Nancy Mace said she was 'pro-transgender rights' just last year: 'It's your body, your choice'

Conservative Rep. Nancy Mace described herself as "pro-transgender rights" just a year before singling out the first and only out trans member of Congress over her bathroom use.

The South Carolina Republican has 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. Mace later confirmed that the rule was "absolutely" targeting newly-elected Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, the first-ever out transgender lawmaker in Congress.

The political stunt — as well as a sudden flood of hundreds of posts on Mace's Twitter/X attacking trans people — comes just one year after Mace said she supported transgender adults, telling CBS News in July, 2023: "I'm pro-transgender rights. I'm pro-LGBTQ. Just don't go to the extreme with our kids."

"When a child is prepubescent or going through puberty, let that child go through the natural process of life and let them make that permanent decision when they're older," Mace said. "Now, if they wanna 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 wanna be, but don't make those permanent changes when it's a child."

TheAmerican Medical Association, theAmerican Psychiatric Association, theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, theAmerican Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, theWorld Medical Association, and theWorld Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care isevidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults but minors as well.

Mace said that she "support[s] legislation to block" what she fallaciously described as "sex change surgery, the hormone blockers that sterilize our children." Genital surgeries are virtually never performed on minors, and hormone blockers are completely reversible.

Mace also asserted that the medically-necessary treatment should not be covered through insurance, but that adults should have the right to receive it, stating: "As an adult, if you wanna make that permanent change, that is your decision. Do it on your dime. Not the government's dime. But you can make that decision freely. It's your body, your choice."

The conservative also 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.”

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.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has since 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.”