Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado is still upset about the Equality Act.
After insinuating last week gay men aren't real men while criticizing the Congressional LGBTQ-rights legislation, Boebert is now coming under fire for saying the law is not about LGBTQ equality but rather "supremacy of gays and lesbians and transvestites."
Or at least, that's what she tried to say.
What she actually said was more like "transvexhikes."
Boebert's strange and deeply misinformed words came during an interview with Real America's Voice, a far-right media network.
One of the most sweeping pieces of LGBTQ-rights legislation in American history, the Equality Act provides basic protections for LGBTQ people that many might have assumed already existed: protection from discrimination in employment, education, and housing, among other areas.
Hardly the stuff of "special privileges" granted uniqely to LGBTQ people. But for during her interview, Boebert claimed the Act, which she calls the "Inequality Act," does precisely that.
As she put it.
"We all know that that's just the Democrats using a play on words. There's nothing about equality in that act."
Boebert then struggled to articulate what the bill supposedly is about, stammering her way through an explanation that made very little sense.
"If anything it's... supremacy, of gays and lesbians and transvexhikes. I mean like that's what this is about, it's about putting them higher than anyone else. It's not about equality."
One assumes she meant to say "transvestites," which is a word for the practice of wearing clothing associated with a gender different from one's own.
People's clothing choices are not protected by the Equality Act—or any other civil rights legislation for that matter—so it's unclear what Boebert was talking about. But we can probably safely assume she was using the term to refer to transgender people, which is a not only inaccurate way to refer to trans people, but also an offensive one.
Boebert did not offer any explanation for why or how providing protection for LGBTQ people from discrimination equates to LGBTQ supremacy. Instead, she said the Equality Act is unnecessary because the 14th Amendment, ratified to grant equality to freed slaves in 1868, already exists.
On Twitter, Boebert's comments left people astonished for all the wrong reasons.
While many others couldn't believe how non-sensical her statements were.
Boebert was elected with other conspiracy theory and QAnon adherents in the GOP in 2020.
Other candidates are already lining up to challenge Boebert for her seat in 2022.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram