In Washington, the Women's Museum will not see the light of day

The U.S. House of Representatives has rejected a bill to establish the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., after a bipartisan consensus collapsed. The original bill, introduced by Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis in February 2025, had over 230 co-sponsors and aimed to allocate a site opposite the National Museum of African American History and Culture. However, an amendment by Representative Mary Miller redefined the museum's mission as dedicated to "biological women," explicitly excluding transgender women, and removed references to diversity. The committee approved the amendment along party lines (7-4), leading to the bill's failure to secure the necessary votes.

This matters because it highlights how cultural and political battles over gender identity are derailing long-standing bipartisan efforts to create a major national institution. The museum, authorized in 2020 with support from President Donald Trump, was seen as a unifying project to celebrate women's history. The amendment's rejection by Democrats, who argued it would erase key transgender figures like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, underscores the deepening partisan divide over LGBTQ+ inclusion in public history. The outcome also reflects the influence of executive orders, such as Trump's "Restore Truth and Sanity to American History," which condemned the inclusion of transgender athletes in the planned museum.