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“I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality. No one should be discriminated against. I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist," Mace said in 2021.
Before she spearheaded the effort to ban transgender women from women's facilities in the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace was the proponent of an LGBTQ+ equality bill.
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The South Carolina Republican co-sponsored the Fairness for All Act in 2021, which would have banned discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation with certain exceptions for religious institutions. She even went so far as to tell conservative outlet The Washington Examiner at the time that “people don’t want the government in their bedrooms or their board rooms.”
“I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality. No one should be discriminated against," Mace said. "It isn’t a black-and-white issue. I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist."
“I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ. Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important," she continued. "Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime.”
Related: Watch AOC slam Nancy Mace for 'endangering all women' with transgender bathroom ban
Mace was later the target of attack ads from the conservative American Principles PAC during her 2022 primary, who accused her of supporting “men in girls’ locker rooms, female prisons, and even women’s shelters," incorrectly referring to transgender women as men. American Principles PAC contributed financially to Mace's 2024 campaign.
Mace remained largely unheard of until this week, when she introduced a resolution that would ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol. She later confirmed that the rule was "absolutely" targeting newly-elected Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, the first-ever out transgender lawmaker in Congress.
Mace recently said during an appearance on far-right platform Newsmax: "It's offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he's my equal," cruelly misgendering McBride and framing her as less than human.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson yesterday supported Mace in imposing a rule that mandating all single-sex facilities in Capitol buildings — including restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms — be reserved strictly for people based on their gender assigned at birth. Neither Johnson nor Mace have said how they intend to enforce it.
McBride responded to the targeted ban by saying she's “not here to fight about bathrooms" and would rather focus on efforts "to bring down costs facing families.” She added that "like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson even if I disagree with them.”
Others have accused Mace of using the ban to score political points, including New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said Wednesday: "Why are they doing this? They're doing this so Nancy Mace can make a buck and send a text and fund-raise off an email. They're not doing this to protect people."
