The category is… money in politics!
“Pose” and “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy is channeling his dedication to LGBTQ folks on TV into the political realm, where he is launching a multimillion dollar political organization that he says will “target” homophobic and transphobic politicians running for office in 2020.
In an announcement at the TrevorLive Gala on Sunday in Los Angeles, the 53-year-old screenwriter, director, and producer said he will fund the organization, called “Pose Gives Back,” with corporate sponsorships. It will provide financial backing to those who run against the candidates the group targets.
“Senate and congressional candidates who think they can get votes hurting and discriminating against us — well, we can get votes too,” Murphy said.
Murphy was motivated to move forward with his plan when a number of anti-LGBTQ candidates lost during November’s midterm election.
“Dana Rohrabacher. Mia Love. Jason Lewis. Pete Sessions. Bigots, all of them,” he said. “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.”
Among those Murphy wants to target include Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, he said, noting that he wants “hateful and wrong politicians to go and to stop polluting our moral and ethical ether.”
Of those three, Collins previously had a friendly relationship with the LGBTQ community, but it soured in the wake of her recent critical support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“Pose,” the FX series that has been celebrated for boasting a large cast of transgender characters, highlights ball culture in New York in 1987 and ’88, depicting the lives of LGBTQ people living together in houses after their respective families disowned them.
Notably, gay and transgender people of color play particularly significant roles on the show, which includes a relationship between two black characters — Ricky (Dyllón Burnside) and Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) — at a time when, according to GLAAD’s annual report on LGBTQ inclusion, only 10 percent of LGBTQ characters on cable primetime scripted series are black.
In addition to his work on shows such as “American Horror Story” and “Nip/ Tuck,” Murphy also directed a film adaptation of Larry Kramer’s Broadway play “The Normal Heart,” which focused on the struggles activists faced when confronting the government during the earliest years of the HIV/ AIDS crisis in New York.
