200+ lawmakers demand Speaker Mike Johnson end anti-trans rhetoric in Congresshttps://www.advocate.com/politics/democrats-end-transphobia-congress 🔗Christopher Wiggins (18 Nov 2025)
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican, intervene after what they describe as a surge of anti-transgender rhetoric inside the chamber, warning that Republican members have repeatedly violated House rules by using slurs and promoting conspiratorial claims about transgender Americans during official proceedings.
In a letter sent Tuesday, 213 Democrats, including the entire party leadership, told Johnson that his failure to enforce basic standards of conduct has allowed dehumanizing attacks to become routine on the House floor.
"We write to you to strongly condemn the rise in anti-transgender rhetoric, including from members of Congress," the lawmakers wrote, urging Johnson to ensure members of Congress are following rules of decorum and not using their platforms to demonize and scapegoat transgender people.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, the Republican running for governor of her state, has been one of the loudest anti-trans voices in Congress. She calls herself a "proud transphobe" and has used anti-trans slurs to refer to transgender people. She also led an effort to ban Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, the first out trans member of Congress, from women's spaces on Capitol grounds.
Democrats argue that the rhetoric mirrors a broader political strategy and contributes to real-world harm. "This language, coupled with the rising number of legislative and administrative attacks we have seen against the transgender community, is taking a real toll on the transgender community with many members fearing for their safety," the letter states, pointing to 463 reported hate-crime incidents motivated by gender identity bias in 2024, an undercount, they note, due to chronic gaps in law enforcement reporting.
