National
GOP bill calls for trans bathroom restrictions in D.C. gov’t buildings
Rep. Mace says measure would ‘protect women and girls’
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) announced on Nov. 20 that she planned to introduce a bill that would prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms and other “single sex facilities” that do not conform to their gender assigned at birth in all U.S. government buildings nationwide and all D.C. government buildings.
The broad wording of the bill appears to include D.C. public schools, which operate in D.C.-owned buildings, as well as D.C. public libraries and recreation facilities.
The proposed bill, which Mace posted on X, is called the “Protecting Woman’s Private Spaces Act.”
It defines a single-sex facility as “a space intended for the use of one biological sex (male or female), including (A) restroom; (B) locker room; or (C) changing rooms.”
It defines “federal property” as “any building, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States (including the Department of Defense and the United States Postal Service), or any other instrumentality wholly owned by the United States, or by any department or agency of the District of Columbia or any territory or possession of the United States.”
An official with the House Periodical Press Gallery said the bill did not appear to have been placed in the House bill “hopper” as of Thursday, Nov. 21, and would likely be formally introduced and assigned to a committee when the House returns from its Thanksgiving recess on Dec. 3. Both the House and Senate began their holiday recess on Thursday, Nov. 21.
Congressional observers have said Democrats will almost certainly block the bill from being passed in the current Congress, where Democrats control the Senate until January, when the Republican-controlled House and Senate takes office.
But most observers familiar with Congress believe a bill such as this one is still likely to be blocked by a Senate filibuster waged by one or more LGBTQ supportive senators. Under the Senate filibuster rule, 60 votes are needed to end the filibuster and bring a bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
Mace’s bill nevertheless highlights the possibility that other bills will be introduced in 2025 by Republicans and possibly by the incoming administration of President-elect Trump to curtail or eliminate D.C.’s home rule government.
Under the city’s current home rule government created by Congress in the early 1970s through the D.C. Home Rule Act, Congress retained full authority to pass or change D.C. laws. And all laws passed by the D.C. Council and signed by the D.C. mayor must go through a 30-day congressional review period in which Congress has the authority to block or change a D.C.-passed law.
However, until recently, Congress rarely intervened in local D.C. government affairs and almost always allowed D.C. passed legislation to become law.
Mace, meanwhile, proposed her bill to restrict transgender use of restrooms and other facilities in federal and D.C. buildings shortly after she introduced a House resolution calling for banning trans women from using women’s bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol and surrounding House office buildings.
Mace confirmed that her resolution, which was approved and put in place by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), was aimed at preventing incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) from using the women’s restrooms at the Capitol. McBride became the first trans person to win election to the U.S. Congress.
A spokesperson for D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Mace’s bill. Norton has led efforts in the past to oppose and defeat bills calling for curtailing or ending D.C. home rule.
The Washington Post reports that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also did not have an immediate comment on the Mace bill.
“I’m unaware of there being any problems or controversy over bathrooms in the District,” D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) said in a statement to the Washington Blade. “This legislation is an affront to Home Rule, and I don’t support it,” he said in referring to the Mace bill.
“If they are going to come up with these completely unnecessary regulations, there is no need to drag the District of Columbia into Republican culture wars,” Mendelson said.
Activist Evan Greer, director of digital rights group Fight for the Future, was ejected from the Project Liberty “Summit on the Future of the Internet” at Georgetown University on Thursday, after confronting panelist Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). See the video on Tik Tok here.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Gil Pontes III on his recent appointment to the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors, Fla. Upon being appointed he said, “I’m honored to join the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors at such an important moment for our community. In my role as Executive Director of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce, I spend much of my time focused on economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and the long-term competitiveness of emerging business leaders. I look forward to bringing that perspective to Wilton Manors — helping ensure responsible stewardship of public resources while supporting a vibrant, inclusive local economy.”
