Posted on 02/12/2025 6:04:25 PM PST by simpson96
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Transgender activists staged a sit-in on Thursday inside the women’s bathroom closest to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office on Capitol Hill, to protest Republican-led efforts to keep transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity.
The protest marked a shift in some LGBTQ+ activists’ approach to calling for change ahead of a second Trump administration that is expected to enact harsh anti-LGBTQ+ policies. The sit-in was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, a volunteer-run grassroots group that previously took to the streets of Washington, D.C. to protest Project 2025, a policy blueprint for a second Trump administration that would dramatically roll back LGBTQ+ rights.
“Democrats, grow a spine! Trans rights are on the line,” they chanted while seated inside the public restroom and outside of Johnson’s office. “Act up, fight back,” they said, echoing the well-known protest slogan of the AIDS activist group ACT UP, and “Speaker Johnson, Nancy Mace, our gender is no debate.”
Capitol police quickly issued a warning to the protesters — which included U.S. army whistleblower Chelsea Manning alongside author and activist Raquel Willis — to disperse or face arrest, including sexual misconduct charges. Following those warnings, 15 people were arrested on the grounds of illegally protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building, according to the Capitol police. Those protesters were held at the U.S. Capitol police headquarters in D.C. for several hours on Thursday before being released, according to a Gender Liberation Movement spokesperson.
Close the door. Lock it.
oh they said SIT in...
my bad.
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