House GOP Adds ‘Family Centric’ Wording in Shot at LGBTQ+ People

House Republicans’ proposed changes for the 119th Congress include “restoring family-centric language” to the chamber’s rules, a move aimed at eliminating wording used by Democrats that was intended to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ people.

The effort comes after Republicans won the House, Senate, and White House last year with campaigns that leaned heavily on anti-transgender rhetoric. House Republicans have already made LGBTQ+ issues a centerpiece of their focus going into the 119th Congress, which began Friday — Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is vocal about banning transgender people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender in the US Capitol. The rhetoric coincides with the first trangender lawmaker, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.), just moments away from being sworn into Congress.

Republicans’ proposed rules package would change language like “parent” and “child” to “mother” and “son,” in the section barring lawmakers from hiring immediate family members. The more inclusive wording had been in place since 2021.

“It’s a restoration of common sense,” said Rep. GT Thompson (R-Pa.), who leads the House Agriculture Committee. Thompson said the language, cited as “family-centric” in the rules change, is “what we all grew up with for the most part.” Thompson in 2022 voted against a measure that would require states to recognize same-sex marriages three days before he attended his son’s same-sex wedding.

Democrats saw the change in language as an attack on LGBTQ+ Americans, including those who don’t identify as men or women.

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), an Equality Caucus member who was recently elected to party leadership, said the change is “disgusting.” While it’s not clear whether the rule will have any concrete impact on House operations, Frost said “language matters.”

LGBTQ+ people are “everywhere—in every district, in every town,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), an openly gay member of the Equality Caucus, said in a message. “Writing us out of language in the House does not change that. It just further demonstrates that cruelty is the point for them.”