Overview
- Led by Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, 213 House Democrats delivered a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson calling for action on anti-trans language in official proceedings.
- The letter says Republican members used anti-trans slurs in committee hearings and on the House floor, alleging presiding officers failed to intervene despite House rules on decorum.
- It cites remarks reported in Congress that sought to institutionalize all transgender people, labeled them as mentally ill, or portrayed them as inherently violent or a national security threat.
- Lawmakers point to FBI data logging 463 gender-identity hate-crime incidents in 2024 and a Williams Institute finding that transgender people experience far higher rates of violent victimization.
- No corrective steps or sanctions from House leadership were reported as of Tuesday, as Democrats cast the rhetoric as part of a broader strategy that recently fell flat with voters in Virginia.