US Congress to impose bathroom rules for transgenders

Such people will only be able to use restrooms that align with their biological sex, House Speaker Mike Johnson has said

Transgender individuals will be barred from using bathrooms in the US Capitol building that do not correspond to their sex assigned at birth, House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday.

The statement came two weeks after the first openly transgender person was elected to the House.

The new restrictions were proposed earlier this week by Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina. The Representative argued that she was seeking to “protect real women” and made it clear on social media that her initiative was aimed at incoming Democratic Representative Sarah McBride, a state senator from Delaware, who came out as a transgender woman over a decade ago.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride poses for a photograph on the steps of the House of Representatives at the US Capitol Building on November 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. ©  Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

“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 in a statement. The Louisiana Republican went on to note that each member’s office has its own private restroom, and that unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), McBride said she disagreed with the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson but would abide by them. “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” she wrote.

McBride went on to describe the restrictions as an “effort to distract from the real issues facing this country.”

Members of Congress who oversee the administrative running of the House of Representatives have no clear answer as to how Johnson's transgender bathroom ban will be enforced, Axios wrote on Wednesday. The outlet quoted a House Administration Committee member, Democrat Joe Morelle, as jokingly suggesting that Nancy Mace be appointed as “bathroom monitor.” One Republican, who did not want to be named, said the ban would have to be “socially enforced.”

READ MORE: Trump vows to end ‘gender insanity’ in schools

US President-elect Donald Trump made his opposition to transgender rights one of the central issues of his campaign, vowing to deal with what he described as “transgender insanity” in schools and women’s sports.