Trans activists stage bathroom sit-in at Capitol Hill

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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, they were arrested and escorted from the building by Capitol police.

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