Democrats are rallying to defend Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first out transgender member of Congress, calling Republican measures to ban her from using women's bathrooms at the Capitol 'craven' and 'cruel.

Transgender rights have become a political flashpoint in the U.S. Lawmakers in 37 states introduced at least 142 bills to restrict gender-affirming healthcare for transgender and gender-expansive people in 2023, Reuters reported, nearly three times as many as the previous year.

STORY: A Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced a bill aimed at blocking the chamber's first openly transgender member from using women's bathrooms. Representative Nancy Mace's bill would prohibit House members and employees from using bathrooms "other than those corresponding to their biological sex.

The Republican-backed ban was distressing enough for many transgender people. Then came Rep.-elect Sarah McBride’s acquiescence to the new rule.