Speaker Mike Johnson says he supports banning transgender women from using women's bathrooms

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said that he supports restricting “single-sex facilities” in the Capitol, including restrooms, to “individuals of that biological sex”— which would effectively ban the first transgender congresswoman from using women’s bathrooms in the next Congress.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a resolution this week that would ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms and other facilities at the Capitol. She said Tuesday the bill “absolutely” targets Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

“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 the statement, noting that, “each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”

He added, “Women deserve women’s only spaces.”

Johnson on Tuesday told reporters that he personally believes “a man cannot become a woman” but added, “I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity, and so we can do and believe all those things at the same time.”

The speaker’s statement alone doesn’t formally restrict transgender people from using the bathroom aligned with their gender, but it signals the kind of rules that could be included in the coming Congress’ rules package — which would take effect in January.

A representative for McBride did not return a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

Since Mace introduced her resolution, Democrats have resoundingly rebuked her and GOP leaders.

On Tuesday, during a press conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted his Republican colleagues, accusing them of “bullying” McBride.

“This incoming Small House Republican Conference majority is beginning to transition to the new Congress by bullying a member of Congress,” Jeffries told reporters. “This is what we’re doing? This is the lesson that you’ve drawn from the election in November? This is your priority, that you want to bully a member of Congress, as opposed to welcoming her to join this body so all of us can work together.”

A spokesperson for Jeffries did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Johnson’s Thursday statement.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told reporters Wednesday that he opposes Mace’s proposal. “It seems to me that that is discriminatory and it’s insulting, it’s a deliberate affront, and it’s really workplace bullying,” he said.

And Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., wrote in a post on X that the bill was “hateful,” “dangerous” and “unnecessary.”

“Trans people represent one half of one percent of Americans. Mind your own damn business and let them be,” Jayapal added.

On the other side of the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also decried Mace’s resolution as “mean and cruel.”

McBride herself has only publicly released one statement following Mace’s resolution, writing in a post on X that, “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 added in a second post, “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. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”

Kyle Stewart, Syedah Asghar and Jo Yurcaba contributed.

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride won the state’s lone U.S. House seat Tuesday, making her the first transgender person elected to Congress.

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