Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., drew immediate backlash after escalating a fight over a bill that would extend civil rights protections for the LGBTQ community by taunting a Democrat who has a transgender child with an anti-trans sign outside her office.
Freshman Rep. Marie Newman, D-Ill., said in an emotional speech on the House floor Tuesday that she had a very personal reason to co-sponsor the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"I rise today on behalf of the millions of Americans who continue to be denied housing, education, public services and much, much more because they identify as members of the LGBTQ community," said Newman, who last year defeated conservative Democrat Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., an opponent of the Equality Act. "Americans like my own daughter, who years ago bravely came out to her parents as transgender. I knew from that day on, my daughter would be living in a nation where [in] most of its states, she could be discriminated against, merely because of who she is."
Newman later put up a transgender pride flag outside her door, which is across from Green's, after Greene tried to block a vote on the bill.
"Our neighbor, @RepMTG, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is 'disgusting, immoral, and evil,'" Newman tweeted. "Thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door."
Greene, a QAnon booster who earlier this month lost her committee assignments after pushing conspiracy theories and calling for Democrats to be executed, quickly escalated the dispute by putting up a sign attacking transgender identity to taunt Newman outside of her own office.
"Thought we'd put up ours so she can look at it every time she opens her door," Greene tweeted with a video of her putting up a sign saying "There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE" and "Trust the Science!"
Greene later posted a transphobic attack aimed at Newman's daughter, writing, "your biological son does NOT belong in my daughters' bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams."
Science shows that gender is far less binary than Greene, who espoused conspiracy theories about Jewish space lasers, would have people believe. Her stunt quickly drew bipartisan condemnation.
"Your sign is incorrect because it's not what the science says," tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., quoting a column in Scientific American that said, "the science is clear and conclusive: sex is not binary, transgender people are real."
"Sickening, pathetic, unimaginably cruel," Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., tweeted in response to Greene. "This hate is exactly why [the Equality Act] is necessary and what we must protect [Newman's] daughter and all our LGBTQ+ loved ones against."
"This is sad and I'm sorry this happened. Rep. Newmans daughter is transgender, and this video and tweet represents the hate and fame driven politics of self-promotion at all evil costs," tweeted anti-Trump Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. "This garbage must end."
The Daily Beast's Scott Bixby noted that Kinzinger's tweet came after he voted in support of Greene's motion to block the vote, "a motion she explicitly proposed to attack trans people."
Kinzinger voted in favor of Greene's motion to adjourn for the day instead of voting for the bill, which she said would allow her colleagues to "rethink destroying #WomensRights and #WomensSports and #ReligiousFreedom."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., responded, "you could just vote 'no' instead of trying to get out of work early."
"You should probably stop using those hashtags because women's rights include trans women," Ocasio-Cortez added.
Despite objections from Greene, the Equality Act is expected to pass the House, as it did in 2019. Despite Democrats winning control of the Senate, they would still need support from multiple Republicans to avoid a filibuster after it was rejected by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last time around.
Greene, meanwhile, faces renewed scrutiny in connection to the deadly January 6 Capitol riot after CNN reported that Anthony Aguero, who bragged about invading the Capitol, "worked closely" with Greene for years and described the freshman congresswoman as "one of my closest friends."
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