Nancy Mace’s proposal to cut bathroom access for trans women in the Capitol is the latest in the building’s long history of excluding women lawmakers.

It would take 75 years for congresswomen to have any restrooms adjacent to the Senate floor. And in 2011, nearly a century after Jeannette Rankin became the first woman in Congress, women lawmakers got their first bathroom near the House chamber.

In recent years, women lawmakers have had to use the private quarters of the Speaker of the House just to find a restroom that reliably stocks tampons and pads. Banning trans women from women’s restrooms would continue a long history at the U.S. Capitol of women lawmakers being forced to find alternate ways to simply do their job.

  • echolalia
    1·
    1 month ago

    women lawmakers have had to use the private quarters of the Speaker of the House just to find a restroom that reliably stocks tampons and pads

    ???

    None of the bathrooms at my work do this. Officially my job doesn’t let me keep my purse/bag near the work area (I do anyway, and my bosses acknowledge corporate policy is written by lizard people) and I have to grab pads/tampons and stuff them in my pockets before using the restroom.

    Are you telling me they just have a ladies room with supplies available? That seems nice. My job doesn’t pay people well so they’d probably get stolen hoarded by people who need them more than me.

    Though, my job treats trans people like humans and lets trans ladies use the ladies room, so we got that going for us.