Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, who is set to become the first transgender member of Congress, says she’ll follow Speaker Mike Johnson’s recently-announced rule aimed at keeping transgender women like her out of the ladies room.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride wrote in a statement posted to X. “I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”
Johnson announced the rule earlier Wednesday.
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“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings (like restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms) are reserved only for individuals of that biological sex,” the speaker wrote in a statement.
The announcement follows Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who introduced a measure that would bar transgender women from using women’s bathrooms on the Hill.
In a Monday evening post on X, Mace confirmed that her proposal was a direct response to McBride’s election.
Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene immediately backed the initiative and suggested she would be willing to fight McBride, who she has repeatedly misgendered, if she tried to use the women’s room.
Facing pressure on the issue, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that “a man cannot become a woman,” but said that he believed in treating everyone with dignity. A day later, he assured the public that transgender people like McBride who will no longer be allowed to use restrooms that match their gender identities will have other options.
“It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol,” his statement declared.
The Speaker told reporters on Wednesday that the ban has always been “unwritten policy.” It’s unclear how the rule will be enforced, especially for staffers whose gender identity is not public knowledge.
“Like all policies, it’s enforceable,” Johnson said. “We have single-sex facilities for a reason and women deserve women’s only spaces.”
