< Equality PAC raises millions to boost LGBTQ representation in Congress

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

As Pride Month celebrations continue, LGBTQ lawmakers are working to expand their ranks here in Washington. The Equality PAC - that's the political arm of the Equality Caucus in Congress - is working to boost representation on Capitol Hill and pass protections for LGBTQ people across the country. NPR congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN")

CYNDI LAUPER: (Singing) Oh, daddy, dear, you know you're still No. 1...

BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Union Station in Washington, D.C., was recently lit up all colors of the rainbow, with sparkling tablecloths and celebrities and political heavyweights dotting the hall. The Equality PAC was celebrating its 10-year anniversary, or, as co-chair Congressman Ritchie Torres put it...

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RITCHIE TORRES: Welcome to our annual convening of the gay mafia.

SPRUNT: There are currently nine openly LGBTQ House members and three senators in Congress. Equality PAC wants to expand their numbers and pass the Equality Act, which would enshrine civil rights protections for the LGBTQ community. This year, the group is backing six House candidates, all Democrats. Ahead of the event, I asked Torres if the PAC would ever endorse a Republican.

TORRES: If you were a Republican who sponsored the Equality Act, then, in theory, you were eligible. But in practice, no such Republican exists. Even if you had a Republican who was pro-LGBTQ - right? - if you're voting for a speaker who's anti-LGBTQ, then that is a factor against you.

SPRUNT: He says the Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 makes people fearful other established rights could be on the chopping block.

TORRES: Despite the success of marriage equality in 2015, I think we have to be careful not to lull ourselves into a false sense of security. A woman born in 2024 has fewer rights than she did in 1973, which is a tragic reminder that progress cannot be taken for granted.

SPRUNT: Torres, who became the first LGBTQ Black Latino member of Congress in 2021, says his own political journey is a success story of the PAC, and he's now paying it forward with a new group of candidates.

TORRES: I think campaigning is part problem-solving and part psychotherapy, right? We will host fundraisers. But also, we provide technical assistance on how to run a campaign. We give our cellphone numbers to every candidate we endorse. We're on speed dial.

SPRUNT: Texas State Representative Julie Johnson says that kind of access helped her narrowly avoid a primary runoff election. The second-place candidate was 31 points behind her.

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JULIE JOHNSON: PACs, by their very definition, are not the enemy of politics. You know, PACs create a vehicle for donors to unite around a common cause, and they have introduced me to donors. They've helped me secure good consultants. They've helped me navigate some of the media issues, the policy issues.

SPRUNT: She's running in a typically blue district. If elected, she'd be the first lesbian representing Texas in Congress and the first openly LGBTQ House member in the entire South. Johnson says it's a huge responsibility to be a history-maker.

JOHNSON: It's not lost on me the significance of what my election represents to a large number of people in Texas and across the country. It's a message that, you know, I am more than a gay person. It's certainly a significant part of me, but it's not all of me. I'm a mother. I'm a lawyer. And the whole of me comes to the process. And it makes it to where I can resonate with voters, and they see themselves in me - whether they're straight or gay or not or whatever - 'cause we have so many other things, too.

SPRUNT: Delaware's Sarah McBride is familiar with the feeling of being a first. She was the first transgender person elected to a state Senate. Now, she's running unopposed and is poised to become the first trans member in Congress.

SARAH MCBRIDE: It's much harder to hate up close. And at a minimum, our presence serves as a reminder for all of our colleagues that, when they're debating these issues, they're talking about real people. At a minimum, it makes the job of antiequality politicians harder and more uncomfortable.

SPRUNT: She says, if elected, she hopes, ultimately, her identity won't be the first thing people think about.

MCBRIDE: They'll think about the policies that I've helped advance. That is the best way to guarantee that while I may be a first, that I'm not the last and that we build a world where it's no longer noteworthy when a trans candidate runs and wins.

SPRUNT: The PAC is well on its way to increasing LGBTQ representation in Congress, but the mission to pass protections requires more than just new House members. It needs significantly more Democrats in the Senate, not to mention the White House.

Barbara Sprunt, NPR News, Washington.

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