Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said Tuesday that transgender Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride is “absolutely” the reason behind her new bathroom bill that seeks to ban trans women from using female bathrooms inside the Capitol.
“I’m not going to stand for a man, someone with a penis in the women’s locker room — that’s not OK,” Mace said.
“I’m a victim of abuse myself. I’m a rape survivor. I have PTSD from the abuse I’ve suffered at the hands of a man,” she continued.
“I know how vulnerable women and girls are in private spaces so I’m absolutely 100% going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting every step of the way.”
It comes after Mace unveiled a resolution Monday that would ban transgender women from using the female restrooms on Capitol Hill — drawing immediate criticism from McBride, who is set to be the first openly transgender member of Congress.
Asked specifically if she was targeting McBride with the legislation, Mace fired back: “Yes, absolutely, and then some.”
Her resolution calls for a “prohibition” on House members and employees using restrooms, changing rooms or locker rooms “other than those corresponding to the biological sex of such individuals” in the Capitol or in House office buildings.
The House sergeant-at-arms would have to enforce the new measure, which Mace said she received assurances from House Speaker Mike Johnson would be tucked into a rules package that will be voted on early next year, according to Axios.
Johnson (R-La.) in a Tuesday press conference in the Capitol said he was “not going to address the plans on any of that” but that the House will “treat all persons with dignity and respect.”
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) reportedly threatened in a House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday that she will get into a “physical altercation” with McBride if the two happen to share a restroom at the same time, two GOP lawmakers also told Axios.
The proposal comes just weeks after McBride, a Democrat, was elected to represent Delaware’s at-large congressional district.
McBride immediately slammed Mace’s push, saying in a post on X that she hoped Congress would show “kindness.”
“Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness,” she wrote.
“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride added. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”
“Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that’s what I’m focused on.”