Washington – representative election sarah mcbrideThe Delaware Democrat, who is set to become the first transgender member of Congress, described the GOP effort to restrict bathroom use as an attempt to “grab headlines.”
“Everything was fine until a few members of the majority of the small Republican conference decided to make headlines and create a crisis,” McBride told CBS News' Scott McFarlane.
The Delaware Democrat told CBS News that she feared an attempt to “politicize my use of the restroom”, and indicated that she did not intend to use the multi-stall women's restrooms at the Capitol. But she also said, “That's my choice here.”
“If anyone had thought to ask me what I planned to do, I'd be happy to tell them,” McBride said. “But again, it's not an issue. And it's never been an issue on this campus.”
Weeks after McBride became the first transgender person elected to congressA Republican-led effort to restrict restroom use at the Capitol began this week. Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, introduced legislation On Monday, House rules will be changed to limit the use of single-sex bathrooms at the Capitol complex to correspond with the “biological sex” of users.
McBride, who also made history as the first trans person elected to a state Senate seat, has tried to stay above the fighting, insisting that her priority is working for Delawareans in the House. She told CBS News that she wanted people to see her “ability to govern as opposed to chaos.”
“I would like my grace to be in contrast to the grandeur that we are seeing right now.” McBride said. “I would like my approach of respecting everyone to be the opposite of the disrespect we are seeing right now.”
Mace's two-page resolution alleges that “allowing biological males” into facilities “jeopardizes the safety and dignity of House members, officers, and staff who are female” and calls for the measure to be implemented by Sgt. -At-arms will be assigned the task.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he supports banning “single-sex facilities” at the Capitol, saying in a statement that the facilities are “reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”
McBride pledged to follow the rules laid out by Johnson, “even if I disagree with them,” while insisting that she did not come to Congress to “fight about bathrooms.”
anti-transgender sentiments It has become a rallying cry for some Republicans in recent months, often repeated by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies on the campaign trail and over the airwaves.