Nancy Mace’s latest stunt? Trying to ban Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) from the women’s restroom in the House of Representatives.Tom Williams/CQ Rollcall/ZUMA
Fight disinformation: Sign up for free Mother Jones daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
Representative Nancy Mace (RS.C.) has proven time and time again that it will do almost anything to make headlines.
But on Monday she reached a new low, introducing a resolution are seeking to ban transgender members and employees of the House of Representatives from using Capitol bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Following Republican talking points based on paranoiaThe resolution claims that allowing trans women to use women’s restrooms “endangers the safety and dignity” of cisgender women. If passed, it would charge the House Sergeant-at-Arms with implementing the resolution.
The move comes just weeks after Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) became the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. Although McBride is not directly mentioned, the bill represents a clear attempt to attack her: Mace told reporters said this explicitly on Tuesday and confirmed it the bill is “absolutely” intended to target McBride. And in a post on X after the resolution announcement, Mace said McBride “doesn’t get a say in women’s private spaces.”
McBride appeared to respond to the resolution in a post on I hope members of Congress can show that same kindness.” In a follow-up post, McBride called Mace’s effort is “a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should focus on reducing the costs of housing, health care and child care, not on creating culture wars.”
Other Democratic members have also criticized this effort: Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), the first openly gay person to represent her position in Congress and co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a post on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio (DN.Y.) said: “This isn’t just bigotry, this is just bullying.” Laurel Powell, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, called Mace’s resolution “a political charade by an adult bully” and “another warning sign that the coming anti-equality majority in the House will continue to focus on attacking LGBTQ+ people rather than on the cost of living, price gouging or any of the problems the American people have chosen them to solve.” And Sarah Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement: “Everyone in Congress could try to focus on solutions to improve people’s lives and lead with kindness, and see what progress you could make for every American.” can book.”
“Producing culture wars,” as McBride put it, is indeed an apt way to describe Mace’s transphobic paranoia, and supporting members of the Republican Party seem to be enthusiastic about this resolution—a particularly ironic development considering that Democrats have been punished because they have been at concerned with trans issues since losing the election.
When it comes to the Republican Party’s panic about transgender people using the bathroom with cisgender people, the evidence surrounding the issue does not support the panic. A 2018 study published in the journal Sexual Research and Social Policy found there is no link between trans-inclusive bathroom policies and safety, and that reports of “privacy and safety violations” in bathrooms, locker rooms and locker rooms are “extremely rare.” This is likely why most states – 37, plus DC – have no laws regulating the use of bathrooms or other facilities by transgender people. according to the Movement Advancement Project. (Mace’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that investigation or other questions for this story.) But these facts haven’t deterred the Republican Party pumping millions of dollars in anti-trans ads and submit hundreds of anti-trans bills in state legislatures across the country.
And as for the claim that it’s transgender people who pose a danger to cisgender people in bathrooms? The GOP appears to be the party that poses a physical threat. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) went so far as to say it happened SatDuring a private meeting of the House GOP conference, she said she would fight a transgender woman if she tried to use a women’s bathroom in the House.
For all the drama this engenders, Mace’s latest effort may not go further than the headlines: At a news conference Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said said“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before and we’re going to do it in a purposeful way… and we’re going to meet the needs of every single person.” He added that he would not commit to including the language of Mace’s resolution in the rules package that the House will vote on in early January. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a question about the consequences if Greene were to fight another member of Congress or about the lack of evidence to support Mace’s resolution.
Update, November 19: This post has been updated with a statement from GLAAD.
Leave a Reply