A foreign affairs subcommittee meeting was cut short on Tuesday when a House Republican refused to acknowledge U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride’s gender and a Democratic colleague came to her defense.

McBride, the at-large representative for Delaware and the country’s first openly transgender member of Congress, shot back at U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R.-Texas, by calling him “Madam Chair” after he called her “Mr. McBride” in a meeting of House Foreign Affairs’ Europe Subcommittee.

McBride, a former state senator, was beginning to continue her remarks when her Democratic colleague U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, of Massachusetts, pressed Self, who chairs the subcommittee, on how he introduced McBride.

When Self doubled down on misgendering McBride, Keating questioned whether he had “decency,” and said he wouldn’t participate in the hearing “unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way.” Self then adjourned the meeting.

“I mean I’ve come to know you a little bit but this is not decent,” Keating said to Self.

McBride’s decision to misgender the chair back mirrored a strategy her colleague used to defend her in early February when U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R.-Ill., introduced McBride as “the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride” on the House floor. McBride ignored that jab and continued her remarks as usual, but her Democratic colleague Nanette Barragán, of California, soon after called Miller “Mr. Speaker.”

In a statement to The Inquirer on Wednesday, McBride, who has focused on economic issues and not her identity, said she was disappointed that the chair ended the committee hearing early. She said she is focused on lowering the cost of living and making America safer, not fighting about pronouns.

“I was prepared to move forward with my questions for the Subcommittee on nuclear nonproliferation and U.S. support for Democratic allies in Europe,” she said. “Extremists in the House are hoping people don’t take notice that they voted to slash funding for farmers today.”

Self said during the hearing that the House had “set the standard” and afterward said on X that it’s the nation’s policy “to recognize two sexes, male and female,” in reference to an executive order from President Donald Trump.

After the hearing on Tuesday, McBride said on X that “nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress” regardless of how some colleagues treat her.

“It is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” she added. “I simply want to serve and to try to make this world a better place.”

McBride has repeatedly argued that Republicans fixating on her gender identity are looking to create a distraction from more pressing issues impacting Americans. Her supporters made the same point when asked to comment on Tuesday’s incident.

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a North Jersey Democrat and ally of McBride’s, said in a statement to The Inquirer Wednesday that Republicans in Washington “are trying to create a circus” to distract from issues impacting Americans and that they “can’t even muster up respect for their colleagues or even the people they represent as they slash Medicaid coverage for seniors and kids, and shut down the Department of Education.” Sherrill supported McBride’s congressional run and McBride recently endorsed Sherrill in the New Jersey governor’s race.

“Unfortunately, time and again, Republicans want to distract from the fact that the stock market is crashing, the president seems to be happy to court a recession, and veterans across the country are being laid off,” Sherrill said. “ ... This is not controversial: everybody — including trans people — deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in their workplace.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, also argued that “members of Congress who prioritize stunts like this” aren’t spending enough time focused on “their actual jobs that constituents want them to do.”

“Most people want their workplace to be respectful of colleagues and expect basic manners from elected officials,” Ellis said in a statement to The Inquirer. " ... LGBTQ people are fully aware of the extremists’ playbook. Attacking vulnerable communities comes at a high cost for all of us.”

Mike Brickner, the executive director of ACLU of Delaware, said that Self’s actions “are an example of the type of dehumanizing behavior transgender people encounter on an everyday basis.”

“Whether it is bullying in schools, in a restaurant, or in the halls of Congress, it is wrong and only serves to deprive transgender Americans of their basic humanity,” Brickner said.

Renewed culture war

On Wednesday, Self continued to misgender McBride when speaking about the incident on the conservative podcast The Michael Knowles Show.

Self said that as a veteran he fought for McBride to live her life as she chooses and he doesn’t know “what all the fuss is about.” He said he doesn’t “have to participate” in McBride’s “fantasy,” or how she “chooses to portray” herself.

Trump and other Republicans renewed a culture war against transgender people in their campaigns last year. Numerous speakers at Trump rallies repeatedly focused on transgender people playing sports or using restrooms, and they were met with roaring applause from his most loyal supporters.

Trump has followed through his promises to take aim at transgender people upon taking office, and his allies like U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, R.-S.C., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R.-Ga., followed suit when they repeatedly started misgendering McBride and argued that she shouldn’t be allowed to use women’s facilities in the Capitol building in November. Their efforts were successful, and McBride said that while she disagreed with the rule, she would follow it, and she’s in Congress to bring down costs for her constituents, not to “fight about bathrooms.”

Mace, who spearheaded the bathroom rule against McBride, presented herself as an ally of transgender people in previous years and was even the subject of an attack ad for appearing to support transgender people.

Mace in 2021 said she is a strong supporter of “LGBTQ rights and equality” and that she has “friends and family that identify as LGBTQ.” In 2023 she said that she’s “pro-transgender rights” and that most people would support children using different pronouns or gender identities but not gender-affirming care. Her tone has drastically shifted since then, becoming known for using a slur against transgender people on the House floor and not acknowledging their gender identities as valid.

Recently, the South Carolina representative got into an online spat with Sen. John Fetterman, D.-Pa., about a bill he helped block that would have prohibited transgender women and girls from participating in school sports.

Fetterman, who has been open to working across the aisle with Trump allies and was among the Democrats who voted for the most Trump cabinet nominees, has drawn a line at LGBTQ rights, including in response to Trump’s efforts to ban transgender people from the military. Fetterman also came to McBride’s defense when Republicans banned her from women’s bathrooms.

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