Nancy Mace has vowed to “triple” down on her effort to bar transgender women from using female bathrooms at the Capitol and said she planned to file additional legislation on the topic as soon as Tuesday night.
Democrats, meanwhile, have slammed the effort, which Mace acknowledged is aimed at Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who will soon be the first openly transgender member of Congress.
Standing on the House steps Tuesday afternoon, Mace said: “I am a survivor of sexual abuse. I can tell you right now, I am never going to allow a biological man in any women’s private spaces. … The fact is, people are threatening to kill me over men’s disillusioned right to use women’s bathrooms. This is effing crazy.”
Rep. Eric Sorensen, who became the first openly gay member from Illinois when he assumed office in 2023, said the effort amounted to bullying.
“That is bulls—,” the Democrat told a small group of reporters after Mace had descended the House steps. “It is absolutely ignorant, and it is a slap in the face to the first trans member of Congress.”
The fate of Mace’s resolution, which was introduced Monday, remains unclear, though she said Speaker Mike Johnson told her the measure, or something similar, would be in the House Rules package for the 119th Congress. If it’s not, Mace said she’s prepared to offer an amendment to the rules package or try to force a vote.
McBride, who has been attending orientation in Washington alongside other new members ahead of incoming lawmakers’ official arrival on Jan. 3, declined to comment Tuesday, though she posted a response on X after news of Mace’s resolution broke.
“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,” McBride wrote.
Johnson, for his part, hasn’t said explicitly whether he’d support Mace’s push.
“A man is a man and a woman is a woman. And a man cannot become a woman. That’s what scripture teaches,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “But I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity, so we can do and believe all those things at the same time.”
The culture war battle over transgender rights has raged for years, and in recent weeks, some Democrats — particularly after the election that saw Donald Trump reelected and Republicans flip the Senate and hold the House — have questioned the party’s stances on issues like transgender inclusion in girls sports.
Meanwhile, in many Republican-led states, lawmakers have passed legislation outlawing gender-affirming care for minors or restricting access to bathrooms and participation in sports.
Mace has spoken publicly in recent years about being raped as a 16-year-old and said the idea of men in women’s spaces is a trigger. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went further, repeatedly misgendering McBride during a transphobic rant on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.
California Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs said the whole episode was an attempt to distract from policy discussions. And Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, also of California, said he knew of Republicans who were disgusted by the resolution, though he didn’t name names.
“I was actually sick to my stomach when I read that yesterday and I think it’s really unfortunate that someone is being attacked who just got to Congress,” Garcia said, describing his reaction when he learned of the resolution. “She is going to use whatever restroom she needs to use.”
Mace’s resolution was referred to the House Administration Committee. It would block any House member or employee from using “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.”
How such a change to House Rules would be enforced remains a question, though the resolution states it would fall to the House sergeant-at-arms.
Other than men’s and women’s restrooms near the House floor, there are some unisex bathrooms around the Capitol campus, including three located in House office buildings and five additional to be added to the Cannon Building in the 119th Congress as part of its renovation, according to a House Republican aide. The Capitol Visitor Center also has unisex bathrooms, the aide said.
This isn’t the first time bathroom access has become a political issue on the Hill.
Until 2011, there was no women’s restroom close to the House floor, which, according to Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, is a problem in statehouses throughout the country.
“What it really comes down to is these are institutions that were designed and built specifically without women’s representation and inclusion in mind,” Sinzdak said.
According to Sinzdak, traditionally male governmental institutions have been forced to contend with a growing number of women in elected office. Slowly they’ve adapted, but new issues of inclusion and accessibility have emerged.
“The challenge with getting more women’s restrooms years ago was more like an inertia, I think, than it was an overt political campaign,” Sinzdak said. “But the underlying piece of all this is … it’s crucial to pay attention to access and inclusion, with an eye towards participation. How are we making these physical spaces open and welcoming to people from all backgrounds?”
— Jacob Fulton and Mary Ellen McIntire contributed to this report.
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