Rep. Brian Mast questioned a government witness about federally funded projects during a congressional exchange that focused on the concept of “queering the map,” raising concerns about how taxpayer dollars were allocated to certain academic and cultural initiatives.

The discussion unfolded during a hearing in which Mast asked Sarah Rogers to explain what the project involved.

"Can you tell me what is queering the map?" Mast asked.

Rogers responded by describing the goal of the effort in simple terms.

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"So I think we were trying to make the maps more gay."

Mast pressed for clarification about what that meant in practice.

"Literally? How do you make a map more gay? Or gay at all?"

Rogers responded by referencing academic discussions surrounding the term “queer” and said the effort involved maps connected to Central European countries.

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"Since the age of cartography, we've had pretty good maps, but maybe they weren't gay enough. So I know also, I took critical theory in college. I think sometimes people use queer as a verb. I do understand that the maps that we were trying to make gay were, I think, of Czechia and Slovakia, so maybe those countries asked for it. I doubt it, but I don't know."

The exchange centered on federal grant funding that Mast said supported projects focused on cultural or linguistic initiatives abroad. He contrasted those programs with what he described as more pressing issues facing the United States.

"We do have real things to work on in Congress, like what's going on with the imminent threat of Iran, and it is embarrassing that we have to talk about the fact that things like this were funded non binary and trans francophones, linguistic attitudes and ideologies towards inclusive French in Montreal, Canada, these things," Mast said.

Mast continued by saying he intended to request documentation related to several grants and the projects they funded.

"I'm going to give you a list my time is expired. I'm going to give you a list of these, and any of these that you can provide me the receipt for the Facebook link to where they wanted to take photos of how they were doing a DEIA flash mob in Kyrgyzstan. You know, whatever documentation they have of all of these things, we would love to see that, and would absolutely love to know the individuals specifically that were busy writing these grants because they have no business receiving another paycheck from the people of the United States of America."

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The hearing exchange highlighted ongoing scrutiny in Congress regarding how federal grants are distributed and what types of projects receive funding.

Mast’s questions focused on whether programs tied to cultural or academic initiatives abroad should be prioritized when lawmakers are simultaneously addressing national security concerns and other policy issues.

During the exchange, Mast said he would seek records showing how funds were used and which individuals approved the grants, indicating that lawmakers intend to examine the documentation as part of congressional oversight of federal spending.

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