Topline
Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who is set to become the first openly transgender member of Congress, is “absolutely” the reason for a new resolution Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced seeking to ban all transgender women from using women’s bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol, Mace said Tuesday, as a heated culture war issue of the presidential campaign reaches the halls of Congress.
Sarah McBride at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.
Key Facts
Mace introduced the resolution Monday, prohibiting any lawmakers and House employees from using the single-sex bathroom that doesn’t correspond with their biological sex at birth, and on Tuesday said the move was “absolutely and then some” a response to McBride’s election.
Mace said she is “absolutely 100% gonna stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms” and evoked her experience as a survivor of sexual assault.
McBride on Monday called the resolution a “blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” adding “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.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Tuesday called McBride a “biological man” and said the resolution “doesn’t go far enough,” calling for a “more binding” move to force McBride to only use men’s restrooms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a press conference that the House “will accommodate the needs of every single person,” adding he will not “address plans” for Mace’s proposal.
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Crucial Quote
“I’m not going to engage in silly debates about this,” Johnson said, demurring when asked his personal opinion on McBride’s gender identity. “This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before.”
Chief Critics
Democratic members of Congress have lashed out at Mace since she filed the resolution. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said of the effort, “The cruelty is the point.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called it “just plain bullying” and Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., said “(McBride) is a woman. She should use the ladies room.”
What To Watch For
If the resolution goes into effect. Mace wants it to be included in the rules for the 119th Congress, which starts Jan. 3, or have it voted on separately. If it fails to pass, Mace said she will file it again for the next congressional session.
Key Background
McBride, 34, was earlier this month elected to represent Delaware’s at-large congressional district. She earned 57.9% of votes to defeat Republican challenger John Whalen III, and will succeed Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester, who won election to the Senate. McBride has served in the Delaware State Senate since 2021 and previously served as press secretary of the pro-LGBTQ activist group Human Rights Campaign. McBride came out publicly as transgender in 2011 in an editorial in the student newspaper while at American University in Washington, D.C. She started an internship at the White House months later and was the first openly transgender woman to work in the White House in any role. She published a book, titled “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality” in 2018. President Joe Biden wrote the foreword.
Tangent
A law requiring all students to use bathrooms that match their biological sex at birth went into effect in July in Mace’s home state of South Carolina. Last week, an anonymous transgender middle school student sued the state in federal court after he said he felt he had no choice but to switch to an online schooling program to avoid having to use the girls bathroom or a private nurse’s bathroom.
