House GOP voted to slash federal funding for LGBTQ organizations, including Philly’s William Way Community Center

A group of U.S. House Republicans voted Tuesday to deny federal funding to three LGBTQ organizations, including two in the Philadelphia region; a move that Democrats are blasting as openly discriminatory.

The House Appropriations Committee voted along party lines 32-26 to deny Community Project funding applications from Reps. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia ) and Chrissy Houlahan (D., Berks).

Boyle’s application — known colloquially as an earmark project — would have given $1.8 million to Philadelphia’s William Way Community Center for facility expansion and to providing meals, job training, and other services to low income seniors, many of whom identify as LGBTQ.

Houlahan’s application was for $970,000 for the LGBT Center of Greater Reading to expand transitional housing to individuals, including members of the LGBTQ population. Both of the organizations had received similar funding in the past.

“Out of literally thousands of projects, the only three they went after were the three with LGBT or LGBTQ in the organization’s name,” Boyle said in an interview. “This is as clear-cut a case of ugly bigotry as I’ve ever seen. It’s just outrageous.”

Houlahan said in an interview that the decision was “cruel and “blatantly discriminatory.”

Boyle said as a member of Congress he can designate up to 15 “worthy recipients” for federal funding. He said William Way was the only project he submitted with a mission to serve the LGBTQ community.

The William Way LGBT Community Center has historic roots in Philadelphia. The center was incorporated in 1974 and is now on Spruce Street in Center City. It describes its mission as seeking “to engage and support the diverse LGBTQIA+ communities in the greater Philadelphia area through arts & culture, empowerment, and community connections.”

Of 3,800 projects submitted by members of Congress, Boyle said only three, all of which had “LGBTQ” in the organizations’ names, were stripped of funding. The third proposal, submitted by Rep. Ayanna Presley, would have designated $850,000 to an LGBT housing group to convert a former Boston Public School building into 74 units of affordable housing for seniors.

The committee voted along party lines to pass an amendment that advanced a range of Republican provisions, including one that would ban flying gay pride flags over government buildings. The two Pennsylvania representatives on the committee, Democrat Matt Cartwright (D., Lackawana) and Guy Reschenthaler (R., Washington) voted along party lines.

The committee vote came after a day of heated debate, with Democrats accusing Republicans of open bigotry and Republicans calling the projects “woke priorities.”

Republicans made various arguments for denying the funding. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana spoke out against the Reading organization and mispronounced the city’s name, noting that the group provides counseling services for people undergoing hormone treatment and gender affirming surgery.

Houlahan’s application shows that the money would go toward transitional housing.

Zinke also read from a schedule of events provided by the William Way LGBT community center, which included a banned book giveaway, a rally against the group Moms for Liberty, and an appearance by “Mr. Philly drag king himself.”

“An appropriation also should be appropriate,” Zinke said in committee. “It has nothing to do with discrimination over a class of citizens, or people, or race. It has to do with an ideology.”

Boyle, who toured William Way earlier this year, said the organization provides critical services to seniors and “sincerely should not be part of the far right’s culture war.”

Houlahan described the GOP arguments against funding as “not only wrong, I think it’s pretty hateful.”

“This funding was for shelter for LGBTQ people in our community,” she said. “What was striking to me is the people arguing against it, they know so little about our community. They didn’t even pronounce Reading correctly.”

After the amendment passed, Democrats pushed for a second vote, on whether to reinstate the three projects, though it is unlikely to pass, given that Republicans control the committee.

Houlahan, whose daughter is gay, said she would ask Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman to try to fund the projects through the Senate, which doesn’t have the same restrictions on community projects.

She gave a full-throated condemnation of her GOP colleagues in a statement after the vote.

“This doesn’t just affect Reading. ... It also sends a message to LGBTQ+ Americans across the country that their interests and needs are worthless and not deserving of the federal government’s support.”

Republicans signaled that some projects could be on the chopping block. Earlier this year, House Republicans changed eligibility rules for earmarks in an effort to eliminate what they called “woke projects.”

Democrats argued that the projects met the requirements set by the Appropriations Committee and noted that, traditionally, each party picks which earmarks it wants to fund within the budget.

In an emailed statement, Chris Bartlett, William Way LGBT Community Center executive director, said: “The William Way LGBT Community Center’s renovation and expansion project will provide more access to services for our seniors, provide jobs for the neighborhood, and be an incubator for emerging small businesses. We’re grateful to Representative Boyle and our many supporters for recognizing its importance and hope the rest of Congress will see the value of economic improvement projects like these and ensure their funding.”

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Tuesday evening, the Reading center said: “We are outraged to learn of this blatant act of discrimination targeting not only our organization, but the entire community. It poses significant challenges to our community’s values of equity and fairness while perpetuating division and inequality.”

Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.