About 15 demonstrators, including former U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, were at Capitol Hill on Thursday to protest a new bathroom policy that requires single-sex facilities to be used by the biological sex.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., unveiled the policy after Sarah McBride, D-Del., became the first openly transgender person to be elected to Congress last month.
The protesters were arrested for illegally protesting in the building in violation of Washington, D.C., code against crowding, obstructing, or incommoding, a Capitol Police spokesperson told Axios. It is unknown if Manning was detained.
Protesters held a large sign that read "FLUSH BATHROOM BIGOTRY" and chanted, "Speaker Johnson! Nancy Mace! Our bodies are no debate!" according to Axios, citing people at the scene.
The protesters also attacked Democrats, yelling at them to grow a spine. The protest was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement.
"Everyone deserves to use the restroom without fear of discrimination or violence. Trans folks are no different. We deserve dignity and respect, and we will fight until we get it," GLM co-founder and writer Raquel Willis in a statement.
The sit-in was also attended by survivors of sexual violence, GLM said.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who previously introduced legislation aimed at limiting single-sex bathrooms to a person's biological sex, responded on social media with a video of her holding a megaphone reading the Miranda warning to the protesters
"I doubt many of you," can afford an attorney, Mace quipped.
McBride said last month that her use of a bathroom on Capitol Hill was "not an issue" for her, calling it disrespectful that a handful of Republicans "decided to manufacture a crisis" to "get headlines."
"If anyone had thought to ask me about what I was planning on doing, I would've been happy to tell them," McBride said. "But again, this is not an issue. And this has never been an issue in this complex."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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