On the Transgender Day of Remembrance, the House Speaker issued a trans bathroom ban
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HOUSE SPEAKER ISSUES TRANSGENDER BATHROOM BAN — ON DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Wednesday marked the Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual observation by the LGBTQ community and its allies dedicated to all the trans and gender-nonconforming people who died by violence in the past year — at least 350 people worldwide, according to Human Rights Watch.
In California, the Transgender Pride Flag flew above the Capitol, and Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a public proclamation observing the occasion and stating that “hate is never tolerated.”
Wednesday also marked the day when the Speaker of the House banned transgender women from using women’s bathrooms.
The Republican Party from President-elect Donald Trump on down campaigned heavily in the finals months of the election against policies involving transgender people — spending tens of millions of dollars on ads targeting that community on everything from gender-affirming care for federal prison inmates to trans girls and women’s ability to play in women’s sports.
Now some GOP lawmakers are taking the voters’ decision on Nov. 5 as a mandate to pursue further federal policy against them.
At the center of this firestorm are two women: Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Delaware, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina.
The former is the first openly transgender person ever to serve in Congress. The latter is the driving force behind proposals to ban McBride and other trans women from women’s bathrooms, from the halls of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to every piece of federal property in the country.
Mace — herself a trailblazer as the first woman ever to graduate from the Citadel Military College of South Carolina (better known as just The Citadel) — has argued that women’s bathrooms are a safe space for women, and that trans women don’t count for those purposes.
To that end, she led the push to ban trans women from women’s bathrooms on the U.S. Capitol premises, persuading House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, to implement that policy.
In a statement released Wednesday, Johnson said that “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.”
He also noted that individual members of Congress have their own private bathrooms, and that there are unisex bathrooms available throughout the Capitol.
“Women deserve women’s only spaces,” Johnson said, excluding trans women from that statement.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, responded to Johnson’s decision on Bluesky, writing, “Our new government’s crusade to dehumanize & obliterate trans people begins. California will never be party to this. We will continue to have trans people’s backs. Trans people are our neighbors & full members of our community.”
Also responding to the speaker’s decision was Imara Jones, a transgender activist and CEO of TransLash Media, a media outlet that covers trans issues.
In a statement, Jones said that Johnson’s decision “represents the beginning of extreme anti-trans talking points brought to life at the federal level.”
“This process will gain steam in January and beyond, as Republicans make good on their campaign promise to target trans people and erase them from public life,” she said.
Mace isn’t stopping at the Capitol.
On Wednesday, she posted on X that she plans to introduce federal legislation to ban trans women from using the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity on all federal property, even in blue states like California.
“Oh you thought threatening me would silence me? No. I just doubled down and filed a new bill to protect women and girls across the entire country on all federal property everywhere,” Mace wrote.
Mace’s bill would face long odds in the Senate, where Democrats have the ability to filibuster legislation, requiring 60 votes to overturn.
The woman at the center of this ban, McBride, appears to be taking this rough greeting in stride, urging her Democratic colleagues to treat this debate as a distraction, according to the nonpartisan news site NOTUS.
In a statement posted on X, McBride said she would comply with the House rules though she disagrees with them, writing, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”
Thus far, Democratic House leadership is taking her cue.
“This is your priority? That you want to bully a member of Congress as opposed to welcoming her to join this body, so that all of us can work together to get things done,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said at a Tuesday press conference, per NOTUS.
McBride’s decision was greeted with disappointment and concern from some in the trans community.
Trans journalist and activist Erin Reed, in her Substack “Erin in the Morning,” wrote that “if Sarah McBride — one of the most prominent transgender figures in America — complies with anti-trans rules banning her from public accommodations, similar laws in state legislatures could gain traction as ‘acceptable compromise.’”
And trans journalist Parker Molloy wrote on Bluesky calling McBride’s decision a “dumb move”
“She’s condemning all trans people to horrible fates by not fighting back,” she wrote.
SO IT BEGINS: THE CAGOP LEADERSHIP ELECTION
The California Republican Party had a pretty good 2024.
The state GOP is poised to flip a number of California Legislature seats from Democratic to Republican — though not enough to break the party’s superminority status — and of course their choice for president won the election, turning several counties red in the process.
It did so by sticking to issues that resonated with California voters — crime and the economy.
Now, as Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson wraps up her final two-year term in the position (she was elected in 2019 and reelected in 2021 and 2023), it’s time for the party to elect new leadership.
On Wednesday, we got a candidate announcement: Vice Chair Corrin Rankin announced her intention to seek the position.
“As Chair, my priority will be to keep the California Republican Party focused on real results,” Rankin said in a statement.
She pledged to build on the party’s momentum by “sticking to the Republican principles that benefit every Californian — freedom, opportunity and accountability.”
“It’s about reaching voters where they are, giving our candidates the tools they need to win, and showing Californians that we’re the party with real solutions,” she said.
According to the bio on her website, Rankin grew up in Menlo Park and went on to work in Silicon Valley before taking over her family’s bail bonds business. She currently serves as party vice chair and chair of the CAGOP Engagement Committee.
Rankin has already racked up a number of endorsements, including Democrat-turned-Republican State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, Sens. Shannon Grove and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Assemblymembers Juan Alanis, Laurie Davies, Tom Lackey, Kathryn Sanchez, Tri Ta and Greg Wallis, as well as Assemblymembers-Elect Jeff Gonzalez, Heather Hadwick, Alexandra Macedo and David Tangipa.
“With potential legislative gains, Governor Newsom termed out in 2026, and opportunities in competitive congressional districts, we have a historic chance to not only strengthen Republican representation in the legislature and statewide offices but also expand the Republican majority in Congress,” Rankin said in a statement.
Rankin is one of two people to declare their candidacy so far; the other is Mike Morrell, a former state lawmaker who left office in 2020.
The California Republican Party will elect a new chair at its convention, set to be held in Sacramento, from March 14 to 16 of next year.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Folks can complain every day about California taking too long to count. But, that’s because we have laws to ensure every single legally cast ballot by Election Day (mailed or in person) is counted. That’s f****** as American as it gets! (proud to have written or co-authored all of those laws!)“
- California Labor Federation boss and former Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, via Bluesky.
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California voters to reject Proposition 32, the $18 minimum wage, by narrow margin, via William Melhado.
How much could the DOJ secure in Dec. special session to fight Trump’s agenda in the courts? Via William Melhado.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 4:55 AM.