After completing a Republican trifecta, the GOP is absolutely giddy while playing into some of its worst instincts. In the case of the House, we have Rep. Nancy Mace, who is attempting to bar Sarah McBride, set to become the first openly trans member of Congress, from using the women's bathroom. Since announcing her resolution, Mace has confirmed in subsequent social media posts and remarks to reporters that her effort seeks to explicitly target McBride—which, to me, amounts to the standard definition of harassment.
Of course, I'm no human resources expert. But so much of this hateful resolution seems to fit squarely into the Republican Party's genuine HR problem, as it allows for verbal assault and aggressive behavior to fly free from some of its members. I wrote about this after Marjorie Taylor Greene literally chased Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez down the halls of Congress while shouting "antifa" at her. Can you name any other workplace where such conduct would be tolerated?
So it should come as no surprise that Greene is engaging in some of her own transphobic behavior after McBride's win. As my colleague Julianne McShane wrote, Greene told a closed-door House GOP meeting that she would physically fight a trans woman should they come into a woman's bathroom. Again, can you identify a workplace where this threat would be accepted?
This is truly trash behavior. And I feel incredibly sorry that McBride has to endure any of this after breaking such a huge barrier. Here's to hoping that her future colleagues can extend to her the same kindness that millions of Americans show when working with people "who have life journeys different than their own."
—Inae Oh
