In protest of a proposed rule that would forbid the nation’s first openly trans member of Congress from using the women’s toilets in the Capitol, more than two dozen transgender individuals and their supporters conducted a sit-in at a lavatory on Thursday.
According to Brianna Burch, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, roughly 15 of the 25 protesters were arrested for unlawfully demonstrating within a government building in violation of a statute governing crowding and obstruction in Washington, D.C.
In protest of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s support for a policy introduced last month by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., that advocates claim was meant to prevent Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., from using the Capitol’s women’s restrooms, activists staged a sit-in protest both inside and outside the women’s restroom closest to Johnson’s office.
Legislators and House staff would be prohibited from utilizing single-sex facilities other than those that correspond to their biological sex under Mace’s proposal. She informed reporters that McBride was the goal of the action and that she would surely block any man who wanted to use a women’s restroom, our locker rooms, or our changing rooms.
The protest’s advocacy group, the Gender Liberation Movement, said that trans writer and author Raquel Willis and Chelsea Manning, a trans advocate and former Army intelligence officer, were among those arrested Thursday.
Speaker Johnson, Nancy Mace, and demonstrators yelling “our genders are no debate” are captured on video of the sit-in.
Another chant was, “Democrats, grow a spine, trans lives are on the line,” according to author, rabbi, and trans advocate Abby Stein.
After the demonstration, Stein, who was not arrested, told NBC News that this is not only about Republicans. Making sure the Democratic Party is aware of and feels that we are here is also important.
According to Stein, the advocates decided to stage a sit-in to make their point that they cannot be disregarded.
“You can’t use us as a figment of your imagination to incite fear,” she remarked. We are actual people who are present. Bathrooms aren’t the only issue here. This concerns everyone’s safety, even women.
After the demonstration, Mace posted a video on social media in which he used an anti-trans slur to insult the protesters. She then used a loudspeaker to read the demonstrators their Miranda rights while she was outside what looked to be a Capitol police station.
According to Willis, a co-founder of the Gender Liberation Movement, transgender persons should be allowed to use the restroom like everyone else without worrying about prejudice or violence.
In a statement issued by the group following her detention, she cited political advertising data collected by Ad Impact and said that trans people were left to fend for themselves in the 2024 election after roughly $200 million worth of assault commercials were distributed nationwide. Democratic leaders are now utterly mute while Republican politicians attempt to exclude us from public life. However, we cannot change hatred and intolerance by doing nothing. We have to face it directly. This bill has to be blocked by Democrats filibustering it.
Manning claimed that she went to the demonstration because she has battled against similar regulations and understands what it’s like to be marginalized and forgotten.
In a statement issued by the Gender Liberation Movement, she stated, “I’m not here as a leader or a spokesperson, but simply as another member of my community who shows up unconditionally to support my siblings in this fight.” No matter what, I’ll be by their side. We are now together even if we didn’t initiate this argument.
A request for comment regarding the protest was not immediately answered by McBride.
In response to Mace’s suggestion and Johnson’s reply, she wrote on X on November 20: “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms.” I’m here to advocate for Delawareans and reduce the expenses that families must bear. Even if I disagree with Speaker Johnson’s rules, I will abide by them just like every other member.
“This attempt to divert attention from the actual problems confronting this nation hasn’t distracted me over the past few days, as I’ve stayed diligently working to represent the best state in the union come January,” she continued.
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