Newly-elected Delaware Representative Sarah McBride made history earlier this month. She became the first trans person elected to the US House.
However, some Republicans are giving McBride a less-than-warm welcome.
South Carolina GOP. Rep. Nancy Mace yesterday introduced a bill to bar trans women from facilities on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity. It will cover restrooms, changing rooms and other single-sex facilities.
Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces. Period. Full stop. End of story. pic.twitter.com/IhR7kExkBU
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 18, 2024
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According to The Hill, Mace is mulling how best to bring her resolution to the floor. She could have called it as a privileged motion, forcing a vote within two legislative days. Although this option remains open, she could also include it in the rules package for the 119th Congress. Lawmakers vote on that in January.
On social media, Mace made it clear that McBride’s election prompted the move. Responding to a tweet that said the legislation was “Clearly directed at incoming Congresswoman McBride,” Mace replied, “Yes and then some. Biological men do not have any rights to women’s private spaces. It’s perverted to think otherwise.”
In a follow-up tweet, Mace added, “Also Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say here. I will always protect women and girls. Period. Full stop. End of story.”
Mace later said she was happy to be considered a “monster” if it entailed defending the rights of women. She pinned that tweet to the top of her profile.
Sarah McBride responds to Nancy Mace
McBride responded, without directly mentioning Mace or the proposed legislation.
“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 said on X.
“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.”
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.
— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 19, 2024
Delawareans…
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Nancy Mace, 46, joined Congress in 2021. She has made headlines for having a particularly high turnover of staff. Some former members of her team have painted a picture of a chaotic office, dominated by a hard-to-please, mercurial boss desperate to get on as many TV news shows as possible.
Mace has suggested such stories come from disgruntled ex-staffers out to “sabotage” her.
She won re-election this month in South Carolina’s District 1 with 58% of the vote (up from 56% in 2022).
McBride, 34, was formerly a press officer for the Human Rights Campaign. In 2016, she became the first trans person to speak at a major US political convention when she addressed the DNC. She won a seat in the Delaware Senate in 2021, before her bid to run for the US House.
Predictably, Mace’s bill has the support of some Republican colleagues. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) has vowed to vote for it. Greene took to X to say, “I’m sick of this sh*t. Mentally ill men pretending to be women need to stay out of our bathrooms and our sports. They don’t have rights to our spaces or identity!!!”
I’m sick of this shit.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) November 19, 2024
Mentally ill men pretending to be women need to stay out of our bathrooms and our sports.
They don’t have rights to our spaces or identity!!! https://t.co/WNWArmQ8zA
Mace’s move has been blasted by Democrats. Out, lesbian lawmaker Becca Balint, co-chair of the Equality Caucus, said “The cruelty is the point.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “This is not just bigotry, this is just plain bullying.”
Related
With such a catastrophic election, the Democrats were always going to start playing the blame game. And now the loss is trans people’s fault, apparently.
Rep. Nancy Mace has a serious and embarrassing problem
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