Several transgender activists staged a protest at the Capitol, filming themselves dancing in a women’s restroom in direct response to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) ban on trans women from women’s facilities, which he implemented after Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) proposed a resolution to that effect.
In a video posted to Bluesky by attorney and instructor at Harvard Law CyberLaw Clinic Alejandra Caraballo, eight trans people are shown dancing to Klymaxx’s Meeting in The Ladies Room.
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“Trans folks held a dance party in the Capitol bathroom to protest the bathroom ban on there,” she said.
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Trans folks held a dance party in the Capitol bathroom to protest the bathroom ban on there.
The protest was staged in part by activist and founder of nonprofit AllowMe, Hope Giselle-Godsey.
Giselle-Godsey said in a statement to Gaye Magazine: “We understand the weight of what it means to be a pariah in our society, so doing what’s necessary is never too hard. It always starts with things that people feel are insignificant, like public restrooms, but it never stops there.”
Giselle continued, “We’re here today to ensure they understand that we will not be erased—one bathroom at a time—or shoved back into the proverbial closet out of deference to the comfort of those who speak to eradicate us.”
While transgender people have been working at and visiting the Capitol for years, the first transgender person was elected as a member of Congress this past November with Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride. Shortly after her win, Mace introduced her resoultion to ban trans women from women’s facilities.
“Yes absolutely, and then some,” Mace told journalists when she was asked whether her resolution was specifically about McBride. “I’m absolutely 100 percent going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a woman’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way.”
Just days after she introduced her resolution, Speaker Johnson banned trans women from women’s facilities at the Capitol in a statement. The ban will primarily affect trans staffers and visitors to Congress because McBride, like all members of Congress, will have a private bathroom in her office.
Republicans in Montana attempted to implement a similar ban on state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D). It, however, was quickly squashed in a committee vote that saw several Republicans break party lines.
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