When pressed as to whether McBride’s arrival was the catalyst for her efforts, Mace was unequivocal.
“Yes, absolutely — and then some,” Mace told reporters.
McBride in a Nov. 20 statement said she would follow the rules outlined by Johnson, even though she disagrees with them.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride wrote on social media. “I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”
McBride previously blasted Mace’s efforts as “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”
Kelli Parker, communications director for the Women’s Rights Empowerment Network, on Nov. 19 described the efforts as “extreme” and anti-trans, saying it actually stands to hurt women despite Mace’s claims to the contrary.
“This is about denying the dignity and humanity of the trans community. Women don’t need to be ‘protected’ from transgender women — we need safe, inclusive spaces for all women,” Parker said.
In his statement, Johnson noted each member’s office has its own private bathroom, and that unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.
Anti-trans rhetoric in American politics has been growing for several years, with Republican-governed states enacting dozens of laws restricting trans people’s options for medical care, sports participation and public restroom access.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Nov. 19 responded to the efforts by Mace and other Republicans, saying: “This is the lesson you’ve drawn from the election in November? This is your priority? That you want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her?”
Closer to home, Mace’s push in Washington comes as a 13-year-old transgender boy is suing Berkeley County schools and the state for refusing to allow him to use the bathroom that aligns with the gender to which he identifies in order to comply with a new state rule. Berkeley County is in the 1st Congressional District that Mace represents.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
