Delaware Rep.-elect Sarah McBride responds to legislation regarding trans women's bathroom use at Capitol
Just weeks after the first openly transgender member of Congress was elected in Delaware, a Republican representative from South Carolina introduced legislation Monday aimed at preventing transgender women from using women's restrooms on Capitol Hill.
"Sarah McBride doesn't get a say. This is about women. This is about girls. This is about our rights and being protected in our private spaces. I don't want to see a man in a women's restroom," Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina previously said.
Delaware Rep.-elect Sarah McBride recently made history as the first openly transgender member elected to the U.S. Congress.
"Delawareans reinforce that in our state of neighbors, we are fair-minded, and we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities," McBride said.
But McBride's identity and the identities of transgender Americans became a flashpoint in the political conversation during the 2024 presidential election with the Trump campaign and allies spending millions of dollars on anti-trans ads.
Just weeks after her historic win, she's now become the target of Mace, who introduced a resolution to prevent McBride and other trans women from using the women's restroom on Capitol Hill.
"This is a biological man. He does not belong in women's spaces, in women's bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, period, full stop," Mace said. "I am not going to allow that kind of thing to happen. Not up here on the Capitol and not anywhere across the country."
McBride responded to the resolution.
"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."
"Sarah McBride has mentioned that some of these proposals are often a distraction, and I do think that's 100% true. But at the same time these proposals, they're real threats," said Jeff Main, the executive director and co-founder of Point of Pride, a nonprofit helping trans people access health and wellness services across the country.
Main lives in Philadelphia and is concerned with what could be on the horizon under the Trump administration.
"As a trans person and a person doing this work, I have a lot of concerns," Main said. "It's more than just access to a bathroom or access to healthcare. It's about existing. It's about our right to live authentically, safely and with pride."
Mace's resolution has yet to be approved. The House will vote to approve House rules in January.