Democrats delivered the biggest House win in 45 years in last month’s midterm elections.
And that, according to out TV mogul Ryan Murphy, gave him hope.
Speaking at the Trevor Project’s TrevorLive 2018 Gala in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, Murphy said, “In 2020, I’m going to create and fund, with corporate sponsorship, a multi-million dollar organization that targets anti-LGBTQ candidates running for office.”
Murphy, who has been outspoken on the need for parity for women, LGBTQ people and people of color in television and film, said, “Senate and congressional candidates who think they can get votes hurting and discriminating against us — well, we can get votes, too.”
The initiative will be named “Pose Gives Back.” Murphy said it will provide financial support to candidates running against any politician with anti-LGBTQ platforms and ideologies.
The 53-year-old creator of mega-hit series, “American Horror Story,” “Pose” and “Glee” said, “We are going to send a message which says you cannot make discrimination against us a political virtue anymore. You can’t keep killing our vulnerable young people by promoting and nationalizing your rural, close-minded anti-constitutional viewpoints.”
Again referencing the impact of the midterms in which women and LGBTQ candidates made strong inroads and were elected to state legislatures and the House in record numbers, Murphy said, “One after one, anti-LGBTQ candidates who made hate speech and ideology part of their legacy fell, disgraced and eliminated by Democratic candidates — who were largely boosted by victory by young and female voters, by the way. The number was astounding to me — over 20 anti-LGBTQ right-wing politicians and their horrifying views — gone.”
Murphy and the cast of the critically acclaimed series “Pose” were honorees at The Trevor Project Gala, receiving the Hero Award for broadening LGBTQ representation on television. “Pose” was a breakout hit this year and the first scripted series on television to feature trans actors in trans roles telling trans stories.
Trans activists and writers Janet Mock and Our Lady J were producers on the series, created by Murphy, with his long-time creative partner Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, a young black screenwriter who graduated from UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting program in 2015.
Referencing both his initiative and the work The Trevor Project does to prevent LGBTQ suicide, Murphy named some anti-LGBTQ politicians whose rhetoric and policies had endangered LGBTQ people had been voted out in the midterms: “Dana Rohrabacher. Mia Love. Jason Lewis. Pete Sessions — bigots, all of them,” he said at the gala. “And all replaced by our Democratic allies — new politicians who won’t spread harmful and wrong rhetoric that can lead a young LGBTQ person to actually believing they are not good enough or worthy enough to stay on this earth anymore.”
The Trevor Project raised $1.5 million at the gala toward its services for LGBTQ youth.
The Trevor Project has a 24-hour hotline: 1-866-488-7386 and is also available for chat and text at www.thetrevorproject.org.