U.S. Congressional Women's Bathroom Controversy..."No use of transgender lawmakers"

Democratic Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress in the U.S., has sparked controversy after Republican congresswomen argued that women's toilets should not be used.

According to the New York Times on the 19th, Republican Representative Nancy Mace announced her plan to propose a measure to ban transgender women from using women's toilets and dressing rooms in the Capitol complex.

"The main point is that only those with corresponding biological characteristics may not enter facilities that are only available to a single gender."

"Sarah McBride has no say," Mace told reporters the night before, publicly stating that the plan was aimed at McBride, "because McBride is a biological man."

Republican Margery Taylor Greene, who is considered far-right, nailed McBride as "a man" and said, "I'm tired of the left violating our spaces and women's sports with trans ideology."

The New York Times referred to Mace as "one of the House members who is more inclined to get attention than others," and analyzed that this behavior is a cliché of Republicans on transgender issues.

The subject of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's attack on his rival Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the days just before the election was also about transgender rights.

In recent years, Republicans have proposed legislation at both the federal and state levels that would require the use of gender-specific facilities, such as toilets and changing rooms, only based on gender designated at birth.

Some criticize this Republican position as a retreat of the rights of transgender people.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has yet to say publicly about Mace's motion for a resolution.

However, Mr. Mace says he has received a pledge from Mr. Johnson to include this in the House rules.

When asked at a press conference on the 19th, "Tell me if you think McBride is a man or a woman," Johnson tried to avoid an immediate answer, saying, "I will not participate in a silly discussion about this."

He said, "There are concerns about toilet facilities and the use of locker rooms. It is an issue that Congress has never had to deal with before. We will deal with it in a prudent way to gather the weight of lawmakers, and we will accommodate the needs of all individuals," he said.

After the news conference, Johnson called reporters out of the main chamber to clarify the remarks, but it was still unclear whether he would specifically approve or disapprove of Mace's proposal.

He said, "Men are men and women are women. Men can't be women, he said, but he also believes that we should treat everyone with respect. We believe that we can and should do all of these things at the same time."

McBride declined an interview request regarding the article, the New York Times said.

He was seen traveling around the Capitol on the 19th, but avoided reporters who wanted to ask questions, saying, "It's nice to meet you all."

He has yet to meet with Mace and has never encountered her in the bathroom, the New York Times added.

McBride said, "Every day Americans go to work with people who have different life experiences and treat them with respect. "I hope lawmakers will be able to exercise the same kindness," he said. "This is a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to hide their inability to come up with real solutions to the problems facing Americans."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Mace's proposal on the 19th as mean and cruel.

The New York Times pointed out that even if Mace's proposal is passed, it will not be easy to implement it.

Democrats asked Republicans in favor of the proposal if they wanted to do a naked search or blood test before entering the bathroom, and Mace declined to give an immediate answer.

The New York Times explained that McBride, who was born in 1990, had been living by disclosing that he was transgender in an article published in an on-campus newspaper in 2012, a year after he was elected president of the American University, but he rarely mentioned his gender identity during his political activities until recently.