众议员南希·梅斯(Nancy Mace)最近成为头条新闻，并因其在跨性别群体中的言论而面临抗议，特别是她禁止跨性别女性使用美国国会大厦女厕所的努力就像第一个跨性别代表已被选入国会。
本月，南卡罗来纳州共和党人梅斯在社交媒体上的一段视频中对跨性别群体进行了诽谤。她用这个词指代在国会大厅示威反对跨性厕所禁令的抗议者。
现在梅斯又回到了头条新闻指控寄养青少年律师詹姆斯·麦金太尔袭击他人。根据美国广播公司新闻获得的法庭文件，麦金太尔涉嫌在梅斯在庆祝有利于寄养青少年的立法25周年的活动中发言后接近她握手。
梅斯向官员们声称“目标人物开始以夸张的方式用手摇的方式上下摇动她的手臂。动作的效果被描述为她的手臂挥舞了大约3-5秒钟。
据说麦金太尔在互动中说“跨性别青年值得提倡”。梅斯告诉警方，由于这起事故，她手腕、手臂和腋窝疼痛，但拒绝医护人员的帮助。麦金太尔被逮捕，并对袭击政府官员的指控不认罪。
事件发生后，梅斯在X上发帖称麦金太尔是“一个亲tr*ns的人”。
梅斯最近的言论似乎与她多年前的言论有所不同，当时她称自己为“支持跨性别者”和“支持性少数群体”
ABC新闻已经联系到梅斯的办公室进行评论。
在立法禁止跨性别女性进入国会浴室之前，梅斯支持“人人公平法案”，表示支持社会转型青年，并因批评者称她支持跨性别而面临反弹。
2021年:梅斯说她支持“性少数群体权利和平等”
在接受采访时华盛顿观察家报2021年，梅斯告诉一名记者:“我强烈支持性少数群体权利和平等...任何人都不应受到歧视。”
在采访中，她讨论了她对平等法案的反对，该法案将扩大联邦民权法律，以禁止基于性取向和性别认同的歧视。相反，她支持“人人公平法案”，该法案旨在禁止基于性取向和性别认同的歧视，但允许宗教组织有某些例外。
据该媒体报道，梅斯同意，例如，世俗公司不应该基于性取向或性别认同进行歧视——但宗教组织不必“违反他们的道德或宗教良心”，该媒体写道。
“这不是一个非黑即白的问题，”梅斯在采访中说。“我确实相信宗教自由、第一修正案、同性恋权利和变性平等可以共存。我也是一名宪法主义者，我们必须确保反歧视法不违反第一修正案权利或宗教自由。”
她告诉媒体，她有“朋友和家人认为自己是性少数群体……理解他们的感受和他们受到的待遇很重要。在我的一生中，与同性恋和跨性别者的接触影响了我的看法。”
当时，她说年轻的保守派越来越支持性少数群体权利:“人们不希望政府出现在他们的卧室或董事会房间里。”
2022年:梅斯因观点而面临攻击广告
在2022年初选中，梅斯是政治攻击广告的主题来自保守的美国原则政治行动委员会针对她支持跨性别者。
广告声称梅斯支持“女孩更衣室里的男人，女子监狱里的男人，甚至受虐妇女收容所里的男人”，将变性妇女称为男人。
2023年:梅斯似乎支持未成年人的社会转型
在2023年的一次采访中哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，梅斯说:“我支持变性人的权利。我支持性少数群体。只是不要对我们的孩子走极端。”
她谈到她支持禁止对变性青年的性别确认护理，指出“变性手术，荷尔蒙阻滞剂使我们的孩子绝育。我们不应该这样做。”医学专家说青春期阻滞剂是可逆的，不会使患者永久绝育.
