A Republican lawmaker abruptly adjourned a congressional hearing on Tuesday after being challenged for referring to Representative Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware and the first openly transgender lawmaker in Congress, as a man.
The Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs panel was in the middle of a hearing on arms control and U.S. assistance to Europe when its chairman, Representative Keith Self of Texas, introduced his colleague by calling her “Mr. McBride.”
Ms. McBride, who entered Congress knowing she would present a unique target for Republicans who have politicized and attacked transgender people, has generally chosen to let such moments slide. On Tuesday, she briefly registered her displeasure by returning Mr. Self’s slight, responding, “Thank you, Madam Chair,” before proceeding with her remarks.
But Representative William Keating of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, was not willing to move on. He interrupted to request that Mr. Self repeat his introduction, which he did, again referring to the Delaware Democrat as “Mr. McBride.”
“Mr. Chairman, you are out of order,” Mr. Keating fired back. “Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I’ve come to know you a little bit. But this is not decent.”
Mr. Self said it was time to continue the hearing. But Mr. Keating refused to let go.
“You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way,” he said.
With that, Mr. Self adjourned the session.
On social media, Mr. Self later explained himself, writing that, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” One of President Trump’s early moves of his second term was to sign an executive order that the federal government would only recognize two sexes and that they were not changeable.
House Republicans moved last year to bar transgender women from Capitol Hill women’s restrooms. And during his testy exchange with Mr. Keating, Mr. Self suggested that his refusal to refer to Ms. McBride as a woman was in line with a “standard” that had been set on the House floor.
“What is that standard, Mr. Chairman?” Mr. Keating fired back.
Mr. Self did not elaborate. But House Republicans appear to have established a practice of not referring to Ms. McBride as a woman in official proceedings. In February, when Ms. McBride rose to deliver her maiden floor speech, Representative Mary Miller, Republican of Illinois, referred to her as the “gentleman from Delaware.” Ms. McBride said nothing.
On other occasions, Republicans presiding on the floor and in hearings have tried to steer clear of the issue, recognizing her as “the member from Delaware,” even though the custom is to refer to lawmakers as “gentleman” or “gentlewoman.” In those instances, Ms. McBride has simply proceeded with her remarks.
That approach is in keeping with how she conducted herself on her campaign and in her first months in Congress: She prefers to talk about economic issues and rarely discusses or calls attention to her identity. And she generally gives her G.O.P. colleagues the benefit of the doubt when it comes to dealing with her.
“Honestly, every Republican I’ve interacted with has been warm and welcoming, save for a couple,” Ms. McBride said in an interview in January.
But some who have attacked her have only doubled down. After the contentious moment at the hearing on Tuesday, Ms. Miller threw herself back into the fight with a post on social media.
“Tim ‘Sarah’ McBride is a biological man and always will be,” she wrote, using the Democrat’s birth name along with a photograph of Ms. McBride from before she transitioned. Transgender people and their allies consider it offensive to refer to them by their legal name at birth, known as their deadname, without permission.
Ms. McBride made no public comment about being misgendered during the hearing, but hours after the incident and Ms. Miller’s post, she addressed the issue obliquely in her own statement on social media.
“No matter how I’m treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress,” she wrote, adding, “I simply want to serve and to try to make this world a better place.”
