U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faced criticism Wednesday after sharing an interview with an Austin drag performer who said women and children need to be protected from “men pretending to be women.” The problem – the performer, Bridgette Bandit, was born female.
Bandit, who often performs as Dolly Parton, appeared on CNN Tuesday morning for her activist work in Washington DC, where she spent the day lobbying both Democratic and Republican lawmakers for better protections for drag artists. She was joined by other drag artists, including RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Jiggly Caliente and Joey Jay, for a “Drag Lobby Day” to lobby for the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights.
Read more: Why these drag artists are fighting for better protection
In a video interview with Bandit about Drag Lobby Day last week, CNN’s Sara Sinder showed a clip of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he stated that if elected, he would sign an executive order cutting off funding to “all schools that promote critical race theory, transgender… at the expense of our children’s lives.” He also spoke about “transgender insanity.”
Bandit responded that she no longer felt safe in her hometown of Austin wearing a women’s costume and that this rhetoric from Trump and other politicians was “scary.” Greene posted the video on X, formerly Twitter, and commented on it with her disdain.
“No, what is frightening are men posing as women and reading books to our children about the lie of the gender cult, dancing provocatively nearly naked in public and occupying our bathrooms, sports fields and private spaces,” she said. “Women and children must be protected from them.”
Bandit countered and told the representative from Georgia that she was actually born a woman.
“You are just proving that gender is a social construct and have no idea what you are talking about and why you should have no say in our lives,” she said.
The post has gone viral, garnering over 4 million views. Greene’s X-post is now accompanied by a context note: “The person in the clip, Brigitte, is a woman and was born a woman. Calling her a man is factually incorrect,” accompanied by a Texas monthly Article in which Bandit was featured in detail.
Read more: How Marjorie Taylor Greene became the punchline of the Biden campaign
“I saw this tweet she posted as I was about to fly out of DC, and I knew I had to address it because I had just spoken to CNN about how lawmakers are using misinformation to push anti-LGBTQ ideas,” Bandit tells TIME. “Whenever I get the chance, I try to make people aware of it.”
Bandit didn’t expect the tweet to have such a big impact, but when she landed back in Austin, she was bombarded with a flood of comments. Some thanking Bandit for her tweet, others poking fun at Greene and recalling her recent headlines in Congress.
Bandit has been a drag activist for several years. In August 2023, she testified before U.S. District Judge David Hittner against Texas Senate Bill 12, which attempted to restrict drag performances. Hittner ultimately concluded that Senate Bill 12 “impermissibly violates the First Amendment and abridges free speech.”
Bandit says Greene’s comment simply shows the ignorance of lawmakers who want to limit drag.
“I think this shows how Republicans use queer people as scapegoats,” she said. “If Marjorie Taylor Greene really cared about women’s issues, she would stop talking about drag queens and start talking about the real issues,” she said.
Greene did not respond to TIME’s request for comment on the incident.
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