House Speaker Mike Johnson has announced that restroom access in the US Capitol will be limited to individuals’ biological sex.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that transgender individuals will be restricted to restrooms aligning with their sex assigned at birth within the US Capitol building.
This announcement follows the recent election of the first openly transgender member of the House.
The new restrictions, proposed earlier this week by Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, were presented as an effort to “protect real women,” and were explicitly directed at incoming Democratic Representative Sarah McBride, a transgender woman.
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“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 stated. He added that individual offices have private restrooms, and unisex facilities are available throughout the Capitol.
In a statement on X, McBride expressed disagreement but pledged compliance. “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” she wrote, calling the restrictions a “distraction from the real issues facing this country.”
House administrators have yet to clarify how the ban will be enforced, according to Axios. One source jokingly suggested assigning Representative Mace as “bathroom monitor,” while another Republican anonymously described enforcement as relying on “social pressure.”
President-elect Donald Trump previously campaigned on opposing transgender rights, pledging to address what he termed “transgender insanity” in schools and women’s sports.