This story was originally reported by Orion Rummler of The 19th, and republished through Rewire News Group‘s partnership with the 19th News Network.

The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum has been years in the making—and now, transphobia is threatening to derail the whole thing. 

A bill to approve building the museum failed to pass on a 204-216 vote, after House Democrats voted in opposition. The Democratic Women’s Caucus pulled support after Republicans amended the legislation to require that the museum exclude transgender women. 

That rule would exclude trans women like Lynn Conway, an American computer scientist who guided the microchip design revolution of the 1980s, and Rachel Levine, former assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services who helped coordinate the national COVID-19 pandemic response—not to mention the film directors behind The Matrix and Emmy-winning star Laverne Cox. 

During an hour of debate on the House floor Thursday, Democrats cautioned that the amended version of the bill also........

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