A $1 million earmark that would fund the renovation of an LGBTQ community center in Pennsylvania was stripped from the six-bill spending package under consideration this week after backlash from Republicans threatened to sink the legislation.
The earmark that would support Philadelphia’s William Way LGBT Community Center was initially included in the fiscal 2024 spending package, but has been removed from the latest list of “congressionally directed spending” projects. Republicans pushed for the funding’s removal after a conservative activist found a fetish group hosts a monthly party at the community center.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., one of the earmark’s sponsors, initially disavowed a March 5 letter sent in his name to Senate appropriators pulling support for the project’s inclusion in the package. On Wednesday, Fetterman said staff sent it without his knowledge.