然而，梅斯似乎表达了对正在进行社会转型的年轻人的支持:“如果他们想拥有不同的代词或不同的性别身份，或者留长发，或者穿裙子或裤子，或者在未成年时做这些事情——我认为这些都是大多数人会支持的事情。做你想做的人，但不要像个孩子一样做永久的改变，”梅斯说。
2024年:梅斯在反性少数群体情绪高涨之际推出浴室禁令
去年11月，梅斯推出了一项措施，禁止跨性别女性使用美国国会大厦的女厕所，目标是当选众议员莎拉·麦克布莱德，她是第一位入选国会的跨性别者。
“是的，而且绝对是。当被问及这项立法是否是对麦克布赖德当选的回应时，梅斯在国会大厦告诉记者。
“我不会在女更衣室里支持一个男人，你知道，一个有阴茎的人，”她说。
梅斯援引她自己作为强奸受害者的经历作为她引入该措施的部分原因。
“那不行。而我自己也是受虐的受害者。我是一名强奸幸存者，”梅斯说。“我因遭受男人的虐待而患有创伤后应激障碍，我知道女人和女孩在私人空间是多么脆弱，所以我绝对100%会阻止任何想去女厕所、更衣室的男人。我会一直陪在你身边，与你并肩作战，”她说。
麦克布赖德在X上回应了该法案:“这是极右翼极端分子的公然企图，他们试图转移对美国人面临的问题没有真正解决方案的事实。”
在众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊表示变性女性不能使用国会大厦和众议院办公楼的女厕所后，麦克布赖德回应了强加的规定:“我不是来为浴室争吵的。我在这里为特拉华人而战，降低家庭面临的成本。像所有成员一样，我将遵守议长约翰逊概述的规则，即使我不同意这些规则。”
每个代表办公室都有一个私人洗手间，国会大厦各处都有男女通用的洗手间。
禁令的反对者称“恐惧”和“人身安全”关于跨性别者使用卫生间的问题源于歧视。他们认为变性人本身并不危险，实际上更有可能成为暴力的受害者比异性恋的人多。
梅斯说，她希望扩大努力，推动一项禁止变性妇女在所有联邦财产上使用女卫生间的措施:“这不应该发生在任何联邦财产上。如果你是一所接受政府资助的学校或机构，这种事情应该被禁止，”她说。
根据加州大学洛杉矶分校的研究机构威廉姆斯研究所(Williams Institute)的数据，变性人在13岁以上的美国人中不到1%，近年来，他们一直是全国数百项共和党支持的法案的主题。
当抗议者在12月初进入国会大厦抗议限制跨性别者使用浴室的努力时，梅斯在X上发布了一段视频作为回应，她称抗议者是对跨性别者的贬损。
Rep. Nancy Mace's position on LGBTQ community appears to have changed
Rep. Nancy Mace has recently made headlines and faced protests for her rhetoric around the transgender community, particularly for her efforts to ban transgender women from using women's restrooms at the U.S. Capitoljust as the first transgender representativehas been elected to Congress.
This month, Mace, R-S.C., used a slur against the transgender community in a video on social media. She used the term in reference to protesters who demonstrated in the halls of Congress against the trans bathroom ban.
Now Mace is back in the headlines foraccusing foster youth advocate James McIntyre of assault. According to court documents obtained by ABC News, McIntyre allegedly approached Mace to shake her hand after she spoke at an event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of legislation benefiting foster youth.
Mace claimed to officials that “the subject began to aggressively and in an exaggerated manner shake her arm up and down in a hand shaking motion. The effect of the motion was described as her arm flailing for about 3-5 seconds.”
McIntryre is said to have stated “trans youth deserve advocacy” during the interaction. Mace told police she had pain in her wrists, arm and armpits due to the incident, but refused assistance from paramedics. McIntyre was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting a government official.
In a post on X following the incident, Mace called McIntyre "a pro-tr*ns man."
Mace's recent remarks appear to be a shift from her comments in years past, when she had referred to herself as “pro-transgender” and “pro-LGBTQ.”
ABC News has reached out to Mace's office for comment.
