Blaque/OUT Editor, Tamara Leigh sat down for an exclusive interview with Activist and Advocate, Hope Giselle to talk about her bold Washington, DC Bathroom Installation in response to Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) recent bathroom and facility ban affecting Trans and nonbinary people on Capitol Hill.

The policy, which Johnson announced in November to block Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) from using women's restrooms, saw demonstrations on the days of and following Gender-Affirming Care being argued before the Nation’s highest court. The protests included Hope Giselle’s now viral “Meeting in the Ladies Room” dance video and 13 protesters being arrested the following day for “violating the Washington, D.C., code against crowding, obstructing or incommoding,” while sitting-in and chanting in a Capitol Hill restroom and hallway. Arrests included Chelsea Manning and Raquel Willis.

Hope organized a small group of TGNC community members who danced through a Capitol bathroom that these policies have blocked them out of. Met with both cheers and criticism from inside and outside of Queer spaces.

Hope says her goal was, “to go into these same restrooms that we were told our kind, our community, would not be welcomed into and simply create a space where people understood and recognized and realized that it ain’t that serious...Trans folks are not in the restroom to harm people. If anything, we are in there to have a dance party. That is likely the most outrageous thing a Trans person is going to be doing in a restroom”

To those that criticize her for seeming to “make light” of such a serious issue, Hope says, “people are used to us yelling and screaming and getting arrested and being pepper sprayed and they’re used to seeing the parts of our activations that come with the trauma. They are not used to seeing us activate in ways that also center our joy.”

Watch the full interview on Blaque/OUT Mag TV on YouTube.

(December 5, 2024) - Today, equality org, Gender Liberation Movement (GLM) led dozens of social justice activists and allies in a “Bathroom Sit-In” at a congressional bathroom. The bathroom was positioned very closely to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office who is implementing Rep. Nancy Mace's policy banning Trans people from using restrooms in government buildings. Protestors with banners that read, “FLUSH BATHROOM BIGOTRY” and chanted from inside the Women’s restroom and down the halls were arrested by Capital police. Chelsea Manning, GLM co-founder Raquel Willis, abortion liberation activist Renee Bracey Sherman, and other social justice leaders were among the individuals that were removed and detained by police.

The fear is that the proposal to expand bill H. RES. 1579 would ban bathroom access for Trans people in all federal buildings and could extend to educational institutions, museums, and other public landmarks. Opponents of the bill insist this move will not only compromise the safety of Trans women but put everyone including cis-gender women at risk.

Watch the full interview with Javannah Davis on Blaque/OUT Mag TV on Youtube

Photos by Alexa B Wilkinson