Drag Race stars threaten to ‘sue’ Nancy Mace over attack on drag queens

This story originally appeared on Out.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace launched a new attack on drag queens this week, but the Drag Race divas are hitting back.

The South Carolina conservative drew attention during a congressional hearing when she displayed photographs of Drag Race host RuPaul and stars Kandy Muse and Joey Jay as she argued that drag “sexualizes” children.

In a subcommittee hearing Tuesday, examining the Trump administration’s assertion that the Smithsonian is insufficiently patriotic, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said the institution had "become infected by a woke ideology." Mace criticized the National Museum of American History for displaying a photo of drag legend and Emmy-winner RuPaul.

“RuPaul is a man that dresses like a woman, literally," Mace said, before launching into an attack on drag queens which relied on the tried and true GOP rhetoric that equates LGBTQ+ people and drag queens with child predators.

"Do you know how many kids get raped by adults in this country?" she asked during the hearing. Mace went on to argue that displaying photos of drag queens for children puts them at risk. "Putting this kind of crap in front of kids sexualizes them," she said. "Makes them vulnerable to people who wanna abuse them."

The queens didn’t take the insult from the loudest and proudest anti-trans Republican lying down. RuPaul has yet to comment, but both Kandy Muse and Joey Jay clapped back on X (formerly Twitter).

Kandy Muse wrote, “can I sue?” along with a reposted image of Mace holding up their photos at the House hearing. Joey Jay took things a step further when she commented, “I’m talking with my lawyer I’ll let you know what he says.”