our right to privacy, our right to safety,” Mace reiterated. “I’m not going to allow biological men into women’s private spaces. It is the height of hypocrisy.”
On Monday, McBride reacted to the measure, posting on X: “Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.”
House Democrats also strongly condemned the resolution, accusing Mace of bullying a fellow member of Congress.
Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries had even said;
“This is your priority, that you want to bully a member of Congress, as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?”
It is not known at this time, when the measure may be taken up by Congress for a vote but it is expected to be part of the House rules package that members can vote on after being sworn in.
A Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had on Tuesday, declined to say that it would be part of the rules package, informing reporters that lawmakers would seek consensus as they approach the “unprecedented” issue.
This development is coming as Republicans in Washington DC and in state capitols have focused almost linearly on transgender issues, including seeking to limit access to gender-related surgery for minors and to ban transgender athletes from female-only sports categories.
During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump declared that transgender students should be allowed to use whichever bathroom “they feel is appropriate”, but he reversed his stance after facing Republican censure.
