U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Illinois)ranking member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee, and a staunch LGBTQ+ allyand fellow Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) responded to what they said were Republican attacks on LGBTQI+ community funding projects that Boyle, Houlahan and Pressley submitted.
Following Republican passage of an amendment to remove these projects, Quigley introduced his own amendment to return them to the bill.
"Among the 2,680 Community Funding Projects before THUD, Republicans have chosen to target the only three Democratic projects that explicitly reference the LGBTQI+ community, despite being fully eligible and publicly vetted months ago," Quigley said, per a press release. "At the same time, they preserved nearly identical projects sponsored by vulnerable Republican members of the committee. Hypocrisy aside, while the Republicans were quick to argue this amendment wasn't based on prejudice, the fact of the matter is that they only targeted 0.111% of projects.
"These projects were explicitly LGBTQI+ relatedthe motivation speaks for itself. These are good, important projects that will have a positive impact on their communities. They help meet critical needs for LGBTQI+ people. I will not stand by and be silent as Republicans wage their extremist homophobic culture war."
Among the projects that were reportedly targeted were Philadelphia's William Way Community Center and The Pryde, a senior-citizen housing project in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.
Andrew Davis