Nancy Mace’s Anti-Trans Crusade and the GOP’s Endless Outrage Machine

On November 5, Sarah McBride made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. Just days later, I shared a nagging concern, writing: “There’s like a 99% chance that Marjorie Taylor Greene or some other right-wing weirdo is going to try to turn what bathroom Sarah is allowed to use at the Capitol into a whole thing. Calling it now.”

I knew the backlash was coming, but even I was surprised by how quickly—and viciously—it arrived.

On Monday night, Fox News reported that Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina would be filing a resolution to ban McBride from using the women’s restroom at the Capitol.

I hate being right.

It’s disheartening to see that instead of celebrating a historic milestone, some politicians are choosing to weaponize fear and ignorance. Mace, who once presented herself as a “pro-LGBTQ” Republican, has made a jarring pivot to leading a vicious anti-trans crusade.

It’s true! Up until, well, just now, Mace had at least feigned support for LGBTQ people.

Back in March 2021, Mace told the Washington Examiner, “I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality. No one should be discriminated against.” She even emphasized that “religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist.”

Now, she’s attacking trans people on and off Capitol Hill, saying, “This is not OK. I’m a survivor of sexual abuse. The idea of having a man in a women’s restroom, locker room, or changing room is repulsive, and I will not allow it. And in fact, I’m not stopping here. This doesn’t end with Capitol Hill. I’m filing legislation tonight. You guys can wait with bated breath for what that’s about. But I am not going to allow this. I’m going to ensure that every woman and girl across the country is protected from this insanity.”

According to Popular Information, Mace has posted more than 130 times on X about her resolution. Among the posts is one where she mockingly wishes McBride a happy “International Men’s Day.” It’s all just so cruel.

Writing at her Erin in the Morning Substack, Erin Reed called Mace’s actions “a move as predictable as it is outrageous,” and argued that this gave away the game, that none of the campaign-time concerns about “sports” or “kids” or “prison inmates” were genuine; this was just an excuse to hate on trans people as a whole:

The reaction to Rep. McBride makes one thing crystal clear to Democrats and pundits alike: the Republican Party’s debate over transgender Americans was never about sports or prison inmates. Time and again, when given an inch, they take everything. That they’ve already pivoted to bathrooms before Congress has even convened should speak volumes—and the fact that the first transgender person they’ve targeted nationally is a mild-mannered Democratic congresswoman representing a million Delawareans speaks even louder. If Rep. McBride—a woman who championed and passed paid family leave for mothers on the brink of poverty—is deemed “unsafe for women,” then what transgender person could ever be considered safe? The absurdity of it is almost too staggering to believe.…

Republicans won’t stop with McBride, nor with sports bans, national bathroom laws, or attacks on transgender teens. Their goal isn’t compromise, and no amount of capitulation will stop the barrage of ads or the relentless assault on transgender Americans. Hate cannot be defeated through fear or focus groups or backroom deals—it demands courage. It requires people willing to rise to the moment and show their humanity to anyone willing to see it. Democrats now face one of those moments. McBride will soon have no choice but to rise and meet it. Whether Democrats stand with her will define not only their future but the future of transgender people across this country.

Since the election, there’s been pressure on Democrats to lay off “identity” issues—which mostly means there are people clamoring for Democrats to throw trans people to the wolves—but this episode illustrates the truth: It’s Republicans who can’t stop trying to fight a culture war.

In a piece at his The Left Flank Substack, Wajahat Ali took jabs at the conventional wisdom that Republicans were more about “kitchen table” issues like cheaper groceries, and that’s why Democrats lost.

“Americans voted for Republicans because they were promised a better economy, cheaper eggs, security, and the romanticized promise of becoming ‘great again,’” wrote Ali.

Therefore, MAGA Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina—a self-described feminist and rape survivor, who voted for a man held liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Caroll and who brags about grabbing women by the pussy—has introduced a measure to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol. 

This is in response to the election of Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware who is transgender. What better way to show your family values, compassionate Christianity, and generosity than to maliciously target a transgender member of Congress? Yet, shockingly, Mace, who is a self-professed champion of women’s rights, has not come to the aid of the young woman who alleges she was sex trafficked by Rep. Matt Gaetz when she was a minor.  She ignores all the women who allege that Trump sexually assaulted them. She is mute when it comes to condemning Fox host Pete Hegseth’s alleged history of sexual assault.

Odd, it’s almost as if Rep. Mace and Republicans don’t care about protecting young women and girls at all from predatory males and grooming. Every allegation against Democrats seems to be a confession. 

As a trans person myself, I’m really worried about where things are headed. Where does this stop? I spend each day worrying whether or not the health care that keeps me alive will remain legal, whether I’m going to face new restrictions on where I’m allowed to exist in public, what would happen to me if (God forbid) I wound up in prison for some reason, and whether or not my identity documents like my passport will be retroactively made invalid.

And now more than ever, I feel alone. I worry that the political party that has long claimed to “have our backs” simply won’t out of some misplaced belief that standing up for civil rights is “a losing issue.” I hope that these worries are misplaced, but I can’t help but fear that they’re not. Like I said, I hate being right.