Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators have withdrawn a request for a million-dollar federal appropriation that would have funded renovations at the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia after a tweet from a conservative blogger sparked a firestorm.
The LGBT community center at 1315 Spruce St. in the city's Gayborhood, historically known for its gay bars and population, serves seniors, queer people and transgender people with arts, health, 12-step recovery, education programs and meals. It had sought federal funding to help with renovation plans that included a new café and kitchen for events.
But William Way also rents out space, including to a kink group, whose events at the center drew the attention of a former New York-based real estate agent’s popular social media account.
BREAKING: The Senate Appropriations Committee released a spending bill which is being voted on tomorrow.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 5, 2024
It includes $1M of your tax dollars to go towards renovating an LGBTQ Center in PA which boasts rooms to try BDSM and s*x f*tishes and hosts BDSM and s*x k*nk parties.… pic.twitter.com/PKkj6TEd2q
Although the proposed federal funding wouldn't have gone to the group that runs those events, Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman asked Wednesday that the appropriation be cut out of the Senate's 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
In a statement, a Casey spokeswoman said that “consenting adults have the right to do whatever they want in their free time, but these types of appropriations projects warrant the highest level of scrutiny on behalf of taxpayers.”
Fetterman, who employs several congressional staff who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community and who was previously praised by the Human Rights Campaign when running for Senate about two years ago, also asked that the appropriation be stripped but appeared to distance himself from the decision.
“The William Way LGBT Community Center has been doing critical work in Philadelphia for decades,” Fetterman said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, at the 11th hour, my staff was made aware that funding for William Way, which was in the bill because I championed it, would not pass in the FY24 appropriations process. The choice was either to pull it or watch it get stripped out, attacked by Republicans, and ultimately killed. This is not the end of this fight and I am going to fight for William Way to secure their funding in the FY25 appropriations process.”
The funding request for the Philly community center got heavy social media attention after the Libs of TikTok post, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Center Director Chris Bartlett told the Inquirer he was disappointed that “lies and distortions” had prompted the senators to withdraw support for the renovations, adding the community center wouldn't bow to pressure and stop renting to groups at what has been a haven for the LGBT community.
William Way’s campaign for the renovation, Build the Way, lists private donors as well. One of them, prominent Philadelphia real estate developer and LGBTQIA+ rights supporter Mel Heifetz, paid off the center’s mortgage in 2005.
