Republican tries to deny first transgender congresswoman access to women's toilets

washington - A Republican congresswoman in the US House of Representatives has proposed a bill to deny transgender individuals access to women's toilets in the Capitol.

With the election of a very conservative new president, Donald Trump, and his Republican party colleagues winning the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Sarah McBride was elected as the first transgender person to Congress. The Democrat from Delaware may have realized at that moment that she would be a beloved target for those conservatives and that turbulent years lie ahead.

This is evident now, even before she is sworn in to the House of Representatives in January. Republican parliamentarian from South Carolina, Nancy Mace, is the one opening the debates. She announces a bill that will prohibit transgender women from accessing the women's toilets in the American Capitol. She does not hide the fact that she has one particular person in mind. "Sarah McBride has nothing to say about it," she told journalists. "I mean, this is a biological man. McBride does not belong in female spaces, women's toilets, changing rooms, period."

The Republican leader in the House, Mike Johnson, did not delve deeply into the controversy during a press conference. "I'm not going to engage in silly discussions here. There is concern about the use of toilets and changing rooms. This is an issue that Congress has never had to address. We will deal with it in a thoughtful manner, with consensus among members, and we will meet everyone's needs."

McBride herself is displeased with Mace's proposal. She refers to it as "a shameless attempt by far-right extremists to divert attention from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing."

She received support from her fellow representative Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico. "There was no women's toilet in the House until the 90s. I find it disgusting, disgraceful, irresponsible, and undemocratic that my female colleagues publicly go after another colleague and attack her openly. Why are you here?"