WASHINGTON – Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina faced charges Monday of trying to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in U.S. Capitol and House office buildings after the election of a transgender lawmaker.
The move, which the House Democratic leader described as an attempt to “bully” another member, comes as Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware will soon be sworn into office first openly transgender member Congress. Republicans have also made broader efforts to prevent transgender people from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
“Biological men should not be in women’s private spaces,” Mace wrote in: write to X along with the resolution he is pushing. “Period. Period. End of story.
The the resolution would prohibit members of Congress, officers and House staffers using “same-sex facilities” other than those consistent with their “biological sex.”
It reads: “A member, delegate, resident commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may not use same-sex facilities (including restrooms, locker rooms, or locker rooms) on Capitol grounds or House office buildings other than those corresponding to one’s biological sex this person.”
Under the resolution, the House sergeant-at-arms would be tasked with enforcing the law, so it appears it would only apply to bathrooms on the House side of the Capitol, not the Senate.
Mace said Washington Examiner in 2021 that she strongly supports LGBTQ rights and equality and stated that “no one should be discriminated against.”
The South Carolina Republican co-sponsored a The Republican alternative to the Democrat-backed one Equality Act in 2021. The GOP goal was to “prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity; and to protect the free exercise of religion.”
In write to X McBride, who appeared to respond to Mace’s pressure on Monday, said: “I hope that every day Americans work with people whose life journey is different than their own and engage with them in a respectful manner, I hope that members of Congress They will prove equally kind.”
“This is a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to the problems Americans face,” McBride added.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said Mace’s resolution “doesn’t go far enough” and “we need something more binding.”
The Georgia Republican, who called McBride a “biological human,” said that “America is tired of having trans ideology shoved in our faces.”
Greene said she asked House Speaker Mike Johnson during Tuesday’s House Republican conference meeting “what the men in our leadership are going to do about this, because it needs to be stopped.”
According to Greene, the Louisiana Republican promised her that McBride “would not use our restrooms.”
However, at Tuesday’s news conference following the GOP meeting, Johnson did not specify how he would respond to Mace’s resolution.
“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before,” Johnson said, while noting that “it is a mandate that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.”
“We will provide appropriate accommodations to every member of Congress,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday questioned House Republicans’ priorities regarding Mace’s efforts.
“This is your priority – do you want to bully a member of Congress instead of inviting her to join this body so that we can all work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?” the New York Democrat said at a news conference Tuesday.
Last updated at 14:59, November 19, 2024
