Georgia Republican's weeklong anti-trans obsession with Sarah McBride plays out on the House floor and online

The U.S. House floor is often at its most solemn when lawmakers pause partisan conflict to recognize service, community, and loss. On Tuesday morning, Democratic U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware took to the floor to honor women whose lives reflected leadership, resilience, and public good. Instead, the moment opened with a misgendering slight.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

As McBride was recognized during the House’s morning hour, the presiding officer, Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican from Georgia serving briefly as speaker pro tempore, introduced her using a masculine honorific, calling her “the gentleman from Delaware.” McBride, a transgender woman and the first out transgender member of Congress, did not respond and proceeded with her prepared remarks.

Related: Democrat Sarah McBride on her approach to expanding trans acceptance in Congress — and America

Over the next several minutes, she delivered three speeches that focused squarely on the women she came to honor, not the insult that preceded them.

McBride began by congratulating Lt. Col. Chaplain Rev. Dr. A’Shellarien Addison on her recent promotion within the Delaware Army National Guard, noting that Addison is the first woman to hold that rank in the state Guard.

Related: 'Have you no decency?': Republican calls Sarah McBride 'mister,' but Democrats wouldn't have it

She then turned to Delaware’s business community, marking the closing of GrassRoots, a locally rooted retail chain founded in the 1970s. McBride credited the women entrepreneurs with building a business that sustained workers and anchored their community for decades, long before women-owned businesses were widely celebrated.

In her final remarks, McBride recognized Dwayne and Karen Johnson, whose 26-year-old daughter, Faith, died after a battle with ovarian cancer. McBride told the House that the Johnsons helped to pass legislation requiring health insurance companies in Delaware to cover annual ovarian cancer screenings. “We owe it to Faith and families across the country to keep pushing for early detection,” McBride said.

Related: Sarah McBride opens up about her darkest day in Congress (exclusive)

She yielded the floor without interruption. The presiding officer did not correct the language used to introduce her, and no objection was raised during the session.

“I didn’t hear the comment, and I don’t know who Rep. Clyde is,” McBride told The Advocate through a spokesperson on Friday. “As always, I am grateful to serve and remain focused on lowering costs for my constituents.”

Clyde, who represents Georgia’s deeply conservative 9th Congressional District, is a former Navy officer and gun store owner who entered Congress in 2021 and is closely aligned with President Donald Trump. He is perhaps most well known nationally for downplaying the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, at one point describing it as resembling a “normal tourist visit,” even as he later acknowledged barricading his office doors to keep rioters out. In Congress, Clyde has built a profile through culture war messaging and opposition to what he calls “woke ideology.”

Since the incident, Clyde has repeatedly attacked McBride on social media.

"The People’s House recognizes basic biology,” Clyde wrote on X, formerly Twitter, along with a clip of his disrespectful introduction.

On Thursday, Clyde escalated the episode beyond the House floor. In a post on X, he shared a screenshot of the congressional record from McBride’s remarks, in which she is correctly identified as “Ms. McBride of Delaware.” In the post, Clyde used McBride’s deadname, placed “Sarah” in quotation marks, asserted that she is “a man,” and claimed the House Clerk should alter the congressional record to reflect what he described as a “biological fact.”

The incident fits a broader pattern. Since arriving in Congress, McBride has repeatedly been misgendered by Republican colleagues. Last year, during a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing, Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self addressed her as “Mr. McBride.” McBride responded in kind, “Thank you, Madam Chair,” before Democratic Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts intervened, asking Self, “Have you no decency?” The exchange ended with the hearing’s abrupt adjournment.

Clyde’s office did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.

Congressman Mark Takano of California, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, sharply criticized House Republicans for the way they are treating McBride.

"Whether a transgender person works in the halls of Congress or a local business, they deserve to be treated with basic respect by colleagues. Unfortunately, showing respect to a colleague seems to be a bridge too far for some Republican House members," Takano told The Advocate in a statement."

In a recent interview with The Advocate, she explained that some lawmakers intentionally target her transgender identity to provoke reactions, generate viral clips, and build social media followings. Declining to respond, she said, is a conscious choice, one that can feel unsatisfying for her supporters and other trans people, but which she believes is more persuasive to the Americans she hopes to reach.

McBride, for her part, has remained consistent in her response: acknowledge the noise, refuse the spectacle, and keep legislating.

"While some Republicans are focused on using attacks on transgender people to get clicks on social media, Congresswoman McBride continues to be focused on delivering results for the people of Delaware," Takano said. "The contrast between them couldn’t be clearer.”

Watch Congresswoman Sarah McBride’s House speech below.

- YouTube youtu.be