On Thursday, transgender activists, including prominent advocate Chelsea Manning, staged a sit-in at the U.S. Capitol to protest the new bathroom ban. Announced by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson At the urging of Congresswoman Nancy Mace. The ban appears to target Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender lawmaker in U.S. history, and also applies to transgender visitors, staff and journalists who frequent Capitol grounds. . The sudden protests, which caught Republican leaders by surprise, led to protesters standing outside a police facility with bullhorns and using long-recognized slurs against transgender people, calling the protesters “treasonous.” “protesters,” sparking an inflammatory response in Mace, who called them “protesters.” Individual.
RELATED: Chelsea Manning and Raquel Willis among 15 people arrested at Capitol during bathroom sit-in
protesters from gender liberation movementInspired by the civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s and the ACT UP protests of the 1980s and 1990s, they gathered in and around a restroom near House Speaker Johnson’s office. They held signs with slogans such as “Flush the bathrooms” and “Congress should stop being angry about our rights” and demanded an end to discriminatory policies targeting transgender people. did. Reporters on the scene, including Pablo Manriquez, noticed Protesters were reportedly threatened with arrest for “sexual misconduct”. Although there were arrests, including the arrest of prominent civil rights activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, ultimately no charges of sexual misconduct were brought. All protesters were released later that day.
The demonstration appeared to catch Mr. Mace and other Republicans by surprise, forcing some to scramble to avoid the sit-in or change direction. Mace seemed to have given some sort of forewarning, but parliamentary mass email She revealed earlier in the day that she had asked her fellow MPs to borrow a bullhorn, but her reaction during the protest was puzzling. According to HuffPost’s Jennifer Benderley and Arthur Delaney, Mace seen He was roaming the halls of the Senate chamber with a bullhorn in hand. Of course, the Senate is a completely separate branch of Congress and a separate building from where the protests occurred.
Immediately after that, Mace shared a video According to her official account, she was standing in front of a door marked “Police,” holding a bullhorn and shouting at protesters. In the video, she uses a widely known slur against transgender people, saying, “A few tran**ny protesters were in Parliament House today to protest my bathroom bill. showed up and they were arrested, poor people.” She then mockingly invoked her Miranda rights, stopping at the part about not being able to afford a lawyer to face the camera and sneered, “I don’t think many of you can do that.”
The protests and Mace’s inflammatory response came just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments. USA vs. Scumettia pivotal case that will shape the future of transgender rights across the country. During the proceedings, ACLU and U.S. government lawyers addressed the historical and ongoing discrimination faced by transgender individuals. Mace’s actions, proposing a ban on bathrooms targeted at transgender people and using slurs against them, could be seen as evidence of clear hostility leading to discriminatory policies. In particular, her use of official government accounts to disseminate such statements will be used as evidence of unconstitutional bigotry and discriminatory intent in future legal challenges to anti-trans laws she supports. There is a possibility that it will happen.
“I’m here today because every person deserves dignity and respect, both in their everyday lives and in iconic places like the U.S. Capitol,” Manning said. in a statement In the aftermath of her arrest. “As someone who has fought against similar rules, I know what it’s like to feel sidelined and erased. But I also know the incredible strength and resilience of our communities. I know that I am not here as a leader or spokesperson, but simply as a person.” Members of my community who have shown up to unconditionally support my brothers in this fight. , I didn’t start this fight, but we’re all together now. ”
This article was first published Erin in the morning.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
