Let’s not allow ourselves to be deceived. McBride called the bathroom fracas a distraction. That’s largely true. Many Republicans are eager to appear as adversaries of “cultural Marxism.” But few are willing to offer the slightest resistance to any of the achievements of modern feminism or gay liberation. These movements endorse the basic premise of transgender ideology: Our nature as men and women should be of no consequence.

Sarah McBride was elected to Congress on November 5. As the Democratic candidate in Delaware, the result should have been a no-news story, an inevitable outcome in that one-party state. But McBride is no ordinary woman. In fact, McBride’s a “he” now presenting as a “she,” the first transgender person to become a member of Congress. 

So, McBride is in the news. The presenting issue is bathrooms. Can McBride use the women’s restrooms in the Capitol? South Carolina representative Nancy Mace successfully pressed for McBride to be barred from the ladies’ room: “Single-sex facilities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson announced, “such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms . . . are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”

McBride is not a stranger to these battles. The newly elected member of the House is a lifetime activist campaigning to advance LGBT causes. I imagine that McBride is rather pleased by Mace’s actions. They throw a spotlight on the trans issue and put him into the national news. The message is clear: I’m here and you can’t pretend that I’m not. You can either be nice or be mean-spirited.

The outcome in this skirmish could have been predicted. Most commentators agree that Donald Trump successfully used public resentment of the recent heavy-handed imposition of transgender ideology against Kamala Harris. Put simply, after November 5, appearing to oppose transgenderism became the consensus “winning look” for Republicans. Earlier, Nancy Mace had cast herself as a pro-LGBT Republican. McBride offered her an opportunity to send the opposite signal and protect herself politically.

Hypocrisy is the compliment that vice pays to virtue. I’m happy that Mace led the charge and Capitol Hill’s women’s bathrooms are for women, and men’s bathrooms are for men, full stop. But count me skeptical that meaningful pushback against the trans crusade will emerge within the Republican party.

Consider Trump’s election night party. Caitlyn Jenner (the formerly self-identifying male athlete and TV personality) was invited. Jenner posted a picture of himself with Trump and Elon Musk on X, commenting, “Hope is back in America. These two men will single-handedly save western civilization . . .” 

Musk proposes to renew our faith in the future by sending colonists to Mars. Do not accept limits! Jenner represents something similar. He has contracted to have surgeons construct a new body and has pioneered a new identity.

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