Washington— Republican Rep Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced legislation Monday to replace House rules to ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms and other facilities on Capitol Hill, a proposal that comes before the House prepares to take its first oath. openly transgender congressman.
Mace’s two-page resolution would prohibit House members, officials and employees from using single-sex facilities in Capitol or House office buildings that do not match their “biological sex.” Her proposal says allowing “biological males” into women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms “undermines the safety and dignity” of lawmakers, officials and Capitol Hill employees.
The House sergeant-at-arms will be tasked with implementing the measure, if approved.
The South Carolina Republican law appears to target Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware, who is the first transgender person elected to Congress when he won the race for the state’s only House seat two weeks ago.
McBride called the Mace resolution a “blatant attempt by right-wing extremists to disrupt the reality that they have no real solutions to what the American people are facing. It does not create a culture war.”
“Every day, Americans work with people who have a different life journey than them and engage with them with respect, I hope that members of Congress will apply the same virtue,” he wrote on social media.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement Wednesday that single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings, such as bathrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms, “are reserved for individuals of their biological sex.” He noted that every member’s office has a private bathroom and said there are unisex bathrooms throughout the Capitol.
“Women deserve only women’s space,” he said.
McBride said he will follow the rules outlined by Johnson “even if I don’t agree with him.”
“This attempt to distract from the real issues facing this country has not bothered me over the past few days, as I continue to work hard to prepare to represent the largest country in the union in January,” he said in a shared statement. to social media.
Johnson’s statement came on Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is celebrated on November 20 and honors transgender people who have died as a result of violence. He acknowledged Tuesday that the issue of bathroom access for transgender lawmakers is one that the lower chamber has not faced before, but told reporters that the House will address it “in a deliberate way with the consensus of members, and we will meet the needs of every person.”
Johnson said he wasn’t going to “get into a silly debate” when asked if McBride was a boy or a girl.
“We welcome all new members with open arms who are elected representatives of the people,” Johnson said. “I believe it’s imperative that we treat everyone with dignity and respect, and we will, and I’m not going to get into a silly debate about it.”
He declined to say whether he plans to include Mace’s proposal in the package of rules that will govern the next Congress.
“We don’t look down on anyone. We treat everyone with dignity and respect. This is a principle that I have lived by throughout my life,” he said. “And we will take care of this issue from the first impression to Congress we will any other. We will provide appropriate accommodation for each member of Congress.”
Johnson then sought to clarify his response to whether McBride was male or female.
“A man is a man and a woman is a woman and a man cannot be a woman,” he said. “That said, I also believe – that’s what the Bible teaches, what I say – but I also believe that we treat everyone with dignity and that we can do and believe all these things at the same time.”
House Democrats condemned Mace’s resolution and accused him of harassing fellow members of Congress.
“This is what we are doing? This is the lesson you learned from the election in November? This is your priority, if you want to annoy the members of Congress, instead of accepting them to join this body so that all of us can work together to solve it and give real results to American?” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Rep. Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, called the proposal “disgusting” and said, “I felt sick to my stomach when I read that.”
Mace, meanwhile, claimed she was being targeted and vowed to introduce new legislation focused on protecting “women and girls everywhere.” He said if Johnson did not include the resolution in a package of rules for the new Congress, he would seek to amend it or force a vote on the measure.
contributed to this report.
