On social media, men threatened to break my head.
One of these anonymous harassers went so far as to imagine attacking me in the bathroom.
In America today, this is what happens to women when they advocate for their own safety.
As the first female graduate of South Carolina’s military college, The Citadel, and the first Republican Congresswoman elected in the country, I have broken barriers all my life. I am also a survivor of rape and domestic violence, and I still live with PTSD from this traumatizing experience.
My advocacy is not political – it is personal.
That’s why I took the lead this week in introducing a House resolution to ban biological men from women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and other private spaces in the US Capitol.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a policy that ratifies my concerns. And like clockwork, the Democrats exploded.
But he’s not angry about the dozens of death threats I’m currently receiving. For that, they were silent. His anger was directed elsewhere – at me.
‘What Nancy Mace and what Speaker Johnson is doing are putting all women and girls at risk,’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday, as she claimed that Republicans ‘want to be able to examine (people’s) genitals so they can be used. the bathroom?’
On social media, people are threatening to bash their heads in.
How bad… and predictable.
Of course, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez failed to mention that there are private bathrooms in each member’s office and unisex bathrooms are available throughout the Capitol Complex for everyone regardless of gender identity.
He ignored that my future colleague, Rep. Sarah McBride, who is transgender, said she will follow the House rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson. And I look forward to working with Rep. McBride on issues that are important to both of us.
On the left this is a political talking point. For millions of Americans, it’s a matter of common sense.
I will not be ashamed into silence or retreat after ludicrously branded a bigot.
I voted twice to allow same-sex marriage and I have sponsored legislation bolstering protections for LGBTQ Americans.
This war is not about bigotry. It’s about standing up for women and girls.
As a survivor of abuse, the idea of a biological man demanding to enter the dressing room is menacing – and I am a woman who is capable and armed to protect herself.
My future colleague, Rep. Sarah McBride, who is transgender, said she will follow the House rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson. And I look forward to working with Rep. McBride on issues that are important to both of us.
But what about people who can’t defend themselves?
Nearly four years ago, California began allowing male inmates to be housed in correctional facilities in ‘a manner consistent with their gender identity.’
The poster boy for the law is Tremaine Carroll, a violent criminal and accused sex predator who was transferred in 2021 from a men’s prison to the Central California Women’s Facility.
In May 2024, Carroll was transferred back to a men’s cell – charged with two counts of raping a female prisoner. Carroll’s case is ongoing.
This is an extreme example – but one that should be followed because it shows how transgender ideology is in America. It ignores the obvious biological basis for gender segregation in private spaces.
A staggering 81 percent of American women have experienced some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime. More than half of women have been sexually touched in a way they don’t like. More than one in four women have survived sexual assault.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and others also accused me of blowing this issue out of proportion. But she is the one who insists that all women must change their lifestyles and compromise their well-being for the roughly 1.1 percent of Americans who identify as trans.
The poster boy for the legislation is Tremaine Carroll (above), a violent felon and accused sex predator who was transferred in 2021 from a men’s prison to the Central California Women’s Facility.
I’m not trying to limit anyone’s rights – I’m trying to assert women’s rights.
That’s why the DPR regulations are just the beginning.
The US Capitol is the seat of our democracy. It should set the standard. I am now introducing legislation to expand same-sex bathroom policies on federal property nationwide and in schools funded by the federal government.
Women and girls deserve more than their needs being ignored and protective boundaries removed.
One of the most preventable cases of abuse, assault or harassment is the vast majority. We must act before another woman or girl becomes a statistic.
