South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace repeatedly used a slur for transgender people during a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, sparking backlash from the Democratic ranking member of the panel.
The Context
Mace is one of the loudest anti-transgender voices in Congress and introduced a bill last year to ban transgender women from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity on Capitol Hill. Mace proposed the legislation after Delaware elected Sarah McBride, the first transgender person to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Her comments Wednesday came shortly before President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to ban transgender women from participating in women's sports. The president also said the U.S. will deny visas to transgender Olympic athletes.
What To Know
Mace used the slur while questioning witnesses about the U.S. Agency for International Development's expenditures. The agency has come under fire and been gutted in recent days as Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk seeks to shut it down, despite the fact that USAID is a congressionally approved body and can only be dismantled through an act of Congress.
After she used the word, ranking member Gerald Connolly cut in.
"The gentlelady has used a phrase that is considered a slur in the LGBTQ community and the transgender community," Connolly said.
"Let me please finish without interruption," he said. But Mace interrupted him as he was speaking.
"T*****, t*****, t*****," Mace said. "I don't really care. You want penises in women's bathrooms and I'm not going to have it. No, thank you."
"Ok," the panel's Republican chairman, Representative James Comer, said as Mace continued speaking. "Let the gentleman state his parliamentary inquiry."
"Thank you," Connolly said, adding, "To me, a slur is a slur and here in the committee, a level of decorum requires us to try, consciously, to avoid slurs.
"You just heard the gentlelady actually actively, robustly repeat it and I would just ask the chairman that she be counseled that we ought not to be engaged—we can have debate and policy discussion without offending human beings who are our fellow citizens," he continued. "So I would ask, as a parliamentary inquiry, whether the use of that phrase is not, in fact, a violation of the decorum rules."
Mace fired back at Connolly, telling the chairman she was "not going to be counseled by a man over men and women's spaces or men who have mental health issues dressing as women."
There is no evidence that transgender women pose an increased threat to safety in bathrooms. Transgender people are also several times more likely to be victims of violent crimes than those who are not transgender.
"I'm not being counseled—" Mace went on before Connolly cut her off.
"My inquiry is to the chairman," the Democratic lawmaker said.
Comer then stepped in, saying, "The inquiry is about decorum. Decorum is at the discretion of the chair. I'll be honest with the ranking member. I'm not up to date on my politically correct LGBTQ term—terminology. We'll look into that and get back with you on that."
Mace Once Said She Was 'Pro-Transgender Rights'
Mace's public views on LGBTQ rights have sharply evolved since she came to Congress.
"I'm pro-transgender rights," Mace told CBS News' The Takeout in May 2023. "I'm pro-LGBTQ."
The Republican lawmaker made the comments while saying she opposed gender-affirming care for minors. "Sex change surgery, the hormone blockers that sterilize our children, we shouldn't be doing that," she said.
"Now, if they want to take on a different pronoun or a different gender identity, or grow their hair out, or wear a dress, or wear pants, or do those things as a minor, those are all things that I think most people would support. Be who you want to be, but don't make those permanent changes when it's a child," Mace added.
What People Are Saying
Mace posted a video of her comments to X after the Wednesday hearing, writing: "Rumor has it, saying it three times summons a Leftist meltdown."
Mace's spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday to The Independent: "The only thing the Left has going for them is political correctness because they are so wrong on everything."
Briahna Joy Gray, the former spokesperson for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign, wrote on X on Wednesday: "To be clear: That slur is about denigrating someone's identity, not their behavior/political beliefs. What about trans women (like Caitlyn Jenner) who do not believe they should use women's bathrooms. Is she a 't*****' to Mace? To use an analogy, my opposition to anti black racism does not justify me using racial pejoratives to describe white (or other) racists. A child could understand this. But not Nancy Mace."
What Happens Next
Mace announced last month that she's considering running for governor of South Carolina.
"We are seriously considering a statewide run for governor in 2026," Mace told the Associated Press, adding that she plans to seek President Donald Trump's endorsement.
"I've been in the state legislature before, I have great relationships in Washington now, and I've acquired the leadership necessary to be bold, to make sure that we are moving forward with conservative policies," Mace said.
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