WASHINGTON — Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution Monday banning transgender women from using female bathrooms in the Capitol, just weeks before Democratic Rep.-elect. Sarah McBride of Delaware will become the first transgender member of Congress.
The measure would prohibit lawmakers and House staffers from “using same-sex facilities other than those that correspond to their biological sex.”
When asked by reporters if her resolution was intended to target a marginalized person, Mace responded: “Sarah McBride doesn’t get a say in this.”
“This is a biological man trying to insinuate himself into women’s space, and I’m not going to tolerate that,” she added.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the House Oversight and Accountability hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump” at the Rayburn Building on July 22, 2024 .
McBride, who won this month’s race for Delaware’s lone House of Representatives seat, denounced the measure Monday.
“This is a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should focus on reducing the costs of housing, health care and child care, not on creating culture wars,” she said in a statement.
“Every day, Americans get to work with people who have a different life journey than their own and treat them with respect. I hope members of Congress can show that same kindness,” she said on X.
Mace told reporters that her resolution is about “women’s rights” and their protection in “private spaces,” arguing that the “radical left” was trying to erase those rights.
A spokesperson for McBride told NBC News that Mace did not reach out before introducing the measure and that McBride heard about it in the media.
Mace’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The House sergeant-at-arms would be tasked with enforcing the resolution if it passes. The measure would not require Senate approval or a presidential signature.
Mace said Monday she plans to reintroduce the measure in the next Congress, when Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives.
Republicans have spent more than $200 million this year on network television ads targeting transgender people, according to data shared with NBC News this month by AdImpact, a company that tracks political ad spending.
The Republican Party’s platform leaned heavily on anti-trans rhetoric this year, calling for banning transgender people from participating in sports that align with their gender identity, proposing to roll back Title IX protections for LGBTQ people and called for banning the use of taxpayer money to finance gender-affirming surgery.
In the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, some Democrats blamed their party’s position on transgender rights as contributing to Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat.
Those Democratic lawmakers said the party went too far and pandered to what they called the “far left” while trying not to offend anyone.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said Monday that Mace was cruel and discriminatory against her new colleague, calling the resolution a “political charade by an adult bully.”
“It is also another warning sign that the incoming majority in the House of Representatives will continue to focus on tackling LGBTQ+ people rather than on the cost of living, price gouging or any of the problems the American people have chosen them to tackle to resolve,” said spokesperson Laurel Powell. in a statement.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
