In a slur-laden speech to the right-wing Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, anti-trans Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) praised the state for removing trans people as a protected class.
“You are leading our country,” Mace told the crowd, according to the Des Moines Register. “It’s not just about protecting women and girls. Yes, it’s about protecting our boys, too. They deserve it. Democrats can’t even define what a woman is.”
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Enraged Nancy Mace hurls insults at constituent for asking her about DEI
Mace went on a tirade against the random voter who accused her of benefiting from DEI practices.
She also asked, “Can I say trans in Iowa? Can I say tr***y? Can I say it three times?” She then uttered the slur three times as the audience laughed.
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Mace has become the anti-trans face of the Republican party and has used the anti-trans slur as a way to perform her transphobia publicly. In February, she repeatedly shouted it during a House committee hearing, specifically because a Democratic colleague was criticizing her for using it.
“The gentlelady has used a phrase that is considered a slur in the LGBTQ community and the transgender community,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). He asked to finish “without interruption,” but Mace interrupted him.
“Tr***y! Tr***y! Tr***y!” she barked at him. “I don’t really care!”
“While it comes as no surprise that GOP leaders continue to spread anti-trans language, condoning the use of offensive slurs is a new low,” Keenan Crow, One Iowa’s policy and advocacy director, said in a statement following the recent speech. “This kind of language serves no purpose other than to demean a group of Iowans who deserve the same respect and dignity as anyone else, and therefore should have no place in the political discourse of any serious party or public official.”
In March, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a law repealing civil rights protections for transgender people, making Iowa the first to repeal anti-discrimination protections for a previously protected class of people.
Thousands advocated against the bill as Republicans claimed it would protect women and children from trans women in gendered spaces and sports teams. Studies have shown that cis men and a lack of athletic funding harm women infinitely more than trans women do. Nevertheless, the state’s Republican-dominated legislature fast-tracked the bill, largely supporting it along party lines.
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