Twitter @RepMTG
- Adam Kinzinger criticized Marjorie Taylor Greene for hanging a transphobic sign across from Marie Newman’s office.
- Newman, who has a trans daughter, placed a transgender flag across from Greene’s office.
- The lawmakers are sparring over the Equality Act.
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Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger called out his colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter for a transphobic sign she hung outside her office.
The sign, which faced the office of Rep. Marie Newman, said, “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE.” It also featured the phrase “trust the science!” in quotes.
Newman, a Democrat from Illinois, has a transgender daughter.
Greene tweeted a video of herself hanging the sign, and wrote, “Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called ‘Equality’ Act to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms.”
“Thought we’d put up ours so she can look at it every time she opens her door,” Greene said.
—Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 25, 2021
Kinzinger, an anti-Trump Republican, retweeted the video, saying he was sad and sorry and noting that Newman's daughter is transgender. He said "this video and tweet represents the hate and fame driven politics of self-promotion at all evil costs."
"This garbage must end, in order to #RestoreOurGOP," Kinzinger said.
Greene's sign and video was a direct response to Newman, who first put up a transgender flag outside her office directly across from Greene.
—Congresswoman Marie Newman (@RepMarieNewman) February 24, 2021
Newman tweeted a video of herself placing the flag, and said, "Our neighbor, @RepMTG, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is 'disgusting, immoral, and evil.'"
"Thought we'd put up our transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door," Newman said.
Greene and Newman are facing off over the Equality Act
The lawmakers were sparring over the Equality Act, a bill House representatives are set to vote on this week that would ban discrimination based on "sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation."
The Equality Act has widespread support among Democrats, but opponents believe it would infringe upon religious freedom. They have also argued it would hurt women by, for instance, preventing them from having women-only sports, prisons, and locker rooms.
But proponents of the bill say it would provide consistent non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ people.
If passed, the legislation would amend existing civil rights laws to include gender identity and sexual orientation as protected traits. However, it would also expand upon the typically covered protections, like employment and housing, to include a category called "public accommodations," which includes retailers.
This expansion is significant to religious freedom advocates, as it could make it illegal for a baker, for instance, to deny making a wedding cake for a same-sex couple on the grounds that it is against their religion.
The bill has been introduced multiple times in the past, and even passed in the Democrat-controlled House in 2019. It is likely the Equality Act will again pass in the House this week. However, the bill would need 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster, but at least one known GOP swing vote has indicated opposition.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told the Washington Blade he would not vote to pass the act, citing "religious liberty protections."
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