Marjorie Taylor Greene Put A Transphobic Sign On Her Office Door To Taunt Her Colleague, Apparently

As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on the Equality Act today, which offers much needed legislative protections for the LGBTQ+ community, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene decided that it would be a good time to post a transphobic sign outside of her office.

After the House debate on the bill — during which Greene called the Equality Act "disgusting, immoral, and evil" — Illinois Rep. Marie Newman, a freshman Democrat from Illinois, raised a transgender pride flag outside of her office to signal support for the proposed legislation. The freshman Democrat's daughter is transgender — and Newman's office happens to sit directly across from Greene's.

Greene's actions on the House floor went beyond simply voting "no" on the Equality Act, by delaying and even attempting to block its passage when she made a motion to adjourn so her colleagues could, she tweeted: “rethink destroying #WomensRights and #WomensSports and #ReligiousFreedom.”

Newman posted a tweet of her own in response to Greene, that included a video of her hanging the flag up, and a very clear message to her fellow representative: “Thought we’d put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door.”

Greene, who recently lost her committee memberships by promoting extremist conspiracy theories, quickly fired back with her own video. In it, she placed a poster outside of her office, saying: “There are TWO genders: Male & Female. Trust The Science!”

The back-and-forth drew attention online, leading a number of lawmakers to denounce Greene’s behavior. “This is sad and I’m sorry this happened,” tweeted Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger. “Rep. Newman’s daughter is transgender, and this video and tweet represents the hate and fame driven politics of self-promotion at all evil costs.”

Newman’s fellow Illinois Democrat Rep. Sean Casten called Greene's sign “sickening, pathetic, unimaginably cruel.” Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly from Virginia, who has displayed a transgender pride flag outside his office since 2019, tweeted that Greene “should probably avoid the Rayburn building too if she doesn’t want to see another ‘disgusting’ symbol of love and acceptance.”

This is far from the first time that Greene has publicly discriminated against the LGBTQ+ community. Earlier this month, Greene co-sponsored legislation called the Old Glory Only Act that would ban U.S. embassies from displaying LGBTQ+ Pride flags. In January, she co-sponsored a bill called the Protection of Women and Girls In Sports Act, which would prevent trans people from participating on sports teams according to their gender identity.

Though Greene's bigoted legislation has little chance of going anywhere, the Equality Act does, and will hopefully usher in a new era under the Biden administration. If passed, the Equality Act would expand housing and civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ people, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in more public places. Democrats introduced it last Thursday, and it is the first step in advancing a series of historic measures President Joe Biden has pledged to sign during his first 100 days in office. Should it be passed, it would amend existing laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to include explicit language banning LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace, education, housing, and other areas of life.

During the debate on the bill, Newman mentioned her daughter, saying, "Without the Equality Act, millions of Americans like my daughter can be denied housing, education, and more simply because they identify as transgender. I’m voting to pass the Equality Act for my daughter — the strongest, bravest person I know."

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal responded to Newman’s speech saying, “From the mom of one trans kid to another, we will pass the #EqualityAct – for Evie, for Janak, for thousands more to be able to fully be who they are.”