U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) pushed back against criticism from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) after the progressive congresswoman accused her of bigotry for leading efforts to prevent a transgender-identifying male congressman-elect from using the women’s restroom on Capitol Hill. On Monday, Mace introduced legislation aimed at limiting access to Capitol Hill’s gender-segregated facilities to members, officers, and employees based on their biological sex. The bill was introduced in response to the election of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), who made history as the first transgender-identifying congressman in the U.S. following this month’s election.
The congresswoman from South Carolina has been very vocal in her efforts to prevent McBride from using the women’s bathroom over the past week. In a social media post, Mace, who is a rape survivor, was seen placing a sign that read “biological” over the women’s bathroom sign on Capitol Hill. “I’m not going to allow biological men into women’s private spaces. I will stand in the brink and stand in the way of anyone on the radical left who thinks that it’s okay for a penis to be in a women’s locker room or a bathroom or a changing room. Hell no. I’m not going to stand for it. And the speaker said it would be in the House Rules package,” Mace said when asked about the bill by ABC News.
“This is not okay. I’m a survivor of rape, I’m a survivor of sexual abuse, and I’m not going to allow any man in any female private space. End of story. And by the way, I’m getting death threats from men pretending to be women. Why is it that these crazy people, the insanity, the radical left, are willing to kill women over a man’s right to be in a women’s restroom?” she added.
Members of the House Progressive Caucus, which Rep.-elect Sarah McBride is set to join, have accused Rep. Nancy Mace of promoting “bigotry” and “hate” through her proposed legislation. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went further, alleging that Mace’s actions are “endangering women and girls.” AOC added: “What Nancy Mace and what Speaker Johnson are doing are endangering all women and girls. Because if you ask them, ‘what is your plan on how to enforce this?’ They won’t come up with an answer.” She continued: What it inevitably results in are women and girls who are primed for assault…because people are going to want to check their private parts in suspecting who is trans and who is cis and who’s doing what… Because she wants to suspect and point fingers at who she thinks is trans is disgusting.”
Mace didn’t take long to respond. “It’s really the height of hypocrisy. It just goes to show [Democrats’] lie. They don’t want to protect women. They never have wanted to protect women, and their policies will only endanger more women and girls.” If passed, Mace’s bill would prohibit “members, officers, and employees of the House from using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex, and for other purposes,” according to text provided to Fox News.
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