Pontes is a nonprofit executive with years of development, operations, budget, management, and strategic planning experience in 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and political organizations. Pontes is currently executive director of NextGen, Chamber of Commerce. NextGen Chamber’s mission is to “empower emerging business leaders by generating insights, encouraging engagement, and nurturing leadership development to shape the future economy.” Prior to that he served as managing director of The Nora Project, and director of development also at The Nora Project. He has held a number of other positions including Major Gifts Officer, Thundermist Health Center, and has worked in both real estate and banking including as Business Solutions Adviser, Ironwood Financial. For three years he was a Selectman, Town of Berkley, Mass. In that role, he managed HR and general governance for town government. There were 200+ staff and 6,500 constituents. He balanced a $20,000,000 budget annually, established an Economic Development Committee, and hired the first town administrator.
Pontes earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Kansas
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
A new Kansas bill requires transgender residents to have their driver’s licenses reflect their sex assigned at birth, invalidating current licenses.
Transgender people across Kansas received letters in the mail on Wednesday demanding the immediate surrender of their driver’s licenses following passage of one of the harshest transgender bathroom bans in the nation. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is filing a lawsuit to block the ban and protect transgender residents from what advocates describe as “sweeping” and “punitive” consequences.
Independent journalist Erin Reed broke the story Wednesday after lawmakers approved House Substitute for Senate Bill 244. In her reporting, Reed included a photo of the letter sent to transgender Kansans, requiring them to obtain a driver’s license that reflects their sex assigned at birth rather than the gender with which they identify.
According to the reporting, transgender Kansans must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials — regardless of expiration date — will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication. The move effectively nullifies previously issued identification documents, creating immediate uncertainty for those impacted.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 also stipulates that any transgender person caught driving without a valid license could face a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That potential penalty adds a criminal dimension to what began as an administrative action. It also compounds the legal risks for transgender Kansans, as the state already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth — a policy that advocates say can place transgender detainees at heightened risk.
Beyond identification issues, SB 244 not only bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in government buildings — including libraries, courthouses, state parks, hospitals, and interstate rest stops — with the possibility for criminal penalties, but also allows for what critics have described as a “bathroom bounty hunter” provision. The measure permits anyone who encounters a transgender person in a restroom — including potentially in private businesses — to sue them for large sums of money, dramatically expanding the scope of enforcement beyond government authorities.
The lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed today in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The complaint argues that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a temporary restraining order on behalf of the anonymous plaintiffs, arguing that the order — followed by a temporary injunction — is necessary to prevent the “irreparable harm” that would result from SB 244.
State Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that “persecution is the point.”
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
“SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
“SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St. Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”
National
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Top editorial staff let go last week
Former staff members at the Advocate and Out magazines revealed that parent company Equalpride laid off a number of employees late last week.
Those let go included Advocate editor-in-chief Alex Cooper, Pride.com editor-in-chief Rachel Shatto, brand partnerships manager Erin Manley, community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferriére, and Out magazine staff writers Moises Mendez and Bernardo Sim, according to a report in Hollywood Reporter.
Cooper, who joined the company in 2021, posted to social media that, “Few people have had the privilege of leading this legendary LGBTQ+ news outlet, and I’m deeply honored to have been one of them. To my team: thank you for the last four years. You’ve been the best. For those also affected today, please let me know how I can support you.”
The Advocate’s PR firm when reached by the Blade said it no longer represents the company. Emails to the Advocate went unanswered.
Equalpride on Friday announced it acquired “Them,” a digital LGBTQ outlet founded in 2017 by Conde Nast.
“Equalpride exists to elevate, celebrate and protect LGBTQ+ storytelling at scale,” Equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill said according to Hollywood Reporter. “By combining the strengths of our brands with this respected digital platform, we’re creating a unified ecosystem that delivers even more impact for our audiences, advertisers, and community partners.”
It’s not clear if “Them” staff would take over editorial responsibilities for the Advocate and Out.
Comings & Goings
Kansas passes bathroom bounty hunter bill
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
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