A House Republican is pushing to ban transgender women from using women's restrooms at the US Capitol, just two weeks after America's first openly transgender person was elected to Congress, CNN reported on Monday.
Nancy Mace introduced a resolution to amend the rules of the US House of Representatives on Monday, less than two months before Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware state senator, takes office in January.
"Sarah McBride doesn't get a say. I mean, this is a biological man," the South Carolina Republican told reporters on Monday, adding that the lawmaker "does not belong in women's spaces, women's bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, period, full stop."
After Mace's comments, McBride took to X to reply, "every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness. This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.
"We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that's what I'm focused on."
In 2023, Republican-led legislatures in multiple states enacted laws prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities.
The Human Rights Campaign, the US' largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, described the year as a record-breaking one for such "bathroom bills."
