Nancy Mace, who often touted her vote for marriage equality, now says, ‘Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve’

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican now running for governor, built a national profile as a conservative willing to defy her party’s extremes. She once voted twice to protect marriage equality, calling it a “basic civil right for any two people to marry without discrimination.”

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On Wednesday, she posted something very different, writing, “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” on X, formerly Twitter.

The seven-word message — a slogan rooted in decades of anti-gay rhetoric — has sparked widespread outrage, not only for its content but for what it represents. For many LGBTQ+ advocates, it is confirmation that one of the few Republicans to embrace marriage equality publicly has now abandoned that position in favor of a campaign steeped in culture-war politics.

The post received a "community note," which is a community-sourced clarification or correction to misleading posts that users believe require additional context. The note referenced her previous support for same-sex marriage.

Mace’s 2022 vote for the Respect for Marriage Act was once heralded as a sign of bipartisan progress. “Today’s vote to protect marriage and protect religious liberties marks the end of a long fight for the basic civil right for any two people to marry without discrimination,” she said in an official House statement at the time.

Related: Nancy Mace declares herself a ‘proud transphobe.’ The internet had some thoughts

Her new social-media post marks a break from that framing. The line “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” long used by opponents of LGBTQ+ rights, is shorthand for rejecting the legitimacy of same-sex relationships.

It’s the latest time Mace has clashed publicly with LGBTQ+ constituents. In April, she was recorded confronting a gay constituent inside an Ulta Beauty store after he asked if she planned to hold a town hall. “F**k you!” she yelled at the man. “I voted for gay marriage twice,” she said, unprompted. The video of the encounter went viral. The constituent later told The Advocate that Mace’s actions “put a target on my back,” citing harassment and threats that followed.

Related: Nancy Mace yells ‘F**k you!’ at man she assumes is gay for asking her a question in an Ulta store

In July, she publicly declared herself a “proud transphobe” in response to an Advocate headline that said she was “considering quitting Congress to take her transphobia statewide in South Carolina.” In a post, she wrote: “FALSE: I am not quitting Congress. TRUE: Proud transphobe.” She announced her run for governor shortly thereafter.

In a statement to The Advocate on Thursday, 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 backlash to Mace’s post was immediate and fierce.

The Human Rights Campaign condemned the congresswoman’s latest comments. “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 The Advocate. “She’s embarrassing herself, and no one is looking to her for guidance on this or any other topic.”

GLAAD issued a statement to The Advocate calling Mace’s comments both “strange" and "out of step” with the American public’s values. “Marriage equality remains the law of the land, secured by the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act and by the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision more than ten years ago,” a GLAAD spokesperson said. “Threatening families and couples who just want the same protections and recognition as any other married couple or family is a strange political tactic out of step with the bipartisan support for it and while families are suffering to pay the bills and feed their children. Continuing to bizarrely pound on transgender people rather than articulate policies that actually address voters’ concerns about the economy, health care, and food insecurity is a sign of a campaign that is bankrupt on ideas and basic human dignity for fellow Americans.”

GLAAD noted that public support for marriage equality has reached near-record highs. A 2025 Gallup poll found that 68 percent of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples, including nearly half of Republicans. A June 2025 Centerline Liberties and Project Right Side survey found 56 percent of Republicans support allowing same-sex couples to marry, and 63 percent believe a person who supports same-sex marriage can still be considered a Republican.

A recent Public Religion Research Institute survey also found that 67 percent of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples, including majorities in every state. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that there are now more than 823,000 married same-sex couples in the U.S., raising nearly 300,000 children — over double the number since Obergefell v. Hodges was decided in 2015.

Polling also shows that voters remain far more concerned about economic issues than anti-trans legislation. In recent statewide polls, restrictions on transgender people ranked last among voters’ top concerns, behind inflation, health care, and threats to democracy, CNN reports.

Related: Gay man Nancy Mace cursed out in South Carolina Ulta says ‘a fire was lit’ from Republican’s ‘meltdown’

Former congressional candidate Brianna Wu wrote on X, “Girl get a job.” Comedian Cody Johnston added, “As soon as it becomes advantageous,” sharing screenshots of Mace’s past tweets boasting of her votes for same-sex marriage.

Mace’s reversal reflects a broader trend within the Republican Party, where lawmakers are reversing or softening their previous support for LGBTQ+ rights.

The Advocate asked Mace’s campaign what has changed since her 2022 vote in favor of marriage equality and how she reconciles that record with her recent statements. The campaign did not respond beyond Gifford’s statement.