A bill to approve construction of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum failed in the House after Republicans added language excluding transgender women from the museum’s representation of American history. The measure failed Thursday after House Democrats withdrew support over the amendment. Democrats argued the new language politicized what had previously been a bipartisan effort and erased transgender women from the nation’s historical record. The amendment states the museum cannot “depict any biological male as female.”
Democratic Representative Emily Randall of Washington criticized the change, saying, “Republicans inserted culture war language limiting the museum to biological women. That language was not added to improve the museum; it was added to erase trans women from American history.” Democrats said the amendment could exclude transgender women such as computer scientist Lynn Conway, former Health and Human Services official Rachel Levine, filmmaker Lana Wachowski, filmmaker Lilly Wachowski, and actor Laverne Cox.
Leaders of the Democratic Women’s Caucus opposed the provisions that could give President Donald Trump and his allies unregulated power over the content and location of the museum. The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum was first authorized by Congress in 2020 alongside the proposed Museum of the American Latino. Democrats accused Republicans of delaying both these projects through the amended legislation. Despite delays to physical construction, the women’s history museum currently offers digital exhibits and educational resources online.
