Texas Rep. Keith Self cut a U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing short Tuesday afternoon after he refused requests to correctly introduce his congressional colleague Sarah McBride, who he repeatedly misgendered.
Self referred to McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, as "the Congressman from Delaware" and "Mr. McBride." Massachusetts Democrat Bill Keating stepped in as McBride addressed Self as "Madam Chair" before attempting to continue the meeting with minimal interruption.
Keating asked Self if he could treat McBride with respect and reintroduce the congresswoman.
"We've set the standard on the floor of the House, and I'm simply—" Self said. Keating cut Self off by questioning what that standard is.
"Would you repeat what you just said when you introduced a duly elected representative from the United States of America, please?" Keating responded.
Self doubled down, misgendering McBride again, to which Keating asserted that the Texas Republican was out of order.
"Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I have come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent," Keating said. "You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way."
Keith subsequently adjourned the hearing on arms control and U.S. assistance to Europe.
Sarah McBride (D-Delaware) is the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
McBride won Delaware's only House seat during the November 2024 election. The congresswoman told CBS News's "Face the Nation" that the attacks she faces and other transgender people combat are not only "mean-spirited" but are attempts to "misdirect."
McBride said Republicans' targeting of her and others is an effort to distract from real issues like the rising cost of living, among other everyday problems.
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-republican-trans-misgender-20217167.php
