New PAC Focuses on 'Beatable Bigots,' Saving LGBTQ+ Progress
Politicians who are used to scoring easy points by smearing LGBTQ+ people and threatening their freedoms will now have to contend with a PAC formed specifically to take them down.
"Several elected LGBTQ officeholders and veteran Democratic operatives have joined forces to form Agenda PAC, a national organization that will work to preserve LGBTQ rights by campaigning against right-wing candidates," according to NBC News.
"Founder Ted Bordelon, a political communications strategist, will serve as executive director. Malcolm Kenyatta, Pennsylvania's first openly gay state representative of color, will serve as chair," NBC News said.
The new PAC is a direct response to the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, a previous Supreme Court decision from 1973 that gave women the right to end unwanted pregnancies. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion to the ruling, suggested that other historic rulings by the Court, such as rulings in favor of marriage equality and the right to consensual same-sex intimacy, should be undone.
Kenyatta told Politico that Thomas' concurrence "put a target squarely on the back of the LGBTQ community."
"Agenda PAC officials... cited a rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation, as well as the absence of any federal independent expenditures dedicated to opposing anti-LGBTQ candidates, as additional reasons they created the group," Politico relayed.
Reports said that the new PAC's first target is Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania's governorship.
Mastriano "has said that LGBTQ couples should not be allowed to adopt children, gay marriage should not be legal, and transgender females should not be permitted to compete in women's sports," Politico recalled.
"We are going after the beatable bigots," Kenyatta told NBC News. "Sometimes those beatable bigots are running against incredible LGBTQ candidates. And sometimes they're running against folks who are allies to our community."
Reports noted a crucial distinction between Agenda PAC and Victory Fund, the latter of which is dedicated to helping openly LGBTQ+ candidates win elected office positions at all levels of government.
The new PAC has already raised a substantial war chest, with plans to "spend 'seven figures' during the midterms," Politico detailed.