WASHINGTON- House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that lawmakers and staff will be required to use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex, a statement addressed to Sarah McBride, the first transgender person to be elected to Congress, months before she arrived at the Capitol.

“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings — such as restrooms, locker rooms and locker rooms — are reserved for people of that biological sex,” the Louisiana Republican said. “Women deserve women-only spaces. »

The statement comes a day after Johnson was asked about the issue and stressed the need to “treat all people with dignity and respect.” He also acknowledged that “this is an issue that Congress has never had to address before, and we’re going to do it deliberately with consensus of the membership on it.”

A resolution to restrict McBride’s access to women’s restrooms was introduced Monday by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who pledged to fight to “keep men out of women’s spaces.” Mace said the bill specifically targets McBride, who was elected to the House this month in Delaware.

In response, McBride called the effort “a way to distract from the real problems facing this country.”

“I’m not here to fight about toilets. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to reduce the costs families face,” the new member said.

She added: “Like all members, I will follow the rules laid out by President Johnson, even if I do not agree with them. »

Referring to transgender people by the sex they were assigned at birth rather than the gender they identify is a tactic often used by opponents of transgender rights. The broader debate over whether transgender people should be allowed to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity has been widespread in the United States and has become a focal point of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign.

At least 11 states have passed laws banning transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s restrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other public facilities.

Democrats called the Republican Party’s campaign against McBride intimidation. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Illinois) said Tuesday that Mace’s comments were “absolutely ignorant.”

“There are no statistics that indicate that a trans person commits crimes at a higher rate than anyone else, so I don’t know where the concern comes from,” said Sorenson, who is gay.

McBride will come to Congress next year after spending years building a national profile as an LGBTQ+ activist and raising more than $3 million in campaign contributions nationwide. She became the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention in the United States in 2016, when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Amiri writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.