GOP congressman Keith Self misgenders trans lawmaker Sarah McBride in hearing

Muri Assunção, New York Daily News on Mar 12, 2025

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The Republican chairman of a House committee abruptly ended a hearing Tuesday night after he intentionally misgendered Rep. Sarah McBride and was sharply rebuked by a fellow committee member.

Texas Rep. Keith Self, who serves as the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, introduced McBride, the first openly transgender lawmaker elected to Congress, by referring to her as a “Mr. McBride.”

The interaction unfolded in the middle of a hearing on arms control and U.S. assistance to Europe.

“I now recognize the representative from Delaware: Mr. McBride,” Self said — to which a smiling McBride responded with, “Thank you, Madame Chair.”

The Delaware Democrat’s Massachusetts colleague, Rep. Bill Keating, interrupted to express his disappointment with what he called Self’s lack of “decency.”

“Mr. Chairman, could you repeat your introduction again, please?” Keating, the ranking member of the subcommittee, said.

After Self mentioned a “standard” that had been “set on the floor of the House,” without elaborating on the standard to which he was referring, Keating asked the Texas lawmaker again to repeat what he had just said when introducing “a duly elected representative from the United States of America.”

“I will,” Self responded. He then doubled down, again referring to the representative from Delaware as “Mr. McBride.”

“You are out of order,” Keating said. “Mr. Chairman, have you no decency?”

Self brushed off the criticism, moving to continue with the meeting — to which Keating protested.

“You will not continue with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way,” he said.

Self then struck down his gavel and abruptly ended the meeting. “This hearing is adjourned,” he said.

Without directly commenting on the insult, McBride said in a statement later on Tuesday that nothing can diminish the “awe and gratitude” she feels to represent Delaware in Congress — regardless of how she’s “treated by some colleagues.”

“It is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” the congresswoman said. “I simply want to serve and to try to make this world a better place.”