U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace once cast herself as an LGBTQ-friendly Republican. She has since become one of Congress’s loudest opponents of transgender rights — and is now echoing a familiar refrain used by opponents of same-sex marriage on social media.
“Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” wrote Mace on X, repeating a long-used slogan that mocks same-sex relationships as “abnormal” and frames homosexuality as contrary to the Bible. The South Carolina congresswoman is currently running for governor.
A community note soon appeared under Mace’s post, pointing out that she voted twice for the Respect for Marriage Act — once during its initial passage, and again when the House approved the Senate’s version. The 2022 law requires both federal and state governments to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they’re legal.
Signed by former President Joe Biden, the law serves as a safeguard in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which invalidated same-sex marriage bans still on the books in 32 states.
Mace’s apparent about-face follows a similar shift on transgender rights, which has drawn national attention — particularly her push to bar transgender women, including U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, from women’s facilities within the U.S. Capitol and on federal property.
First elected from an affluent swing district in suburban Charleston where she narrowly defeated a Democratic incumbent, Mace has shifted rightward on several issues. A 2022 redistricting added more rural and conservative areas to her district, making her more vulnerable to a primary challenge.
In a November 24, 2024, X post — screenshots of which have since circulated online — one user replied to Mace’s claim that gay rights have nothing to do with transgender access to restrooms and locker rooms, predicting: “[Y]ou’re going to be against gay rights as soon as it becomes socially advantageous.”
“Votes for gay marriage twice in fact,” Mace replied at the time, citing her two votes for the Respect for Marriage Act.
Another X user shared a screenshot of that exchange and replied to Mace’s latest post: “Couldn’t even make it a year lol.” Others piled on, calling out the congresswoman’s swift shift in tone on same-sex marriage.
— Lionel Hutz, Tesla Attorney General (@Gimply32) October 29, 2025
In response to a query from The Advocate, Mace’s campaign press secretary, Piper Gifford, said, “As the loudest and proudest transphobe in Congress, Nancy Mace will never stop pointing out the fact that there are only TWO genders.”
The Advocate also asked Mace’s campaign what had changed since her 2022 vote for marriage equality and how she reconciles that record with her recent statements, but the campaign did not respond.
In a statement to Metro Weekly, the LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD noted that polls show more than two-thirds of Americans continue to support same-sex marriage, even as support among Republicans has slightly declined.
Mace’s recent — and politically convenient — shift underscores a broader point: many LGBTQ advocates remain skeptical of conservatives who claim to be allies or supporters of marriage equality.
Although Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett have suggested the Supreme Court won’t revisit its Obergefell ruling, many LGBTQ advocates remain wary. Some note that several justices once called Roe v. Wade an important precedent during their confirmation hearings — only to later overturn it.
Trump supporters — including several gay Republican groups — have long accused LGBTQ advocates and Democrats of fear-mongering over same-sex marriage, insisting that the Obergefell decision isn’t in danger of being overturned. Those arguments were recently echoed in an op-ed by David Urban, a former Trump adviser and CNN commentator.
However, Mace’s apparent evolution on the issue, and legislation pushed in several Republican-led state legislatures asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Obergefell decision appear to undermine those assertions.
“Nancy Mace’s desperation for attention is exceeded only by her willingness to hurt others to try to advance her own career,” HRC spokesperson Delphine Luneau told Metro Weekly in an email. “She’s embarrassing herself, and no one is looking to her for guidance on this or any other topic.”
Fashion designer Connor Ives says his now-iconic "Protect the Dolls" T-shirt -- first worn during the finale of his Fall/Winter 2025 ready-to-wear show in London -- has since raised more than $600,000 for the nonprofit Trans Lifeline. The design employs a decades-old phrase calling for solidarity with and protection of transgender women.
The shirt wasn’t originally intended as part of the collection. As Ives told The New York Times in April, he simply wanted "a T-shirt that says something" for the show, using the message as a call for solidarity with transgender people at a time when governments in the U.K. and U.S. were seeking to roll back rights.
Boston police are investigating a possible hate crime after a gay couple was attacked while walking in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood on September 13, leaving one man with a head injury.
According to a police report, the couple had been heading to a convenience store on River Street just before 8 p.m. when a group of men began hurling anti-gay remarks at them.
One of the men confronted the group, sparking a "verbal dispute" that escalated into a physical attack on the couple, according to Boston.com.
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash after a photo resurfaced showing him alongside a Ugandan politician described as the "architect" of that country's law criminalizing homosexuality.
Mamdani, who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by more than 12 points in the final round of ranked-choice primary voting in June, now leads a three-way race against Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, the citizen patrol group once famous for policing New York's subways.
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