Incoming Transgender Congresswoman Sarah McBride Won't Be ...

12 hours ago

Forbes

Topline

Sarah McBride, the first-ever openly transgender person to be elected to Congress, won’t be allowed to use women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol when she’s sworn in after Republican representatives launched a targeted attack through new rules barring anyone from using the single-sex restroom that doesn’t align with their biological sex at birth.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride on Nov. 15, 2024.

Getty Images Key Facts

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday said all single-sex restrooms in the Capitol and House Office Buildings can only be used by "individuals of that biological sex.”

He said anyone not wishing to use their corresponding bathroom can use the buildings’ unisex restrooms or, in the case of House members like McBride, their private restrooms.

“Women deserve women’s only spaces,” Johnson said Wednesday.

The statement from Johnson comes days after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution seeking to ban all transgender people from using bathrooms that don't correspond with their biological sex at birth, and said the move was "absolutely” a response to McBride's election.

Mace was supported by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who on Tuesday called McBride a "biological man" and said the resolution "doesn't go far enough.”

McBride addressed the resolution on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, calling it a "blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing," but has not yet responded to Johnson’s statement and did not respond to Forbes’ request for comment Wednesday.

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Mace—who has been on a social media blitz pushing for the ban—on Wednesday said she will be filing another bill to "ban biological men from women's space on all federal property all across the country."

Crucial Quote

“I’m doubling down, and won’t be quiet because some man tells me to,” Mace posted to X.

Key Background

The issue of transgender people and their use of public bathrooms has been pervasive in the United States for a decade and highlights a wider ongoing culture war. North Carolina's infamous HB2 was one of the first "bathroom bills" signed into law that forbade people in the state from using single-sex bathrooms that did not correspond with their biological sex at birth. The bill prompted nationwide protests and boycotts, and drew criticism from then-President Barack Obama, who called for its repeal. The law was ultimately repealed in 2020, but almost 30 bills relating to bathroom access have been proposed so far this year, according to Trans Legislation Tracker. Proponents of such bills argue that they’re needed to protect privacy and ensure safety of women and girls. Opponents say they are discriminatory against trans people, who are no more likely to commit crimes in public restrooms than any other group.

Tangent

McBride, 34, was elected to represent Delaware's at-large congressional district, beating Republican John Whalen III with 57.9% of votes. She was already the highest-ranking transgender elected official in the U.S. as a member of the Delaware State Senate and is now the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.