She’s our Hero of the Day.

Badass California congresswoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren expertly shot down a transphobic witness during yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on regulatory overreach. A woman named Gail Heriot, of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, argued that trans people shouldn’t be accepted as the gender they identify with, saying

“If I believe that I am a Russian princess, that doesn’t make me a Russian princess, even if my friends and acquaintances are willing to indulge my fantasy.”

Yuck. Lofgren, thankfully, was not having it.

“I’ve got to say, I found this rather offensive, and it says to me that the witness really doesn’t know anything and probably has never met a transgender child who is going through, in almost every case, a very difficult experience finding themselves,” Lofgren said. “I think it’s very regrettable that comment was put into the record, and I think it’s highly offensive.”

When Heriot tried to respond, Lofgren shut her down.

“I think you’re a bigot, lady, I think you are an ignorant bigot,” Lofgren said.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told Lofgren she was “out of order,” but the congresswoman refused to back down.

“We allow witnesses to say offensive things, but I cannot allow that kind of bigotry to go into the record unchallenged,” Lofgren said.

BTW, how scary is it that this Gail Heriot woman works for the United States Commission on Civil Rights?

(via HuffPo)