‘No, Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say in this’: Republicans attempt to bar rights for Congress’s first trans woman
Just weeks after Sarah McBride was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first transgender woman in Congress, Republicans are already attempting to pass a measure blocking her rights.
In 2020, McBride became the first transgender state senator in U.S. history. She earned the role after successfully lobbying for her state to pass a monumental bill protecting individuals from gender identity-based discrimination, serving as press secretary for the world’s largest LGBTQ+ equal rights organization, and advocating to expand Medicare coverage and protections for the children most vulnerable to abuse. As a state senator, she continued advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, workers, and children, including passing the Healthy Delaware Families Act to guarantee most full-time employees receive paid leave for child and family care and health emergencies. Her election to the House of Representatives gives her further opportunity to support families and workers.
Unfortunately, Republicans are already vying to discriminate against her in her new role.
Republicans introduce measure targeting Sarah McBride
There are many real national issues that need addressing in America, such as skyrocketing childcare costs and the inability of many Americans to afford the rising cost of living. However, as usual, Republican politicians are most concerned about what bathrooms people are using. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace has already proposed a measure blatantly targeting McBride, which will ban her from using the women’s bathrooms at the Capitol. The measure would prohibit anyone in Congress from using single-sex bathroom facilities except those “corresponding to their biological sex.”
Mace told HuffPost that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has already accepted the measure and “has said he’ll put it in the House rules package.” However, she warned that even if he doesn’t, she will personally see to passing it, stating, “I intend to amend the House rules package and/or bring a privileged motion to the floor.” So far, Johnson has refused to confirm whether he’ll include the measure. Meanwhile, Mace was open about specifically targeting McBride with the motion, saying it was “100%” a direct response to her election. Although this measure solely affects McBride, Mace coldly stated, “No, Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say in this.” On social media, she continued touting her measure and transphobia, writing, “Biological men in women’s restrooms is a complete invasion of our privacy.”
McBride responded to the discriminatory measure on X. She wrote that, daily, Americans throughout the nation “go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully.” She hoped that Congress could do the same with her. In a follow-up comment, she condemned the measure as an “attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact” that they don’t have solutions to the real problems afflicting America. Instead of “manufacturing culture wars,” she called on Congress to focus “on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care.”
It’s quite disappointing that, even after rightfully earning her election to the House and seeking to help Americans with real problems, McBride is facing discrimination from her fellow colleagues who want to police her bathroom usage. Unfortunately, the measure isn’t necessarily surprising. Last year, Republicans pushed dozens of bills aimed at restricting which bathrooms transgender individuals can utilize, even though these bills only lead to further ostracization of an already marginalized group. Now, this ridiculous culture war has followed a woman all the way to the House of Representatives. The House needs to stop this measure from passing and prohibit Mace from continuing to openly discriminate against and speak derogatorily about her colleague.
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