As Congress prepares to welcome a record number of openly LGBTQ members next year, the Equality Caucus and its campaign arm are considering ways to protect them amid recent attacks from Republicans.
Members of the Equality Caucus’ executive board met this week to discuss ways to message against the recent GOP push to ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms on Capitol Hill. Members also discussed how to boost more LGBTQ members into leadership.
And as we first reported, Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) requested a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson to challenge the decision to implement a bathroom ban on transgender individuals, which would impact Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first and only transgender member to serve in Congress.
The move, which was driven by a resolution proposed by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), has sparked internal conversations about what the environment on Capitol Hill looks like for LGBTQ members and staff.
“Right now, I think it’s really crappy,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) told us. “[Mace], MTG and their apologists, including the speaker, are creating a hostile work environment.”
Increasing the ranks: The Equality PAC, which heavily boosted LGBTQ candidates and incumbents this cycle, has helped add more LGBTQ members to congressional ranks, including Reps.-elect Julie Johnson (D-Texas) and Emily Randall (D-Wash.), along with McBride.
The campaign arm hosted a reception on Tuesday to celebrate the three new LGBTQ members. McBride received a standing ovation from dozens of members of the Democratic caucus, including leadership.
McBride told us her plan in Congress is to focus on kitchen table issues affecting Delaware, though McBride understands the representation she will bring to Capitol Hill. McBride also said she’d comply with Johnson’s bathroom policy and didn’t want to get bogged down by GOP distractions.
“I ran to serve the state that I love,” McBride told us. “While I may be a first, I am not the last” transgender member.
The campaign arm has also aggressively lobbied to get LGBTQ members into leadership positions. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was elected as the caucus leadership representative this week.
Johnson, who is the first openly gay member to represent Texas and the South, said her experience serving in the Republican-dominated environment in the Lone Star State prepared her for working with the GOP majority on Capitol Hill.
“I’ve been a lesbian Democrat functioning in that environment for three terms now,” Johnson told us. “It takes a lot of effort to build trust and relationships with the other side and find issues you can work on together. That’s all I’ve known how to do.”
Randall said she’s excited to add more LGBTQ women, in particular, to the halls of Congress. We previously wrote about the record number of women running for office this past cycle.
“We’ve doubled the number of LGBTQ women in Congress,” Randall told us. “It matters not just to be firsts, but also to make sure our experiences are at the table.”
