Catholic Senator Solicits Taxpayer Funding for LGBTQ Org Promoting ‘Youth Drag Shows’

CV NEWS FEED // Sen. Bob Casey, D-PA, a self-professed Catholic, requested one million dollars in federal taxpayer funding for a Philadelphia LGBTQ organization that has hosted “youth drag shows” and advanced communist events.

Throughout 2023, Casey has voiced support for additional funding for the Philadelphia-based William Way LGBT Community Center. Earlier this year, the senator requested a $1 million earmark in the FY 2024 appropriations bill for the organization,” FOX News reported Friday morning:

Earlier this month, according to Pennsylvania Gay News – a local outlet covering LGBTQ issues in the city – William Way was allocated $2 million in Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s city FY 2024 operating budget. Those funds, the outlet noted, will “go toward expanding and improving spaces for the center’s 1315 Spruce Street headquarters.”

Casey submitted his request for the earmark in April via a letter addressed to a Senate subcommittee. In it, he describes the “project purpose” as follows:

The William Way Renovation and Expansion Project will renovate and expand the existing LGBT Community Center into an inclusive, fully accessible, and welcoming space for all individuals to gather, learn, and find life-giving support.

Casey’s proposed million-dollar allocation for William Way would be in addition to the millions the center is already receiving from the city. 

William Way has a history of far-left political activism. Via a Facebook post last month, they encouraged people to attend a communist-led protest of Mom For Liberty’s annual Philadelphia summit. In February, the LGBTQ center hosted a “drag” show with the stated aim of demonstrating “the way colonialism affected both land and people.”

William Way also hosted a so-called “youth drag show” that included “performances” by minors as young as eight years old. Philadelphia Gay News discussed the event in an article titled “Youth celebrate the art of drag at William Way”:

Dozens of curling irons, combs, make–up mirrors and brushes emerge on another, along with make–up and glitter in every color, and a Hello Kitty box. A bearded man in studded leather platform boots approaches and begins to apply make–up to the face of a little boy.

This is Esai, and he is 11 years old. According to his mother, Dre, he has been sneaking her heels into his bedroom since he was much younger. Dre is a drag performer herself, having produced another drag show by the name of “Fierce” — the only queer burlesque festival in the world. She also produced the first non–gender binary talent show for kids, “Twinkle.”

…

Esai’s birthmother, who is transgender, is now his father.

Dre said she hopes her son will perform in “Twinkle” next year.

Casey has served as a senator from Pennsylvania since 2007, after defeating two-term Republican incumbent Rick Santorum the November before. Casey is running for re-election to a fourth term next year. 

Early in his tenure, Casey identified himself as pro-life and supportive of the traditional definition of marriage. 

However, like many other members of his party, the senator has drastically shifted to the left on social issues. In addition to his full-fledged support of the LGBTQ movement, Casey last year came out in support of “codifying abortion rights.” He claimed that the landmark Dobbs decision would “put women’s lives at risk.” Casey now has a consistently pro-abortion, pro-same-sex “marriage,” and pro-“trans” voting record.

Casey is the son of late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey Sr., a pro-life icon who was the respondent of the 1991 Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.