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Speaker Johnson says transgender women will not be allowed to use women's restrooms in the Capitol

House Speaker Mike Johnson said transgender women cannot use women's restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings. This also applies to locker rooms and locker rooms, Johnson said.

“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, locker rooms and changing areas — are reserved for single-sex individuals,” the statement said Wednesday.

Johnson continued, “It is important to note that each Member's office has a private restroom, and non-same-sex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”

After winning her election earlier this month to become Delaware's lone representative in the House, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride will become the first openly gay member of Congress.

McBride responded to Johnson on Wednesday by saying, “I'm not here to fight for bathrooms. I'm here to fight for Delawareans and to lower the costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as laid out by Speaker Johnson, even if I don't agree with them.”

MORE: Rep. Nancy Mace says Capitol toilet bill headed to first member of Congress

It is unclear what will happen to the bill by South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace will ban transgender women from using women's restrooms in the Capitol, but hailed the speaker's decision as a victory for women's rights.

PHOTOS: Rep. Sarah McBride leaves a House Democrats meeting on Capitol Hill, Nov. 19, 2024, Washington. (Mark Schifelbein/AP)

“I am proud to be a woman, today women won,” said Mace. “And I'm not going to stop there. I have another bill that I've written, and I'm going to introduce it when we come back in December — if you're a state-sponsored educational institution, school, etc., women to be protected and in private places, so this is just the beginning.”

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the decision “disgusting.”

“Because if you ask them, 'What's your plan about how you're going to do this?' they will not come up with an answer and the result is women and girls who are abused because they want to, because people will want to check their private parts to suspect who is trans and who is cis and who is doing what,” she said.

Mace had previously said that his proposed bill was “perfect” in response to McBride entering Congress.

“Yes, and absolutely. And then some,” Mace told reporters at the Capitol. “I will not represent a man, you know someone who has a penis in women's rooms,” he said.

MORE: Sarah McBride will be the first openly gay member of Congress, ABC projects

Asked by ABC News on Wednesday if he had met with McBride about the matter, Mace said he had not.

“She doesn't get a say in this. This is about women's rights, and at some point we have to draw a line in the sand,” Mace said. “I'm a socially conscious person. I voted for gay marriage, not once, but twice.”

“He was born a natural,” he said of McBride. “It's not — I'm not in a position. I don't care. I'm trying to be as respectful as I can. I'll work with him on legislation. I'll work with anybody who's willing to work with me, but I'm not going to play into this sexism, this wackadoo madness, the madness that men want to force on women.”

How Johnson plans to implement this policy is not entirely clear, but the speaker has “general control” of resources, according to House rules.

“This attempt to distract from the real problems facing this country has not bothered me these past few days, as I have worked hard preparing to represent the largest country in the union in January,” McBride said in a statement on Wednesday. .

In response to Mace, McBride received support from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic Women's Caucus.

“Instead of focusing on reducing costs and real solutions to improve the health and safety of women and families, Republicans are brutally attacking our new Member to disrupt their inability to govern. We will not stand for it,” the post from the women. caucus read from X.

Jeffries said Republicans are harassing McBride.

“This majority of the House Republican Conference that doesn't come in, it's small, is starting to go to Congress by harassing a member of Congress,” Jeffries said on Tuesday. “Is this what we're doing? Is this the lesson you learned from the election in November? Is this what's most important to you, that you want to harass a member of Congress, without welcoming him to join this body so we can all work together to get things done and deliver real results for the American people?”

ABC News' Isabella Murray, John Parkinson and Chris Boccia contributed to this report.

Speaker Johnson says transgender women will not be allowed to use women's restrooms at the Capitol appeared first on abcnews.go.com


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