Nancy Mace's Federal Trans Bathroom Ban Would Apply To Major Airports, Hindering Travel

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who has targeted Congresswoman Sarah McBride with a bathroom ban in the capitol, is now pushing a sweeping federal bathroom ban for trans people.

Photo by Cyrus Crossan on Unsplash

This week, bathrooms have become the latest political flashpoint as Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) launched an all-out attack on transgender congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-DE). After Johnson confirmed that McBride and all transgender individuals would be banned from using restrooms aligned with their gender identity in the Capitol, Mace decided even that wasn’t enough. On Wednesday, she announced her intention to go further by sponsoring a sweeping bathroom ban on all federal properties—a move that would include government buildings, museums, and major travel hubs like Dulles and Reagan airports. If enacted, such a policy would disrupt travel for tens of thousands of transgender people living, working, and commuting through the D.C. area in advance of World Pride, set to be hosted in the city in June 2025.

The bill, HR10186, was unveiled on Nancy Mace’s Twitter account on Wednesday. It mandates that all bathrooms on federal property be segregated by “biological sex” rather than gender, defining biological sex as the production of eggs or sperm. The bill would force transgender individuals to use bathrooms aligned with their sex assigned at birth or gender-neutral restrooms—a level of restriction that, until now, has been largely confined to schools and public buildings in a limited number of Republican-controlled states.

The scope of this bill is vast. “Federal property” is defined as “any building, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States.” This includes cultural landmarks such as the Smithsonian Museums, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Zoo, as well as military bases, VA hospitals, and federal government buildings. Perhaps most notably, it extends to major travel hubs like Dulles and Reagan airports in the D.C. area, potentially making travel into and out of the nation’s capital extraordinarily difficult for transgender individuals.

See the areas impacted by the bill here:

HB10186

Restrictions on major airports like Dulles and Reagan could have significant implications for World Pride, set to take place in Washington, D.C., in 2025. The event, which rotates cities annually, is expected to draw over 3 million visitors from around the globe, making it the largest LGBTQ+ gathering in the city’s history. Transgender travelers, many of whom would pass through these airports, could face the threat of arrest simply for using bathrooms they’ve accessed without issue for years. Beyond the airports, these visitors are likely to explore D.C.’s renowned parks and museums, venues also impacted by the proposed restrictions, creating further obstacles.

Transgender bathroom restrictions, once a political disaster for Republicans, have become increasingly common in GOP-controlled states. Most of these laws target transgender students in schools, but some states, including Florida and Utah, have expanded bans to include airports and other public buildings. Enforcement, however, has proven problematic. In Utah, Republican State Auditor John Dougall criticized the practicalities of the Utah law, calling it “more about show than substance” and pushing back on the notion of being made the “bathroom monitor” in a series of public statements.

Many Democratic lawmakers have condemned the Republican Party’s increasing focus on bathroom bans. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized the measures, stating, “The idea that Nancy Mace wants little girls and women to drop trou… in front of who, an investigator? If a woman doesn’t look woman enough to a Republican, they want to be able to inspect your genitals to use a bathroom? It’s disgusting.”

It remains unclear whether the bill has the votes to clear both chambers. While similar House measures targeting transgender people have previously passed along party lines only to die in the Senate, the Republican majority now shifts that dynamic. In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, Democrats must present a unified front against such legislation in order to stop it. With a handful of pundits urging capitulation on transgender issues under the guise of political pragmatism, the stakes could not be higher for transgender people.