Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), set to be the nation’s first openly transgender member of Congress when she takes office in January, said she will comply with a policy instituted Wednesday by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) barring transgender people from single-sex facilities that match their gender identity in the Capitol and House office buildings.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down the costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them,” McBride said Wednesday in a statement posted to the social platform X.
“This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days, as I’ve remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January,” she said. “Serving in the 119th Congress will be the honor of a lifetime — and I continue to look forward to getting to know my future colleagues on both sides of the aisle.”
“Each of us were sent here because voters saw something in us that they value,” McBride continued. “I have loved getting to see those qualities in the future colleagues that I’ve met and I look forward to seeing those qualities in every member come January. I hope all my colleagues will seek to do the same with me.”
Johnson announced the policy earlier on Wednesday in a public statement, a draft of which was first reported by The Hill. The restrictions apply to bathrooms in House office buildings, changing rooms and locker rooms.
Under House rules, the Speaker has “general control” of facilities in the chamber, giving him the authority to issue the policy surrounding bathrooms.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said Wednesday. “It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”
Johnson’s statement — which he made on Transgender Day of Remembrance, recognized annually to memorialize trans people who lost their lives to anti-trans violence — comes just days after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution to bar transgender women from facilities on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity, which she said was a response to McBride’s election earlier this month.
Mace on Wednesday filed a separate measure to ban transgender women and men from single-sex facilities on federal property, satisfying a promise she made Tuesday to expand her initial resolution.
In a statement, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which promotes LGBTQ equality in the House, called Johnson’s new bathroom policy “a cruel and unnecessary rule that puts countless staff, interns, and visitors to the United States Capitol at risk.”
