Ryan Murphy Announces Fund to Eject Anti-LGBTQ Politicians From Office in 2020

Ryan Murphy is coming for you, Ted Cruz.

The super-producer behind Glee and American Horror Story announced on Sunday that he is launching an initiative to eject anti-LGBTQ politicians from office. During a speech at the TrevorLIVE gala in Los Angeles, he claimed the fund will target 2020 candidates “who think they can get votes by hurting and discriminating against us.”

“I’m going to create and fund, with corporate sponsorship, a multimillion-dollar organization that targets anti-LGBTQ candidates running for office,” Murphy said while accepting TrevorLIVE’s Hero Award, as CNN originally reported.

“I want these hateful and wrong politicians to go and to stop polluting our moral and ethical ether,” he added.

The 53-year-old media mogul claimed the initiative will focus on 20 key Congressional districts across the country. Murphy hinted at some of the races he already has his eye on, calling out Iowa’s Steve King, Maine’s Susan Collins, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, and Utah’s Mike Lee by name.

“Let’s show Rep. King that the queens are not having it,” he said.

In addition to funding the opponents of candidates with anti-equality records, Murphy’s organization will also focus on voter registration in order to empower LGBTQ people and their allies to make a difference on election day.

He claimed 2018 showed it’s possible to tip the scales.

“Based on this fall, I think it’s now possible to create a movement to protect and nourish our own,” Murphy said, adding: “One after one, anti-LGBTQ candidates who made hate speech and ideology part of their legacy fell, disgraced and eliminated by Democratic candidates.”

Murphy also noted that the success of these politicians was “largely boosted… by young and female voters.”

The historic gains made in the midterms were also fueled by a “Rainbow Wave” of LGBTQ politicians running for office. More than 150 queer and trans candidates won their races in the November elections, a record number.

Murphy hopes to keep that momentum going two years from now.

“We are going to send a message which says you cannot make discrimination against us a political virtue anymore,” he said. “You can’t keep killing our vulnerable young people by promoting and nationalizing your rural, close-minded anti-constitutional viewpoints.”

The fund will be called “Pose Gives Back,” a reference to his FX program about ball culture in New York City during the 1980s. The acclaimed show features the largest trans cast in TV history.

You can watch Murphy’s entire speech here.

Image via Getty

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