WASHINGTON – Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina led a charge Monday to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings following the election of a transgender lawmaker.
The move, which the House Democratic leader described as an attempt to “bully” another member, came as Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware will soon be sworn in as leader first openly transsexual member of the Congress. Republicans have also launched a broader effort to ban transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity.
“Biological men don’t belong in private women’s spaces,” Mace wrote in one Post on X alongside the resolution she is pushing forward. “Period. Period. End of story.”
The Resolution would prohibit Members of Congress, officials and House staff are not allowed to employ “single-sex facilities” that do not correspond to their “biological sex.”
It states: “A member, delegate, resident commissioner, official or employee of the House of Representatives shall not use any single-sex facility (including a restroom, locker room or locker room) in the Capitol or House of Representatives office buildings other than these. “according to that person’s biological sex.”
The resolution would place the House sergeant-at-arms in charge of enforcement, so it appears it would only apply to restrooms on the House side of the Capitol and not the Senate.
Mace told him Washington Examiner in 2021 that she strongly supports LGBTQ rights and equality, saying, “No one should be discriminated against.”
The South Carolina Republican co-sponsored one Republican alternative to those supported by the Democrats Equality Act in 2021. The GOP effort aimed to “prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and to protect the free exercise of religion.”
In one Post on X On Monday, McBride appeared to respond to Mace’s urging, saying, “Every day that Americans work with people whose paths in life differ from their own and treat them with respect, I hope members of Congress can show the same kindness.” .”
“This is a blatant attempt by right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to the problems facing Americans,” McBride added.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said in a call with reporters Tuesday that Mace’s resolution “doesn’t go far enough” and “we need something more binding.”
The Georgia Republican, who called McBride a “biological male,” said, “America is tired of trans ideology being forced upon us.”
Greene said she asked U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson at Tuesday’s GOP conference meeting “what the men in our leadership are going to do about it, because this has to be stopped.”
According to Greene, the Louisiana Republican promised her that McBride “will not use our restrooms.”
However, at a news conference Tuesday following the GOP meeting, Johnson would not indicate how he would respond to Mace’s resolution.
“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before,” Johnson said, while emphasizing that “it is an imperative to treat all people with dignity and respect.”
“We will provide adequate housing to every member of Congress,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday questioned House Republicans’ priorities regarding Mace’s efforts.
“That’s your priority – that you want to bully a member of Congress instead of welcoming her to this body so we can all work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?” the New York Democrat said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Last updated on November 19, 2024 at 2:59 p.m
