In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, Nancy Mace, a far-right representative from South Carolina, has been the figurehead for a move to ban transgender people from using restrooms on Capitol Hill that correspond to their gender. Publicly, this campaign was aimed at Representative-elect Sarah McBride from Delaware, who will be the first openly trans woman in Congress.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, another fascist, backed Mace and implemented a rule banning trans people from Capitol Hill restrooms.
Unfortunately, the moderate Democrat McBride (who is also a Zionist supporter) followed her party’s line and backed down from a fight, agreeing to submit to the new rule. McBride has a private bathroom in her offices, but the rule will harm trans people who work at the Capitol as well as visitors.
McBride (and, by extension, all trans women) are being subject to humiliating discussions of our bodies, misgendering, and deadnaming in the corporate media.
As many trans community voices predicted, McBride’s capitulation was immediately followed by Mace introducing a bill to ban trans people from using the correct restrooms in all federal facilities nationwide.
All of this unfolded on Nov. 20, the 25th annual Trans Day of Remembrance, when the community mourns those lost to anti-trans violence—every year, the vast majority of whom are trans women of color.
This attack is a signal that the new administration and Congress will move rapidly to enact measures intended to drive trans people out of public life, prevent us from living visibly or holding jobs outside the home, and vastly increase the incidence of violence and state repression.
The Democratic establishment has so far given every indication that it will continue to capitulate as it seeks to secure a role under the new regime and move further to the right after its election losses.
In December, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case on health care for trans youth that is likely to result in strengthening restrictions and set the stage for a planned nationwide ban on life-saving gender-affirming care, including for adults.
Hateful anti-trans scapegoating, which originates with the billionaire class that both Trump’s Republicans and the Democrats represent, has other consequences.
On Nov. 10, a pogrom took place at a Minneapolis light rail station (in Minnesota, considered a liberal “trans sanctuary” state). Two trans women were brutally attacked by men while onlookers cheered on the attackers.
Both women were knocked unconscious, with one having her nose broken and the other receiving “multiple contusions” on her ribs.
In the coming weeks, the trans community will be reckoning with how to respond to these assaults on our very right to exist. Working-class and progressive movements must be ready to play an important supporting role in these efforts.
In the meantime, understand that the trans community is in crisis. We have already lost people who have given up hope and will lose more. Reach out and offer support to the trans people in your life. In public, be supportive of our rights and stand up for people using the restrooms.