Nancy Mace’s latest stunt? Trying to bar Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (Del.) from accessing the women’s restroom in the House of Representatives.Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Zuma

Representative Nancy Mace (SR) has proven time and again that it do almost anything to make the headlines.

But on Monday it reached a new low, present a resolution seeking to ban transgender members and staff of the House of Representatives from using the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity in the Capitol building. A republican echo talking points based on paranoiaThe resolution alleges that allowing trans women to use women’s restrooms “jeopardizes the safety and dignity” of cisgender women. He would direct the House sergeant-at-arms to enforce the resolution if it passes.

The move comes just weeks after Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (Del.) became the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. Although it does not directly mention McBride, the bill represents a clear attempt to attack him: Mace said journalists explicitly said this on Tuesday, confirming that the bill “absolutely” targets McBride. And in a post on X after announcing the resolution, Mace said McBride “has no say in women’s private spaces.”

McBride seemed to respond to the resolution in an article on the same kindness. In a follow-up article, McBride called Mace’s efforts “are a blatant attempt by far-right extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.” We should focus on reducing the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not on manufacturing culture wars.

Other Democratic members also lambasted the effort: Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), the first openly gay person to represent her state in Congress and co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in an article on » Rep. Alexandria Ocasio (D-N.Y.) said: “It’s not just bigotry, it’s just plain intimidation.” Laurel Powell, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign, called Mace’s resolution “a political charade by an adult tyrant” and “another warning sign that the new anti-equality majority in the House will continue to focus on targeting LGBTQ+ people rather than the cost of violence.” life, price gouging or any other problem the American people elected them to solve. And Sarah Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement: “Everyone in Congress could try to focus on solutions to improve people’s lives and lead with kindness, and see what progress you could make for every American. »

“Manufacturing culture wars,” as McBride put it, is indeed an apt way to describe Mace’s transphobic paranoia and members who support the Republican Party appear to be fueling this resolve – a particularly ironic development given that Democrats have been reprimanded for having been Also concerned with trans issues since his election defeat.

As for the GOP panic over trans people using bathrooms alongside cisgender people, the evidence around the issue does not support that panic. A 2018 study published in the journal Sexual Research and Social Policy find There is no link between trans-inclusive bathroom policies and safety, and that reports of “privacy and security violations” in bathrooms, locker rooms and locker rooms are “extremely rare.” This is likely why most states (37, plus Washington DC) do not have laws regulating the use of restrooms or other facilities by trans people, according to the Movement Advancement Project. (Mace’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this research or other questions about this story.) But those facts haven’t stopped the Republican Party from pumping millions of dollars in anti-trans ads and deposit hundreds of anti-trans bills in state legislatures across the country.

And as for the claim that it’s trans people who pose a danger to cisgender people in bathrooms? The GOP appears to be the party that poses a physical threat. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) went so far, it seems, itsy during a private meeting of the House GOP conference, she would fight a transgender woman if she tried to use the House women’s restroom.

For all the drama it stirs up, Mace’s latest effort might not go beyond the headlines: At a news conference Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said“This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before and we are going to do it in a deliberate way…and we will meet the needs of every person.” He added that he would not commit to including the language from Mace’s resolution in the rules package the House will vote on in early January. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a question about the consequences if Greene fought another member of Congress or the lack of evidence to support Mace’s resolution.

Update November 19: This post has been updated with a statement from GLAAD.