Two members of Congress took the debate on the Chamber’s Equality Act into the corridor outside their offices. After Rep. Marie Newman placed a transgender pride flag outside her office, which is opposite Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Greene placed an anti-trans sign outside her own, causing a reaction.
Newman, an Illinois Democrat who has a transgender daughter, criticized Republican Georgia Greene on Wednesday for opposing the Equality Act – a broad anti-discrimination bill that would extend civil rights protection to LGBTQ people by prohibiting discrimination with based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Greene filed a motion to close the House on Wednesday in an effort to delay approval of the bill. However, the move was denied. She also spoke against the plenary bill, saying she needs to be taken down and that she was concerned that girls and transgender women could compete in women’s and women’s sporting events.
Newman later shared a video on Twitter in which she is seen putting a transgender pride flag outside her office. “Our neighbor, @RepMTG, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes that prohibiting discrimination against trans-Americans is ‘disgusting, immoral and evil’. I thought about putting our Transgender flag so that she could look whenever she opens the door, “wrote Newman in the tweet.
Hours later, Greene posted a video of herself. On it, she hangs a sign that says: “There are TWO genders: MALE AND WOMAN. ‘Trust Science!'”
“Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wishes to pass the so-called ‘Equality’ Law to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms. I thought about putting ours on so she could look whenever she opened the door, “Greene tweeted.
The move met with online reaction from some lawmakers, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who responded to Greene’s video by writing: “This is sad and I’m sorry it happened. Rep. Newmans’ daughter is transgender and this video and tweet represent the self-promotion policy driven by hatred and fame at all costs. #RestoreOurGOP. “
Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) tweeted: “Sick, pathetic, unimaginably cruel. It is precisely because of this hatred that #EqualityAct is necessary and what should we protect @RepMarieNewmandaughter of and all of our LGBTQ + loved ones against. “
Others, including Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) and Rep. Raj Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), also criticized Greene, for calling Newman’s daughter his “biological son” in a tweet.
“There is nothing lower than going after someone’s children”, Waxton tweeted.
CBS News contacted Greene and Newman for comment.
Greene is a controversial figure in politics who was recently stripped of his board positions because of his earlier adoption of conspiracy theories and his activity on social media before he was elected to Congress. She has been one of the greatest opponents of the Equality Act, which the Chamber is expected to pass on Thursday.
The bill extends existing federal non-discrimination laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act, to confirm that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal discrimination based on sex. .
Speaking in support of the House Equality Act this week, Newman mentioned his daughter, who “years ago courageously revealed herself to her parents as a transsexual.” Newman said he knows that without this act his daughter could be discriminated against in many states.
“Without the Equality Act, millions of Americans like my daughter may have denied housing, education and more simply because they identify as transsexuals,” Newman wrote on Twitter, sharing a clip of his speech on the floor of the Chamber. “I’m voting to pass the Equality Act for my daughter – the strongest and most courageous person I know.”