UPDATE (Jan. 3, 2025, 2:49 p.m. ET): This post has been updated to reflect the results of Friday’s voting for House speaker.
Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride is set to be sworn in Friday to the House of Representatives, where she’ll be the first openly transgender member of Congress amid a climate of heightened anti-trans animosity among Republicans — including from her own soon-to-be colleagues.
McBride was widely celebrated for her history-making election to the House in November, after an ugly election season in which GOP candidates embraced anti-trans sentiment in their campaigns. Her win was met with hostility by House Republicans as well. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution to ban trans women from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol, a measure she said was “absolutely” in response to McBride’s impending arrival. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., backed Mace’s resolution and suggested that she’d be willing to get physical if McBride uses the women’s bathrooms.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., backed Mace’s resolution and suggested that she’d be willing to get physical if McBride uses the women’s bathrooms.
The GOP congresswomen’s vitriol against their incoming colleague found institutional support as well. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who narrowly prevailed to win re-election as House speaker on Friday, had thrown his support behind Mace’s bathroom ban, saying: “A man cannot become a woman.”
Mace’s measure was meant to be incorporated into the House rules package for the next Congress. But the proposed package does not appear to include the resolution. The House was set to vote on the proposal after a speaker is elected.
Other Republicans have been similarly disrespectful of McBride. According to Politico:
Interviews with more than a dozen House Republicans as the bathroom debate played out revealed that many GOP members are either uncomfortable talking about transgender issues or are openly hostile to them. Most Republicans interviewed also misgendered McBride.
“You’re a dude. You want to wear a dress, it’s a free country, but at the end of the day you’re still a dude in a dress,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who added that he’d welcome grabbing a drink or coffee with her.
McBride has largely tried to steer clear of Republicans’ attempts to politicize her identity. She called the bathroom ban push “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.” Ahead of her swearing-in, she told The Associated Press that she relishes the opportunity to serve in Congress. “I am simply there to do the job just like anyone else,” she said. 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.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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