Rep. Nancy Mace recently made headlines and faced protests from the transgender community over her rhetoric, particularly her efforts to ban transgender women from using the women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol, just as the first transgender representative in was 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 demonstrating against the trans bathing ban in the halls of Congress.

Now Mace is back in the headlines for accusing foster youth advocate James McIntyre of assault. According to court documents obtained by ABC News, McIntyre allegedly asked Mace to shake her hand after she spoke at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of legislation benefiting foster youth.

Mace claimed to officers that “the subject began aggressively and exaggeratedly shaking his arm up and down in a hand motion. The effect of the motion was described as his arm waving for approximately three to five seconds.”

McIntryre reportedly stated during the interaction that “trans youth deserve advocacy.” Mace told police she was experiencing pain in her wrists, arms and armpits as a result of the incident, but refused help from paramedics. McIntyre was arrested and pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault on a government official.

In a post on X after the incident, Mace called McIntyre “a pro-tr*ns man.”

Mace’s recent comments appear to be a departure from her comments in recent years, when she described herself as “pro-transgender” and “pro-LGBTQ.”

ABC News has reached out to Mace’s office for comment.

Before legislation that banned transgender women from using Capitol restrooms, Mace supported the Fairness for All Act, expressed support for transitioning youth and faced backlash for what critics called pro-transgender -Support designated.

2021: Mace says she supports “LGBTQ rights and equality”

In a 2021 interview with the Washington Examiner, 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. Instead, she supported the Fairness for All Act, which aimed to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity but allow certain exemptions for religious organizations.

According to the medium, Mace agreed that secular companies, for example, should not be able to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity – but religious organizations do not have to “violate their moral or religious conscience,” the medium wrote.

“It’s not a black and white issue,” Mace said in the interview. “I believe that religious freedom, the First Amendment, gay rights and transgender equality can all coexist. I am also a constitutional lawyer and we must ensure that anti-discrimination laws do not violate First Amendment rights or religious freedom.”

She told the outlet she has “friends and family members who identify as LGBTQ… It’s important to understand how they feel and how they have been treated.” Dealing with gays, lesbians and transgender people has changed my mind over the course of time shaped my life.

At the time, she said younger conservatives were becoming more supportive of LGBTQ rights: “People don’t want the government in their bedrooms or boardrooms.”

2022: Mace faces attack charges over her views

In the 2022 primary race, Mace was the subject of political attack ads from the conservative American Principles PAC, which targeted her for her pro-transgender support.

The ad claimed that Mace supported “men in girls’ locker rooms, men in women’s prisons, and even men in battered women’s shelters” and referred to transgender women as men.

2023: Mace appears to support social transition for minors

In an interview with CBS News in 2023, Mace said: “I am for transgender rights. I am pro-LGBTQ. Just don’t go to extremes with our children.

She spoke about her support for bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, stating: “Gender reassignment surgeries, the hormone blockers that sterilize our children. We shouldn’t do that.” Medical experts have explained that puberty blockers are reversible and do not permanently sterilize patients.

However, Mace appeared to express support for youth undergoing social transition: “If they adopt a different pronoun or a different gender identity or grow their hair or wear a dress or pants or do these things as a minor.” want…” These 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 a toilet ban as anti-LGBTQ sentiment rises

In November, Mace introduced a measure to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol. This measure targeted Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress.

“Yes, and absolutely. And more than that,” Mace told reporters at the Capitol when asked if the legislation was a response to McBride’s election.

“I’m not going to stand up for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women’s locker room,” she said.

Mace cited her own experiences as a rape victim as the reason for introducing the measure.

“That’s not okay. And I am a victim of abuse myself. I’m a rape survivor,” Mace said. “I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the abuse I suffered at the hands of a man and I know how vulnerable women and girls are in private spaces, so I will 100% stand in the way of any man who wants to do that. “ Be in a ladies room, in our locker rooms, in our locker rooms. I will fight with you every step of the way,” she said.

McBride responded to the bill

After House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that transgender women would not be allowed to use the women’s restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings, McBride responded to the imposed rules: “I’m not here to argue about restrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and reduce costs.” Like all members, I will follow the rules laid out by Speaker Johnson, even if I don’t agree with them.

Each representative’s office has a private restroom and unisex restrooms are also available throughout the Capitol.

Opponents of the ban say the narrative around “fear” and “personal safety” around transgender bathroom use is based on discrimination. They argue that transgender people are not inherently dangerous and are in fact more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people.

Mace said she wants to expand her efforts and push a measure that would ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms on all federal property: “This should not happen on any federal property. If you are a school or an institution that is under the government.” “This kind of thing should be banned when it comes to funding,” she said.

Transgender people — who make up less than 1% of Americans over the age of 13, according to UCLA research organization the Williams Institute — have been the subject of hundreds of Republican-backed bills across the country in recent years.

When demonstrators entered the Capitol in early December to protest efforts to restrict transgender bathroom use, Mace responded to X with a video in which she called the protesters a derogatory slur for transgender people.