US President Trump’s ‘two-sex’ executive orders seem to be put into action. After being criticized by a Democratic congressman for purposefully misgendering Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, Republican Rep. Keith Self abruptly adjourned a House committee session.
Following Donald Trump’s inauguration and his string of actions targeting transgender Americans, including an order that categorically denies the existence of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people, Republican lawmakers have launched their latest anti-trans assault during Tuesday’s House Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing.
“Thank you, Madame Chair,” McBride said when Self-referred to her as the “Gentleman from Delaware.” Then, in seeming shock, a vengeful Democratic Representative, Bill Keating, turned to Self and asked him to repeat his speech to a “duly elected representative from the United States of America.”
I mean …. “sHE’s” literally a fucking man. This country is sick and confused https://t.co/fnRCY0bfci
— baltimore1996 (@baltimore1996) March 12, 2025
“I will,” Self said. “The representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride.” Keating fired back.
“Mr. Chairman, you are out of order,” he said. “Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I’ve come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent.” “We will continue this hearing,” Self replied. Keating once again cut him off. “You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way,” he said.
Self then postponed the hearing. Writing that “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” he justified his actions on X, reiterating Trump’s executive order that forbade federal recognition of transgender individuals and falsely asserting that there are only two sexes without taking intersex people into consideration.
McBride’s coworkers have frequently used discriminatory language and anti-trans insults against her. During remarks on the House floor last month, Republican Representative Mary Miller called McBride the “Gentleman from Delaware.”
“I refused to deny biological reality,” she wrote on X. “President Trump restored biological truth in the Federal Government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not.”
In addition to regularly misgendering and disseminating inaccurate information about transgender individuals, Republican Representative Nancy Mace has used a transphobic slur on social media and during congressional hearings.
In reaction to McBride’s election, she proposed a resolution to prohibit trans women from accessing women’s restrooms. House Speaker Mike Johnson subsequently approved the prohibition in accordance with the 119th Congress’s rules.
No she identifies as female. This was a deliberate act. If he refuses to refer to her as Ms then there is always the choice to call her the representative. This act was deliberate in trying to provoke a reaction
— Fi 🇪🇺 (@rahhead01) March 11, 2025
Mace has made false claims that affirming care “sterilizes our children” and that children on the autism spectrum suffer from transient gender dysphoria. Democratic members of Congress have not protested the attacks much thus far. In the meantime, Trump’s administration is being sued for a number of policies that target transgender individuals and attempt to exclude them from public life.
The president has threatened funding for hospitals that offer gender-affirming care to individuals under the age of 19, prohibited transgender persons from serving in all branches of the U.S. military, and urged educational institutions and sporting associations to prohibit trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports.
