What started as a quick errand to buy face wash turned into a viral political moment — and a revealing snapshot of South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s behavior toward LGBTQ+ constituents.

On Saturday, Charleston resident Ely Murray-Quick walked into an Ulta store and spotted Mace in the skin care aisle. He asked a straightforward question: Would she be holding an actual town hall any time soon?

She responded by filming him, shouting “F**k you,” and later posting the video on social media, framing Murray-Quick — a gay small-business owner — as an aggressor. But the video she shared, which has since been viewed nearly 7 million times, shows Murray-Quick standing calmly at a distance, never threatening her.

Mace has since pinned the interaction to the top of her X profile, using it as a rallying point for her base while portraying herself as the perpetual victim of liberal harassment.

Speaking to The Advocate on Monday, Murray-Quick said, “A fire was lit. Being a gay man in South Carolina, I’ve had my fair share of hurtful insults thrown my way. And I’ve given myself a thicker skin because of it. So a simple ‘f**k you’ from Nancy Mace isn’t going to hurt me the way that she thinks it does.”

Murray-Quick said the encounter unfolded during a typical Saturday in Charleston.

“I took the opportunity to ask her the question that a lot of her constituents wanted to know,” he explained. “I asked her when she was hosting a real [town hall]. I’m of the opinion that what she has recently hosted wasn’t real. She fielded several questions over dinner, over the phone, and didn’t give her constituents and the people in South Carolina an opportunity to ask … real questions.”

Rather than engage, Mace began filming. “She decided to tell me to f**k myself,” Murray-Quick said. “And I think it speaks a lot to her character that this is the type of language she decides to use to someone who is in the same space as her who asked her a simple question.”

Mace’s immediate pivot to touting her past votes for marriage equality also struck Murray-Quick as a deflection.

“She believes, ‘Hey, I voted for gay marriage twice. You owe me everything,’” he said. “Which couldn’t be anything further from the truth.”

“There are bigger issues I want to vote on, and I want to see it resolved,” he added. “Insurance, health care, the education system in South Carolina will consistently rank the lowest in the state … and she’s not addressing the reason.”

In December, Mace accused transgender foster care advocate James McIntyre of assaulting her with a handshake at a Capitol Hill event. McIntyre was arrested, but prosecutors dropped the charge after a review of video footage and eyewitness accounts that confirmed there was no aggression — only a handshake.

Just weeks later, Mace and Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert followed a cisgender woman into a Capitol restroom, mistakenly believing she was Rep. Sarah McBride, the first out transgender member of Congress. Boebert later apologized. Mace stayed silent, then used the moment to tweet her opposition to gender-neutral bathrooms.

In the Ulta video, Mace again portrayed herself as under threat.

“I was appropriately six to eight, maybe even 10 feet away at all times,” Murray-Quick said. “There was no physical confrontation. There was no aggression. She wasn’t locked in the aisle. She was free to leave and not answer my question if she had chosen to.”

Murray-Quick said his question represented what many South Carolinians want but rarely get: accountability.

“We don’t want a gated Beaufort Country Club meeting by invite only. We don’t want Turning Point USA ticket attendees. We want a real raw town hall. That’s what people are saying,” he said.

Despite Mace’s attempt to ridicule him online, he said he feels no regret about speaking up.

“I walked out of the store, and yeah, I felt a bit of adrenaline,” he said. “It was one of those situations where a lot of people do want to ask the questions to their elected officials in person and they don’t get the opportunity or pass up on the opportunity. And I said to myself, I’m not passing up on the opportunity.”

On Monday evening, Mace posted another video — this time from the front seat of a car driving to a Turning Point USA event at the University of South Carolina. Speaking to the camera, she leaned further into her viral outburst, saying, “It’s not the first time I’ve ever used language with people before, and it certainly won’t be the last.” She added, “You don’t have the right to harass me. It’s not ever going to be OK. And if you want to get in my face, expect it right back, and I will record you and I’ll make you famous.”

Looking back, Murray-Quick said the encounter helped him learn more about himself and gave him new energy to speak up.

“I think I’ve learned that I’m a lot more confrontational than I knew I was, in a positive way,” he said. “I want to help make a difference in any way I can, and I see a bit more of myself now.”

Asked whether he views the moment as a form of LGBTQ+ visibility, he didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. I’m immensely proud of myself. I took an opportunity to ask a question that I believed a lot of people wanted to be asked. … And she decided to have a meltdown over it.”

He added, “I don’t feel great about the future of South Carolina politics until she’s out of pursuit.”

As of publication, neither Mace nor her spokesperson had responded to The Advocate’s request for comment.