Several arrests were made on Thursday as transgender activists held a bathroom sit-in protest on Capitol Hill.
The activists, which included WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning, were protesting House Speaker Mike Johnson’s policy that everyone must use bathrooms that align with their biological sex on US Capitol premises.
Over a dozen people who identify as transgender and their supporters participated in the protest in the bathroom across from Speaker Johnson’s office.
HAPPENING NOW: DOZENS OF TRANS ADVOCATES AND ALLIES STAGE “BATHROOM SIT-IN” ACROSS SPEAKER JOHNSON OFFICE FOR IMPLEMENTING MACE’S BIGOTED BATHROOM POLICY WITH BANNERS THAT SAY “STOP PISSING ON OUR RIGHTS” AND “FLUSH BATHROOM BIGOTRY” DEMANDING AN END TO ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION. pic.twitter.com/OvbjH6pMJi
— GENDER LIBERATION MOVEMENT (@genderlib4all) December 5, 2024
The demonstration was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, whose website states that they are “an emergent and innovative grassroots and volunteer-run national collective that builds direct action, media, and policy interventions centering bodily autonomy, self-determination, the pursuit of fulfillment, and collectivism in the face of gender-based sociopolitical threats.”
BREAKING: Chelsea Manning is using the ladies room in the Capitol complex pic.twitter.com/vp4mz017So
— Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) December 5, 2024
The Hill reports:
Holding a banner demanding Congress stop “pissing on our rights,” protesters chanted, “Speaker Johnson, Nancy Mace: our bodies are no debate!” Several transgender women, including GLM founder Raquel Willis, entered the women’s restroom near the Speaker’s office.
A video uploaded to the group’s Instagram story shows Willis and others washing their hands and chanting inside the restroom alongside another banner that reads, “Flush Bathroom Bigotry.” A second video shows Capitol Police officers arresting some of the demonstrators, including Manning, who smiled at the camera while being led away in zip ties.
Incoming Representative Sarah McBride, who is transgender, has agreed to follow the rules regarding bathroom use.
Rep. McBride said in a statement posted to X, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.”
I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. pic.twitter.com/bCuv7pIZBY
— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 20, 2024
“Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them,” McBride said. “This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days, as I’ve remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January.”
The statement continued, “Serving in the 119th Congress will be an honor of a lifetime — and I continue to look forward to getting to know my future colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Each of us were sent here because voters saw something in us that they value. I have loved getting to see those qualities in the future colleagues that I’ve met and I look forward to seeing those qualities in every member come January. I hope all my colleagues will seek to do the same with me.”
Speaker Johnson issued the resolution regarding bathroom use in November.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said. “Women deserve women’s only spaces.”
