U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene faced criticism on Wednesday after she shared an interview clip of a drag performer from Austin, Texas, who stated that women and children need protection from “men pretending to be women.” The issue is that the performer, Bridgette Bandit, was born a woman.
Bandit, known for her drag performances, was interviewed by CNN on Tuesday morning about her activism in Washington D.C., where she lobbied both Democrat and Republican lawmakers for better protections for drag artists. She joined other drag artists, including RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Jiggly Caliente and Joey Jay, for a “Drag Lobby Day” advocating for the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights.
In a video interview with Bandit about Drag Lobby Day, CNN’s Sara Sinder played a clip of former President Donald Trump from a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he said that if elected, he would sign an executive order to cut funding of “any school pushing critical race theory, transgenders…on the lives of our children,” also discussing “transgender insanity.”
Bandit responded by sharing that she doesn’t feel safe performing in drag in her hometown of Austin and how “scary it is” to see this rhetoric from Trump and other lawmakers. Greene posted the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, and commented with her disapproval.
“No, what’s scary is men pretending to be women reading gender cult lying books to our children, provocatively dancing nearly nude in public spaces, and taking over our bathrooms, sports, and private spaces,” she said. “Women and children need protection from them.”
Bandit refuted Greene’s comments, informing the Georgia representative that she was, in fact, born a woman.
“You are just proving that gender is socially constructed and have no idea what you’re talking about and why you should have no say in our lives,” she said.
The post has gone viral, garnering over 4 million views, and Greene’s X post is now accompanied by a context note: “The person in the clip, Brigitte, is a woman and was born female. Calling her a man is factually incorrect,” accompanied by a Texas Monthly article that heavily featured Bandit.
“I saw that tweet that she posted when I was about to fly out of D.C. and I knew this was something I needed to address because I had just spoken to CNN about how lawmakers use misinformation to push anti-LGBTQ ideas,” Bandit tells TIME. “Whenever I have an opportunity, I try to call people out on it.”
Bandit didn’t expect the tweet to gain such widespread attention, but upon landing back in Austin, she found her phone flooded with comments. Some thanked Bandit for her tweet, others mocked Greene, and some recalled
Bandit has been a drag activist for several years. In August 2023, she testified before U.S. District Judge David Hittner against Texas , which attempted to limit performances including drag. Hittner ultimately found that “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.”
Bandit believes that Greene’s comment only highlights the ignorance of lawmakers who aim to restrict drag.
“I think that this goes to show how Republicans are using queer people as scapegoats,” she said.“If Marjorie Taylor Greene actually cared about women’s issues she would stop talking about drag queens and start talking about the real issues,” she said.
Greene has not responded to TIME’s request for comment on the incident.
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