Transgender advocates stage a sit-in protest at a U.S. Capitol bathroom
Transgender people and their allies staged a sit-in at a U.S. Capitol bathroom to protest a proposed policy that would prohibit the country’s first openly trans member of Congress from using the women’s restrooms in the building.
More than two dozen transgender people and their allies staged a sit-in at a U.S. Capitol bathroom Thursday to protest a proposed policy that would prohibit the country’s first openly trans member of Congress from using the women’s restrooms in the building.
Of the 25 demonstrators, about 15 were arrested for illegally protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building within the U.S. Capitol complex in violation of a Washington, D.C., code regarding crowding and obstructing, according to Brianna Burch, a spokesperson for the U.S. Capitol Police.
Advocates held the sit-in protest inside and outside the women’s bathroom closest to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office over his support for a policy introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., last month that she said was intended to bar Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., from using the women’s restrooms in the Capitol.
More than two dozen transgender people and their allies staged a sit-in at a U.S. Capitol bathroom on Thursday.Abby SteinMace’s resolution would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” She told reporters that the measure was intended to target McBride, adding that she is “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.”
Those arrested Thursday included Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence officer and trans advocate, and Raquel Willis, a trans journalist and author, according to Gender Liberation Movement, the advocacy group behind the protest.
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