Republicans have pushed an effort barring the first federal transgender lawmaker from women’s restrooms in the US Capitol.

The Republican majority leader in the US House of Representatives has said that bathrooms in the US Capitol will be restricted based on “individuals of that biological sex”, following the election of the first transgender person to Congress.

The announcement by Majority Leader Mike Johnson on Wednesday comes one day after Republican Representative Nancy Mace introduced a bill imposing similar restrictions, appearing to target transgender lawmaker Sarah McBride.

“We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,” Johnson told the Associated Press news agency. “I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.”

Democratic representatives have condemned the move as cruel and petty. Republican lawmakers and activists have stepped up attacks on transgender rights in recent years.

Over the last several days, Mace has made a series of disparaging remarks about McBride and transgender people, stating in a social media post on Wednesday that “your mental illness will not become my new normal”.

McBride has characterised the affair as an effort by right-wing lawmakers to distract from their lack of interest in tackling issues of more central importance to voters.

“Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness,” she said in a social media post.

“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride added. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”

Other Democratic lawmakers have voiced similar criticisms.

“What are they talking about there, on day one, is where one member out of 435 is going, where she is going to use the bathroom?” Representative Katherine Clark, the second-highest ranked Democrat in the House, said during a press conference Tuesday. “That is their focus?”

Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.

— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 19, 2024

The question of whether transgender people should be able to use restrooms that align with their gender identity or be forced to use restrooms based on the biological sex they were assigned at birth has become a cultural flashpoint in US politics.

Eleven states have passed laws barring transgender women and girls from using restrooms for women and girls, part of a wider conservative effort to roll back transgender rights or call into question the legitimacy of transgender identity in general.

Rights groups have decried those efforts as hateful and dangerous, arguing that they create an atmosphere of hostility that can have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of transgender people.