Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, argued that transgender people who identify as women are as valid biological women as genetic females.
“I literally just got out of meetings with members of Congress & used the bathroom on my way out,” the lawmaker wrote on X Wednesday afternoon. “Trans women are women—full stop. We’re every bit as ‘biologically female’ as cis women & @SpeakerJohnson’s statement doesn’t change the fact that women’s spaces include trans women.”
Zephyr was responding to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who announced a new bathroom policy for the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in response to controversy related to transgender Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del.
“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,” Johnson said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”
Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, stands in protest as demonstrators are arrested in the house gallery on April 24, 2023, in the Montana State Capitol in Helena. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)
SPEAKER JOHNSON MAKES CLARIFICATION AFTER STATEMENT REGARDING TRANSGENDER HOUSE MEMBER
“Women deserve women’s only spaces,” he added. He also told reporters, “But we have single-sex facilities for a reason, and women deserve women’s only spaces. And we’re not anti anyone. We’re pro-women, and I think it’s an important policy for us to continue. It’s always been the, I guess, an unwritten policy, but now it’s in writing.”
Zephyr begged to differ, however.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens during a news conference, Friday, April 12, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
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The lawmaker added in a following post, “This rage-baiting is so detached from the day-to-day reality of being trans. It’s obsessive and unhinged and an endless reminder that these folks have nothing to offer but fear and rage.”
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.