Prior to the legislation to ban transgender women from Capitol bathrooms, Mace supported the "Fairness for All Act," expressed support for socially transitioning youth and faced backlash for what critics called her pro-transgender support.
2021: Mace says she supports ‘LGBTQ rights and equality’
In an interview with theWashington Examinerin 2021, Mace told a reporter: "I strongly support LGBTQ rights and equality ... no one should be discriminated against."
In the interview, she discussed her opposition to the Equality Act, which would expand federal civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She instead supported the “Fairness for All Act,” which was aimed at banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity but allowing certain exceptions for religious organizations.
According to the outlet, Mace agreed that, for example, secular companies shouldn’t be able to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity – but that religious organizations do not have to “violate their moral or religious conscience,” the outlet wrote.
"It isn’t a black-and-white issue," Mace said in the interview. "I do believe that religious liberty, the First Amendment, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist. I’m also a constitutionalist, and we have to ensure anti-discrimination laws don’t violate First Amendment rights or religious freedom."
She told the outlet she has “friends and family that identify as LGBTQ … Understanding how they feel and how they’ve been treated is important. Having been around gay, lesbian, and transgender people has informed my opinion over my lifetime."
At the time, she said younger conservatives were becoming more supportive of LGBTQ rights: “People don’t want the government in their bedrooms or their board rooms."
2022: Mace faces attack ads for her views
In the 2022 primary race, Macewas the subject of political attack adsfrom the conservative American Principles PAC targeting her for her pro-transgender support.
The ad claimed Mace supported “men in girls’ locker rooms, men in women’s prisons, and even men in battered women’s shelters," referring to transgender women as men.
2023: Mace appears to support social transitioning for minors
In a 2023 interview withCBS News,Mace said: “I'm pro-transgender rights. I'm pro-LGBTQ. Just don't go to the extreme with our kids."
She spoke about her support for bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, stating that"sex change surgery, the hormone blockers that sterilize our children. We shouldn't be doing that." Medical experts have saidpuberty blockers are reversible and do not permanently sterilize patients.
However, Mace appeared to express support for youth who are socially transitioning: “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 want to be, but don’t make permanent changes as a child,” Mace said.
2024: Mace introduces bathroom ban amid rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment
In November, Mace introduced a measure to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol, targeting Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress.
"Yes, and absolutely. And then some," Mace told reporters at the Capitol when asked about whether the legislation was in response to McBride's election.
"I'm not going to stand for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women's locker room," she said.
Mace invoked her own experiences as a victim of rape as part of the reason she introduced the measure.
"That's not OK. And I'm a victim of abuse myself. I'm a rape survivor," Mace said. "I have PTSD from the abuse I've suffered at the hands of a man, and I know how vulnerable women and girls are in private spaces, so I'm absolutely 100% going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women's restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way," she said.
McBride responded to the bill on X: "This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing."
After House Speaker Mike Johnson said transgender women cannot use women's restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings, McBride responded to imposed rules: "I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them."
Each representative's office has a private restroom and unisex restrooms are also available throughout the Capitol.
Opponents of the ban say that the narrative around"fear" and "personal safety"concerning transgender use of bathrooms is rooted in discrimination. They argue transgender people aren't inherently dangerous and are actuallymore likely to be victims of violencethan cisgender people.
Mace said she wanted to expand her efforts and push a measure that would ban transgender women from using women's bathrooms on all federal property: "This shouldn't be going on any federal property. If you're a school or an institution that gets government funding, this kind of thing should be banned," she said.
Transgender people -- who make up less than 1% of Americans over the age of 13, according to UCLA's research organization, the Williams Institute -- have been the subjects of hundreds of Republican-backed bills across the country in recent years.
When protesters entered the Capitol to protest efforts to restrict transgender bathroom use in early December, Mace responded with a video on X, where she called protesters a derogatory slur for transgender people.
