Transgender rights activists held a bathroom across from House Speaker Mike Johnson's office at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, protesting a new policy that prohibits transgender people from using restroom facilities that match their gender identity. Participated in a toilet sit-in. .
About 15 people were arrested on suspicion of crowding, obstruction and inconvenience for allegedly holding an illegal protest inside the Cannon House office building, U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News Digital.
The protest was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, which describes itself as a grassroots organization focused on bodily autonomy and gender.
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Transgender rights supporters rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Getty Images)
A video posted on the group's Instagram account shows protesters holding signs calling for “No Toilet Prejudice” to occupy a restroom and block a hallway.
The Hill reported that former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning was among those zip-tied to authorities. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking classified documents and military reports to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Manning's sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama in 2017, and he was released after serving seven years.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, was arrested in November after Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.) tried to block transgender people who do not match their birth gender from accessing the Capitol bathroom. A new toilet policy was announced.
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Transgender rights activist Sarah McBride speaks on stage at the Women in the World Summit on April 11, 2019 in New York. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
The move comes ahead of the first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware), to join Congress in January. Although biologically male, McBride identifies and describes herself as female.
Mace recently introduced a resolution that would ban men who identify as women from the women's restrooms at the U.S. Capitol. On Thursday, she posted a video of herself standing outside the Capitol police station to X.
Rep. Nancy Mace (RS.C.) leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 6, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
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She used a bullhorn to read the Miranda rules to protesters who were arrested.
FOX News Digital has reached out to Johnson's office.
