Nia-Malika Henderson, Columnist

Sarah McBride Knows How to Handle the GOP’s Anti-Trans Bullies

The first transgender member of Congress issued a classy, dignified reply to attacks by her new Republican colleagues.

November 21, 2024 at 6:30 PM UTC

Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and the Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.

Sarah McBride and Nancy Mace
Photographer: Hannah Yoon/Bloomberg and Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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The results of the 2024 election have left Democrats divided, with some suggesting that the party has become too “woke,” particularly around gender identity. And Republicans see an opportunity. Spurred on by Representatives Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Speaker Mike Johnson issued a bathroom ban for the House of Representatives, ordering any transgender staffers to use the bathroom that correlated to the gender assigned at birth.

“Women deserve women’s-only spaces,” he said in a statement. The target is clear: his incoming colleague, Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware, who will be the first openly transgender member of Congress.