By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina led a charge Monday to try 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 characterized as attempting to “bully” another member, came as Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware will soon be sworn in as the first openly transgender member of Congress. Republicans also have undertaken broader efforts to bar transgender people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.
“Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces,” Mace wrote in a post on X alongside the resolution she is pushing. “Period. Full stop. End of story.”
The resolution would prohibit members of Congress, officers and employees of the House from using “single-sex facilities” other than those corresponding to their “biological sex.”
It reads: “A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House may not use a single-sex facility (including a restroom, changing room, or locker room) in the Capitol or House Office Buildings, other than those corresponding to the biological sex of such individual.”
The House sergeant-at-arms would be tasked with enforcement, according to the resolution, so it appears it would apply only to bathrooms on the House side of the Capitol and not the Senate.
Mace told the Washington Examiner in 2021 that she strongly supports LGBTQ rights and equality and said “no one should be discriminated against.”
The South Carolina Republican co-sponsored a Republican alternative to the Democratic-backed Equality Act in 2021. The GOP effort sought to “prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and to protect the free exercise of religion.”
In a post on X Monday appearing to respond to Mace’s push, McBride said “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,” McBride added.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Mace’s resolution “doesn’t go far enough” and “we need something more binding” while speaking to reporters Tuesday.
The Georgia Republican, who referred to McBride as a “biological man,” said “America’s fed up with the trans ideology being shoved into our face.”
Greene said she asked U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson at the House GOP conference meeting Tuesday “what the men in our leadership are going to do about this, because this has to be stopped.”
According to Greene, the Louisiana Republican committed to her that McBride “will not be using our restrooms.”
However, at a Tuesday press conference following that GOP meeting, Johnson would 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 also noting that “it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.”
“We’ll provide appropriate accommodation for every member of Congress,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries questioned House Republicans’ priorities Tuesday regarding Mace’s effort.
“This is your priority — that you want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so that all of us can work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?” said the New York Democrat at a Tuesday news conference.
Shauneen Miranda is a reporter for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, where this article first appeared.