Trans veteran Chelsea Manning arrested following US Capitol bathroom protest
Chelsea Manning was arrested alongside 15 other protestors. (Getty)
Trans veteran Chelsea Manning has been arrested in the US Congress after protesting a policy that bans trans women from women’s bathrooms.
The 37-year-old, who gained prominence after leaking thousands of classified US military documents, was among a group of demonstrators arrested over the protest inside the women’s bathroom on Thursday (5 December).
House speaker Mike Johnson approved a policy banning trans women from female facilities on 21 November, saying that “women deserve women’s only spaces.”
The ban, first proposed by Republican Nancy Mace, means that lawmakers can’t use “single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”
Mace admitted the measure was “absolutely” targeted towards Sarah McBride, the only trans woman currently sitting in US Congress.
The group of activists stood in the US Capitol facilities with a sign reading “Flush Bathroom Bigotry” in protest of the policy, according to the 19th.
Police reportedly threatened Manning, alongside other protestors, with sexual misconduct charges if they didn’t leave the women’s lavatories. 15 of them were then arrested and held in custody for several hours.
Manning told CNN that she had joined the protest “because every person deserves dignity and respect.”
“As someone who has fought against similar rules, I know what itās like to feel pushed aside and erased. But I also know the incredible power and resilience our community has,” she said.
“Iām not here as a leader or a spokesperson but simply as another member of my community who shows up unconditionally to support my siblings in this fight. I will stand beside them no matter what. We didnāt start this fight, but we are together now.”
šØBREAKING: Chelsea Manning is using the ladies room in the Capitol complex pic.twitter.com/vp4mz017So
— Pablo ManrĆquez (@PabloReports) December 5, 2024
Among the group arrested over the protest was Gender Liberation Movement co-founder Raquel Willis, who, along with the rest of the group, was charged with “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.”
Speaking to the New Yorker following the implementation of the ban, McBride said that she decided not to fight the ban because she believed it was “done to invite me to take the bait and to fight.”
“I am maintaining my power by turning the other cheek and doing what I promised Delawareans I would do, which is to focus on the job in front of me,” she said.
“Yes, when that calls for me to defend my LGBTQ+ constituents, I will do that; when it calls on me to defend workers in my state, I will do that; when it calls on me to defend retirees in my state, I will do that. But I should not be the issue.”
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