DEI & 'Gender Madness'
Mace's congressional focus on opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and what she has termed 'gender madness' in federal and local government.
Mace confronting D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at a House Oversight Committee hearing, asking "What is a woman?", the exchange that generated national coverage of her "gender madness" framing, September 2025. (Source: Forbes Breaking News, via YouTube.)
Nancy Mace has made opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs a consistent congressional theme, particularly in House Oversight Committee hearings. In a September 2025 hearing, she told D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that the District had become "a poster child for DEI and gender madness", a phrase that drew significant press attention. Bowser and her supporters disputed the characterization; the exchange also became notable for Mace repeatedly cutting off Bowser's responses and telling her "this is not her time."
Mace has repeatedly linked DEI policy to transgender issues, framing her positions as a defense of women's spaces, biological sex definitions, and what she calls common sense. Her exchanges with Democratic colleagues, including Representative Sara Jacobs and Representative-elect Sarah McBride, have generated extended floor and hearing confrontations. Democratic colleagues and LGBTQ advocates have contested her characterizations and objected to her conduct toward witnesses and fellow members.
The dispatches under this topic collect Mace's public statements in hearings, on the House floor, and on social media where she has used the "gender madness" framing or explicitly targeted DEI programs.
On the Record
Mace posts 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve' during governor run
While campaigning for South Carolina governor, Mace posted the anti-same-sex-marriage slogan 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve', three years after voting for the Respect for Marriage Act.
Mace to D.C. Mayor Bowser: 'What is a woman?'
During a September 18, 2025 House committee hearing, Mace pressed D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on the definition of 'woman' under the D.C. Code.
Mace to Mayor Bowser: 'You can be quiet as I ask you questions'
During the same September 18, 2025 House committee hearing, Mace cut off D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser mid-response with a pointed instruction.
Mace says transgender people 'are violently ill and should be in a straitjacket with a hard steel lock on it'
On September 16, 2025, in a street interview first reported via Don Lemon's Bluesky, Mace called Tyler Robinson, the man arrested for Kirk's assassination, 'radicalized' by the transgender community, and said trans people should be institutionalized.
Mace speculates before any arrest that Kirk's shooter 'was a tranny or pro-tranny'
On September 11, 2025, before any suspect was arrested in Charlie Kirk's assassination, Mace told reporters the killer was likely transgender, based on nothing; the man later arrested had a partner who was reportedly transitioning.
Mace shouts 'What the hell is your problem? You are disgusting' at Rep. Jacobs on House floor, then offers surgeon referral on X
During defense-bill debate on September 10, 2025, Mace shouted at Rep. Sara Jacobs on the House floor, then followed up on X offering Jacobs a referral to a plastic surgeon.
Mace repeats anti-trans slur at USC student who asked her to apologize: 'Is tr*nny really derogatory?'
At a Turning Point USA campus event, a 20-year-old transgender USC student asked Mace to apologize for using an anti-trans slur; Mace responded by questioning whether the term is derogatory and repeating it.
Mace asks Iowa crowd for permission to use anti-trans slur, then repeats it three times
On April 11, 2025, speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, Mace asked the audience whether she could say the anti-transgender slur, then repeated it three times to laughter while praising Iowa for removing transgender people as a protected class.
Mace posts 'Estrogen doesn't love you' at a transgender influencer
From her official congressional X account, Mace replied 'Estrogen doesn't love you' to a transgender influencer's transition photo; the post drew roughly 15 million views.
Mace pins clip of herself repeating slur with caption: 'Rumor has it, saying it three times summons a Leftist meltdown'
In February 2025, Mace pinned a clip of herself repeating an anti-transgender slur three times at a House hearing to her official congressional X account, captioning it as a joke about triggering political opponents.
Mace tells Rep. Connolly she won't be 'counseled by a man over men and women's spaces'
Continuing her exchange with Rep. Connolly at the February 5 Oversight hearing, Mace said she would not take guidance from a man on gendered spaces and characterized transgender women as having 'mental health issues.'
Mace repeats anti-trans slur three times on hearing record after colleague's objection: 'Tr*nny, tr*nny, tr*nny!'
When Rep. Gerry Connolly raised a parliamentary objection to Mace's use of an anti-transgender slur, she repeated it three times on the record at the same House Oversight hearing.
Mace opens USAID hearing with anti-trans slur: 'Does this advance the interests of American citizens, paying for tr*****s in Guatemala?'
At a House Oversight Committee hearing on USAID foreign spending, Mace opened with a question using a slur directed at transgender people.
Mace tweet: 'I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man. FAFO.'
On December 10, 2024, Mace posted on X alleging she had been physically accosted at the Capitol by a 'pro-tr*ns man'; Capitol Police arrested foster-care advocate James McIntyre, whose charges were later dropped in April 2025.
Mace posts on X: 'If tr*****s is considered a slur then cis should be too'
The day after posting a video mocking arrested transgender protesters with a slur, Mace posted on X defending her word choice by arguing the term 'cis' should be treated the same way.
Mace mocks arrested transgender activists with anti-trans slur in Capitol video post
After transgender activists were arrested at a Capitol sit-in protesting her bathroom bill, Mace posted a video using a slur to describe them.
Mace invokes rape survival to justify bathroom bill targeting Rep.-elect McBride: 'Yes and absolutely, and then some'
On November 19, 2024, Mace cited her own history as a rape and domestic-abuse survivor as justification for her transgender bathroom resolution, and confirmed directly that it targeted Rep.-elect Sarah McBride.
Mace on transgender bathroom resolution: 'This is the last war on women and I aim to stop it'
On November 19, 2024, Mace introduced a House resolution barring transgender women from Capitol restrooms the week before Rep.-elect Sarah McBride was to be sworn in as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.
Mace posts 'McBride, a biological male, does not get a say in women's private spaces' and 'if you have balls we don't want you in the women's bathroom'
Mace posted two statements on Instagram and social media targeting Rep.-elect Sarah McBride while promoting her Capitol bathroom-access resolution in November 2024.
Mace on Respect for Marriage Act: 'If gay couples want to be as happily or miserably married as straight couples, more power to them'
On July 19, 2022, Mace tweeted in support of the Respect for Marriage Act after voting yes as one of 47 House Republicans, making a self-deprecating joke about her own multiple marriages, a stance she publicly reversed in October 2025.