---
title: "Republican House Speaker says Capitol bathrooms restricted by 'biological sex'"
description: "WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that all single-sex bathrooms in the US Capitol building would be reserved for \"individuals of that biological sex,\" weeks after the election of the first transgender member of Congress."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "US Elections"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-21-republican-house-speaker-says-capitol-bathrooms-restricted-by-biological-sex/"
published: "2024-11-21T05:00:55"
updated: "2024-11-20T22:20:07"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 213
---

# Republican House Speaker says Capitol bathrooms restricted by 'biological sex'

> WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that all single-sex bathrooms in the US Capitol building would be reserved for "individuals of that biological sex," weeks after the election of the first transgender member of Congress.

By Reuters · Published 21 November 2024, 07:00 SAST · Updated 21 November 2024, 00:20 SAST

## Content

The issue [became a flashpoint](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3MQ0VF&linkedFromStory=true) after Republican Representative Nancy Mace filed a resolution to impose that requirement, which targeted US Representative-elect Sarah McBride.

“Women deserve women’s only spaces," Johnson said in a statement. He said members could use bathrooms in their private offices, which can be a 10-minute walk from the House floor where voting and debate take place, or unisex bathrooms in the Capitol.

McBride, a 34-year-old Delaware lawmaker-elect, said she would comply with Johnson's order but called it a distraction from more substantive issues.

"I'm not here to fight about bathrooms. I'm here to fight for all Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families," she said in a statement.

Other Democrats have said the effort to exclude transgender people from single-sex bathrooms amounts to bullying.

McBride focused [her successful election campaign](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3M40NO&linkedFromStory=true) on economic issues, including protections for unions and affordable healthcare and childcare.

Transgender rights have become a political rallying cry for right-wing politicians in the US Lawmakers in 37 states introduced at least 142 bills to restrict gender-affirming healthcare for transgender and gender-expansive people in 2023, [Reuters reported](https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-HEALTHCARE/TRANS-BILLS/zgvorreyapd/), nearly three times as many as the previous year.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Scott Malone, Bill Berkrot and Jonathan Oatis)