Part of: The 'tranny' slur at House Oversight (Feb. 5, 2025) · DEI & 'Gender Madness' · Transgender & LGBTQ Policy
Bathroom Obsessive Nancy Mace Called Herself 'Pro-Transgender Rights' Just Last Year
Rolling Stone documented the sharp contradiction between Mace's 2023 'pro-transgender rights' and 'be who you want to be' statements and her 2024 campaign to ban trans women from Capitol bathrooms, specifically targeting Rep.-elect Sarah McBride.
Charisma Madarang ·
"Bathroom Obsessive Nancy Mace Called Herself 'Pro-Transgender Rights' Just Last Year"
, Rolling Stone (Charisma Madarang), November 25, 2024
Rolling Stone's Charisma Madarang cataloged the stark distance between Mace's stated positions from one year to the next. In 2023, Mace had publicly described herself as "pro-transgender rights," using language welcoming people to "be who you want to be." By late 2024, she had introduced a Capitol bathroom resolution and admitted on the record that the bill was directed squarely at Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
The piece framed Mace's pivot as a calculated political repositioning, not a quiet change of view. In separate NBC News coverage from the same week, Mace confirmed the targeting without hesitation, saying "Yes and absolutely, and then some" when asked whether the bill was aimed at McBride specifically.
The juxtaposition of Mace's own earlier pro-trans-rights framing against her 2024 anti-McBride campaign became a recurring shorthand in national coverage, illustrating what critics described as a willingness to reverse stated values when shifting political incentives demanded it.
Related coverage
Read next
November 19, 2024 · DispatchRep. Nancy Mace says her anti-trans bathroom bill 'absolutely' targets Rep.-elect Sarah McBride
NBC confirmed Mace's own admission that her Capitol bathroom resolution directly targeted Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. The candid admission generated sustained national criticism.
December 12, 2024 · DispatchRep. Nancy Mace Threatens Media For Reporting On Handshake She Says Was Assault
After media reported eyewitnesses contradicted Mace's assault account of the McIntyre incident, Mace went on far-right media to threaten defamation suits against any outlet that questioned her version of events, a threat that was itself widely covered as an attempt to intimidate journalists.
December 11, 2024 · DispatchThis GOP Rep. May Have Lied About Trans Activist Attacking Her
New Republic report citing three eyewitnesses who said McIntyre simply shook Mace's hand and asked her to support trans youth, directly contradicting her claim of physical assault. Published the day before Mace's media-threat appearance.