House kills funds
for L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center

With the help of an antigay Republican congressman, the U.S. House this week stripped funds from a bill that would have benefited the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, the largest urban LGBT center in the nation.

The Transportation, Treasury, Housing, and Urban Development Act (H.R. 5576) had earmarked $300,000 for the LAGLC until Rep. Steven King of Iowa amended the bill to kill those monies. The LAGLC provides drug counseling, HIV/AIDS treatment, mental health services, and career programs.

King issued a press release on Wednesday stating, "I do not believe that taxpayers should be forced to subsidize an organization that is so radically opposed to traditional values the overwhelming majority of Americans hold dear."

The revised bill will now head to the Senate.

King, the LAGLC, and Democratic representative Henry Waxman of California, the congressman who represents the district in which the LAGLC is located, did not return calls for comment as of press time. (The Advocate)