Lawmakers have stripped a $1 million earmark for a LGBTQ+ community center in Philadelphia from the funding package Congress is expected to clear this week.
Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) office, in a letter to appropriators, requested the funding be cut from the bill. But he said Wednesday that his staff had made the decision to pull the funding without his input, and implied that a conservative social media account, which accused the center of hosting sex parties, had played a part in the decision.
“I wasn’t part of that decision. It wasn’t my personal decision to do that,” he said in an interview. “I never realized that the Libs of TikTok should determine our priorities and what we’re going to support,” referencing a notorious conservative account.
Libs of TikTok posted March 5 that the funding would help a center that promoted a forthcoming event for those interested in “BDSM, kink and fetish” and singled out Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Fetterman for supporting the funds.
Fetterman later added in a statement that his staff felt the choice was either to “pull it or watch it get stripped out, attacked by Republicans, and ultimately killed.” He added that he would continue to push for the funds in next year’s funding measures.
The last-minute nixing is the latest in a blistering eight-month feud over steering federal cash to programs that serve LGBTQ+ people. It started last summer when Democrats accused House Republicans of behaving like “terrorists” as they worked to strip millions of dollars lawmakers had already secured for projects in their districts.
Casey said in a brief interview Wednesday that “new information” obtained Tuesday caused him to yank his support.
“We made a decision upon receiving new information yesterday — and only yesterday — to not support the appropriation,” he told POLITICO, without elaborating on that new information. “We have new information that caused me to decide to pull support for the earmark.”
The funding for the William Way LGBTQ Community Center was included in the final earmark list top lawmakers released Sunday in rolling out the six-bill spending package the House is set to pass Wednesday afternoon. But that $1 million to renovate and expand the center is missing from the official list submitted for the Congressional Record.
The office of Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), a leading proponent of the funding, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Republicans were also successful in blocking other LGBTQ+ earmarks from the final funding bills, including a $970,000 project Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) initially got approved last summer for an LGBTQ+ housing program in her southeastern Pennsylvania district. GOP lawmakers also stripped out $850,000 for affordable housing units for LGBTQ+ seniors in Boston that Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) initially got approved.
Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.
