Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly transgender member of Congress, said she remains focused on her job and refuses to give Republicans what they want, which she said is for her to take the “bait” over a policy that bars her from women’s restrooms in the House.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., informally enacted the policy in November and renewed it earlier this month when Congress began its new session. The policy was initially proposed in November by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who said it was a direct response to the election of McBride.
McBride said in a statement at the time that she would respect the policy and wouldn’t let it distract her from what she was there to do: serve her constituents. Some trans people criticized McBride’s response, arguing that she should have resisted or protested more, particularly as the incoming administration and Republicans in Congress have made targeting trans people a priority. Some people said she wasn’t standing up for herself, and, as a result, she wasn’t standing up for trans people.
In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, McBride said she understands why some people feel that way, but that the bathroom policy wasn’t really about banning people from restrooms in the Capitol Complex.
“The point of this bathroom ban was to bait me into a fight, was to diminish my capacity to be an effective member of Congress by turning me into a caricature,” she said. “I refuse to give them that opportunity or that response that they seek. That is what they want. There is power in not giving people what they want.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 14.
She said that throughout history, people who secure “firsts” — like her becoming the first openly trans member of Congress — have been required to “pick their battles” and fight smarter, not always harder. In this case, she believes civil disobedience doesn’t mean disobeying the policy and “claiming a toilet seat.”
“The civil disobedience that is happening here is claiming a congressional seat in an institution that some people do not want me in simply because of who I am,” she said. “The disobedience is claiming that seat, and the civil part is taking the indignities that come with it with my chin up.”
McBride said that her “turning the other cheek” might not be comforting in the moment, especially for trans people who fear the policies of the incoming Trump administration and want to see McBride fight back.
However, she said, “it does not do the trans community any good for me to begin my career showing Republicans that they can bait me into getting the response that they want from me.”
Despite the policy and Republicans’ focus on restricting trans rights, McBride said her colleagues, regardless of party, have been warm and welcoming and have said hello to her in the hallways. When asked whether she’s had any conversations or interactions with Mace, McBride replied with a grin: “Who?”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., at the U.S. Capitol in 2024.
She said it’s notable that Mace’s resolution wasn’t included in the formal House rules package, and that her focus going forward is to do her job and work with “anyone who’s willing to be serious — Democrat or Republican — to do that work and to deliver for my constituents and their constituents alike.”
“In doing that, I hope to continue to build relationships with those serious members of Congress so that we can deliver on all of the issues, and hopefully, in delivering on those issues, people can begin to see that members of the LGBTQ community that they might not have previously known are indeed real people, and they are real people who are damn good legislators, and they are real people who deserve to be able to fully and equally participate in public life themselves,” McBride said.
In that vein, during her first week in Congress, McBride became the first freshman Democrat to introduce a bill. The bipartisan Ending Scam Credit Repair Act, which she introduced with Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., is meant to protect consumers from deceptive credit repair organizations that charge high fees and falsely promise to help people with their credit scores.
“We are removing loopholes in federal law that have allowed people to be taken advantage of by these entities that are really violating the spirit of federal law right now but, because of those loopholes, are able to prey on hardworking people with empty and costly promises,” McBride said.
Though her days are packed, McBride, a self-professed history and politics nerd since childhood, said that every day she enters the Capitol, she is “in awe.”
“You’re in a chamber where they passed the 13th Amendment and the 14th Amendment, where women got the right to vote, where Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid were created, where the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were passed,” she said. “You feel the history in the air and the responsibility and gravity of the job that is on your shoulders, and I think when you no longer feel that, if you ever no longer feel that, it’s time to look for a different line of work.”
McBride said she returns to Delaware as much as she can and typically only stays overnight in Washington, D.C., when there’s a late vote. As a result of her frequent back-and-forth travel, she has developed a late-night dinner habit that has garnered quite a bit of attention.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, McBride revealed that this meal, ordered at a Taco Bell and KFC in Wilmington, Delaware, consists of cheese nachos, five tacos, eight chicken tenders and three drumsticks.
When asked about the order and whether she goes to one fast-food chain right after the other, McBride responded: “That’s the beauty of it; it’s a Taco Bell-KFC in one.” She added: “KFC is not my favorite fried chicken. Taco Bell is not even Tex-Mex — it’s its own thing. But you give me a place where I can get both in one drive-thru — and it’s often open until midnight, and I work pretty late — I’m going to have to take advantage of it.”
However, after getting “a lot of feedback” about her order from those concerned for her health, McBride made an important clarification to NBC News and her social media followers: “I don’t eat that meal every night.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
