House Speaker Mike Johnson has voiced his support for a policy that would bar Sarah McBride, who earlier this month became the first out transgender person elected to Congress, from using women’s bathrooms in her new workplace.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” the Louisiana Republican said in a statement on Wednesday. “It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women’s only spaces.”
The move to prevent McBride from using the women’s facilities in the House was first initiated by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who on Monday introduced a resolution to ban trans women from using women’s bathrooms inside the complex. Mace said the resolution was “absolutely” in response to McBride, a Delaware Democrat, being elected to the House. Mace took her anti-trans crusade even further on Wednesday, announcing a bill to ban trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender in all federal buildings across the country. Neither of the resolutions have been brought to a House vote.
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Although Johnson’s statement on Wednesday does not name McBride, the restrictions seem intended to target her. But like bathroom bans that have been instituted across the country, there are concerns around enforcement and the invasion of privacy. The policy would also apply to staffers and officers, raising questions about how exactly it would affect people who are not out about their identity — or for people who deviate from the narrow, traditional convention of what a woman looks like.
Johnson had previously been non-committal on whether Mace’s resolution would be included in the House rules package for the next Congress. He told reporters on Wednesday that the policy would be “enforceable,” though he did not elaborate on how.
McBride has called Mace’s efforts a “distraction.” In a statement after Johnson’s announcement on Wednesday, she sought to remove herself from the spectacle that her soon-to-be Republican colleagues have made about her arrival.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families,” she said. “Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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