Just over two weeks after her historic election as the first out transgender member of Congress, Delaware Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride is facing backlash from members of the trans community over her response to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s policy banning transgender people from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity in House-controlled facilities in Washington, D.C.
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McBride, who is currently attending orientation for incoming members of Congress, is already navigating GOP-led attacks, including the discriminatory bathroom policy. However, her decision to comply with the rule and focus instead on broader legislative priorities has drawn sharp criticism from advocates who feel it minimizes the gravity of the issue.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride said in a statement that has sparked widespread debate Wednesday. “I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson even if I disagree with them.”
The statement has left some in the trans community feeling disappointed and betrayed.
Related: Speaker Mike Johnson bans trans people from all single-sex bathrooms at U.S. House
Natalie Boedecker, a 39-year-old IT manager from Maryland, expressed deep disappointment with McBride’s approach, emphasizing the broader implications for the transgender community.
“I think McBride’s capitulation here sends the wrong message to the GOP and to the larger trans community,” Boedecker told The Advocate. “The reaction I am seeing from prominent trans journalists and activists is extremely negative. They are seeing this as a betrayal.”
Boedecker added that the stakes are particularly high given McBride’s role as the first trans person to attain this power level. “Like it or not, she’s a trailblazer and a highly visible representative of the entire community. She has a responsibility to all of us. And it feels like she is telling us that it’s a responsibility she does not wish to honor.”
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On Bluesky, where many transgender and nonbinary users have sought refuge from the hostile environment of Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), responses ranged from nuanced understanding to outright heartbreak.
“I feel like I just got pulled right under the wheels of the bus by someone I thought was trying to pull me out,” one transgender woman who asked not to be named told The Advocate on Bluesky, the social platform.
“It feels like a no-win scenario,” one user wrote. “Either she fights for herself and other trans folks at the Capitol and gets nailed by [Republicans] for not advocating for the voters who sent her there, or she does what she’s done and gets nailed for not standing up for trans people. I’d prefer she fight, but I understand the nuance.”
Another user emphasized the need for Democrats to frame the issue differently. “She, and all the other Dems, should be clear that this is the GOP’s distraction, make them own it. Just say, ‘I’m just trying to pee and get back to work.’”
The bathroom policy, announced by Johnson on Transgender Day of Remembrance, reserves all single-sex facilities in the Capitol complex—including restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms—strictly for individuals based on their gender assigned at birth.
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House Republicans have framed the policy as a matter of protecting “women’s spaces,” but it has been widely criticized as an escalation in their ongoing culture war targeting LGBTQ+ rights. Also, trans women are women.
Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, has been vocal about her intent to target McBride. In recent comments to reporters, Mace admitted her proposed measures, including a resolution explicitly barring transgender women from women’s restrooms in the Capitol, were “absolutely” aimed at McBride.
For many advocates, McBride’s compliance signals more than just a response to a single policy. Alejandra Caraballo, a Harvard Law instructor and trans advocate, warned that Republicans are likely to escalate their attacks.
“This will not stop with bathrooms,” Caraballo told The Advocate. “The next thing they’re going to do is enforce a dress code on her, force her to wear a suit, and ensure that she’s misgendered on the House floor. If she already caved on this, what’s to stop her from caving further?”
Caraballo also highlighted how the policy could impact other transgender people in the Capitol complex. “This is essentially going to push out trans staffers and interns from working for congressional members,” she said.
Caraballo expressed further concern over the GOP’s systematic targeting of McBride. “They’re going to misgender her intentionally, follow her around, harass her, and try to use her as content for their media machine. By caving now, she’s shown them that this tactic works,” Caraballo said.
McBride defended her approach in a statement to The Advocate on Thursday.
“I’m here to represent my constituents, including LGBTQ constituents, but I’m not here to make this about me,” McBride said. “That means fighting for them and not allowing a right-wing culture war machine to turn me into the issue.”
She added, “I am continuing to work to guarantee that the Capitol complex is safe for all staff, interns, and visitors. I can deal with this; other people shouldn’t have to.”
Ash Lazarus Orr, a transgender Jewish organizer in West Virginia who has fought against anti-trans bills in his state, expressed disappointment with McBride’s decision while also calling for broader resistance to discriminatory policies.
“While I respect Rep. McBride and understand the difficult position she is in, she holds a position of immense power and privilege. She should be using that power to defend and protect her community, not promoting messaging that suggests trans people should fall in line,” Orr told The Advocate.
Orr emphasized the urgency of the moment, adding they wouldn't follow such a ban. “Personally, I will not comply with a bathroom ban — whether in the Capitol, federal buildings, or anywhere else—and I encourage others to refuse compliance as well. Trans lives are on the line — I refuse to back down without a fight.”
Not all responses have been entirely critical. Delphine Luneau, a transgender woman working in political advocacy in Washington, D.C., offered a more empathetic take on McBride’s decision.
“Sarah is, first and foremost, a person,” Luneau wrote on Bluesky. “And like every person, she has to make decisions for herself about her own safety and her willingness to walk right into the oncoming storm of hatred, or to try to sidestep it so that she can remain an effective fighter for all of us.”
Luneau added, “I have sympathy for those who say, ‘Don’t ever give transphobes an inch, or they’ll come for more of our rights.’ But I can’t ever be mad at any trans person for doing what she has to do to feel safe, to not feel under the gun and in imminent danger.”
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Transgender activist and commentator Charlotte Clymer also expressed strong support for McBride in a widely shared post on her Substack, Charlotte’s Web Thoughts.
“I deeply admire Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride for her courage and character in navigating an impossible situation solely manufactured by cruel, cynical, and hypocritical people who care far more about building their hateful personal brands than helping their constituents,” Clymer wrote.
Clymer noted the futility of attempting to win a fight in a Republican-dominated House driven by performative outrage.
“Congresswoman-elect McBride chose to focus on the big picture and prioritize every other issue affecting all her constituents above what is clearly a losing battle against a shameless outrage machine driven by the worst people in American politics and enabled by everyone else who should know better,” she said.
Clymer also called out the hypocrisy of the GOP’s newfound fixation on restroom policies, noting that transgender women have been using women’s restrooms in federal buildings, including the Capitol, for years without issue.
“In the four years that Rep. Nancy Mace has been in Congress, she’s known that trans women use women’s restrooms in federal buildings in D.C., and it’s never been an issue for her. Not once. Until the first trans woman was elected to Congress. Then it suddenly became an issue,” Clymer wrote.
The stakes are clear for critics like Boedecker and Caraballo: “You have to stand up to bullies. You cannot allow this stuff to fester,” Caraballo said.
