Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), the rabidly transphobic congresswoman who recently announced her campaign to become her states next governor, used a transphobic slur at a recent town hall event in Rock Hill on Monday, referring to one of the dozens of protestors outside of the venue as a tr**ny.These are the people who are very confused, Mace said during her event at a local brewery, as protestors waved large rainbow flags and chanted outside, The Herald reported. Theyre all messed up. Related Nancy Mace falsely accused this doctor of child abuse & she lost her job. Shes running for Senate. The protestors largely came to speak out against Maces anti-LGBTQ+ stances, several told the aforementioned publication. Mace said of the demonstrators, Theyre hiding behind a mask because theyre too scared to show their face. Theyre not man enough to come into the room and ask the tough questions.During her speech, almost all of Maces policies on education focused on LGBTQ+ issues. She threatened to end federal funding for any school that thinks men can get pregnant, even though some transgender men can get pregnant, despite Maces beliefs. She also promised to ban pronouns and child porn in libraries, although pronouns are an everyday part of human communication. While theres no evidence of child pornography being available in any public school library, conservatives have often accused books by LGBTQ+ authors of being child porn. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Im going to hold the line against DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusivity efforts], she said. Im going to hold the line against this woke agenda thats being pushed. She also pledged to support so-called school choice programs that divert public taxpayer dollars into private schools that can refuse students for any reason. The defunding of public schools is a longtime goal of anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans and Christian nationalists.After an attendee got into a heated exchange with Mace over her stances on Planned Parenthood funding, health care, and birth control, the attendee walked out of the event. Mace then commented, Say hi to the tr**ny for me, not referring to anyone specifically. When asked about the slur, Mace told reporters, [Its] not offensive. Whats offensive is a woman in a mans space, WCNC reported.Mace, who was the first female graduate of the classically all-male Citadels military college, added, Gays need to divorce the tr**nies. She also said trans women should not be in womens spaces, including dorms and bathrooms. Maces use of transphobic slurs isnt surprisingThe growing trend of anti-trans rhetoric and policies from Republicans nationwide is leading to more overt public displays of transphobia, and Mace has long been at the forefront of this trend.She has previously referred to herself as a Full TERF (an acronym fortrans-exclusionary radical feminist) and has a long and proud history of demonizing trans people. She has, in many ways, become the public face of the Republicans crusade to eradicate trans people from all aspects of civic life.When Mace first ran for a congressional seat in 2020, sheran an ad falsely accusing her opponentof passing a law requiring transgender equality in the military. During Maces 2022 reelection campaign,she falsely accused her opponent, a pediatrician, of conducting sex changes on children as young as four years old. She alsolobbed transphobic slursat a student,shouted these slursduring a speech anda House committee meeting,publicly bullieda trans influencer,was booed whendiscussing a trans activists genitalsat a public talk,targeted two universitiesin her state for offering more than two gender options on certain student forms, referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE)as itanda manin a TV news appearance, and called trans people mentally ill (even though trans identity isnt considered a mental illness by any major medical or psychological association).Mace also persuaded House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tointroduce a rule banning all trans people from using Capitol restroomsthat match their gender identity. She has startedselling anti-trans t-shirtsand saidthat its offensivethat McBride thinks shes equal to other congresswomen.She alsovoted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Actbecause it would give some protections to trans inmates.Mace voted against the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination against LGBTQ+ people at the federal level, and has a poor record on LGBTQ+ rights in Congress, getting scores of 15 and 14 out of 100 on HRCs Congressional Scorecard. Mace has alsowritten hundreds of posts on social media attacking trans people, some of which include slurs. Numerous members of Congress havecriticized Maces vile and disgusting rhetoric.Natalie Johnson, Maces former communications director, pointed out that, in March 2021, Mace posted a comment on X (then-Twitter)declaring, I strongly support LGBTQ rights. No one should be discriminated against. Religious liberty, gay rights, and transgender equality can all coexist.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.