“It always starts with things that people feel are insignificant, like public restrooms, but it never stops there.”
Anyone walking into the bathroom on Capitol Hill Thursday morning found a buoyant dance party in progress: A group of trans artists and activists staged a protest in a women’s restroom in the U.S. Capitol, dancing to the song “Meeting in the Ladies Room” by the all-women pop and R&B band Klymaxx.
Thursday’s dancing protesters include trans actor James Rose, nonbinary influencer Jerome Trammel, comedian Elizabeth Booker Houston, influencer Alexis Rose, transgender model June Raven Romero and activist Hope Giselle-Godsey. A video posted online starts with a panorama of the Capitol building’s interior before panning to a nearby restroom filled with dancing women. Some wear shirts with the colors of the transgender pride flag, pink, blue and white, and slogans like, “Flush the Hate, Not Our Rights” and “Trans People Are NOT Dangerous. You Are!”
Trans folks held a dance party in the Capitol bathroom to protest the bathroom ban on there.
— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) December 4, 2024 at 9:59 PM
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The dance party protest is a direct response to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.)’s Capitol bathroom ban prohibiting lawmakers from “single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” When asked if she introduced the resolution to purposely target Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who just made history as the first trans member of Congress, bill sponsor Rep. Nancy Mace said: “Yes and absolutely, and then some. I’m absolutely 100 percent going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms.”
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson doubled down on Mace’s transphobic politicking: “All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings—such as restrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”
McBride will have to use the men’s facilities. She will have some other options—unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol, and each member office has its own private restroom, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already offered his to her. Still, according to a statement from the group Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), “Denying trans people access to restrooms or changing rooms that align with our gender identity violates the fundamental democratic values that our society is built on.”
“We understand the weight of what it means to be a pariah in our society, so doing what’s necessary is never too hard,” said Giselle-Godsey, one of the Capitol Hill dancers, in an interview with Gaye magazine. “It always starts with things that people feel are insignificant, like public restrooms, but it never stops there. We’re here today to ensure they understand that we will not be erased—one bathroom at a time—or shoved back into the proverbial closet out of deference to the comfort of those who speak to eradicate us.”
In the video’s comment section, one person wrote, “I’ll take the bathroom over an encounter with a man alone on a street any day,” in a sentiment similar to the man or bear debate from this summer.
“Now I’m going to be disappointed every time I go into a public restroom and don’t see dancing,” commented another.
