Pennsylvania Republican touts LGBTQ+ support while GOP allies use Pride photos to attack his opponent

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s latest appeal to LGBTQ+ voters came with a rainbow-colored endorsement sign and a promise to protect every American’s dignity. On a Republican campaign website targeting his Democratic opponent, Pride photographs appeared among the anti-LGBTQ+ materials available for political attacks.

The juxtaposition is drawing criticism from Bob Harvie, the Bucks County commissioner challenging Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, and raising questions about what the Republican’s advertised support for LGBTQ+ rights means when his political allies use the community as campaign ammunition.

In a Thursday post on X, Fitzpatrick celebrated American Unity Fund’s endorsement, sharing its praise for his support of nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender Americans. The accompanying graphic showed him with supporters holding a rainbow-colored sign.

Related: The Republicans who voted against making gender-affirming care a crime and the Dems who voted for it

“Honored to once again earn the endorsement of the incredible team at American Unity Fund,” Fitzpatrick wrote, adding that he would “always fight to defend and protect the rights, dignity, and freedom of every American.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s Democrat Facts page targeting Harvie presents a different message. Its downloadable photographs include Harvie at Pride-related events, among them a group holding a Pride flag. A video link accuses him of using opioid settlement money for “trans sex parties for kids.”

Harvie called on Fitzpatrick to reject the tactics.

“The truth is he is not ‘independent’ – instead, he is engaging in the same cruel attacks that he and his MAGA allies use to distract from their failure to lower costs,” Harvie said in a statement to The Advocate.

“I am calling on Brian Fitzpatrick to immediately denounce these disgusting tactics and to remove this website that puts our LGBTQ+ community members at risk. Fitzpatrick is not an Ally of LGBTQ+ people, he’s an Ally to Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, and Washington Republicans who fund his campaign,” Harvie added.

Fitzpatrick, the NRCC, and American Unity Fund did not respond to The Advocate’s requests for comment.

The endorsement Fitzpatrick is promoting also warrants scrutiny. American Unity Fund is a conservative advocacy organization whose May endorsement announcement backed four Republican incumbents. Its praise for Fitzpatrick specifically included his support for gay and transgender Americans, but its own agenda draws a sharp distinction between protections for adults and medical care for transgender youth.

The group’s current website identifies “fighting gender ideology” as a priority and opposes medical transition for minors. It also joined the Ethics and Public Policy Center in a Supreme Court brief supporting the challenge to Colorado’s restrictions on conversion therapy for minors in Chiles v. Salazar. AUF described the statute as a “Forced Transition” law.

In 2025, Fitzpatrick broke with Republicans and voted against a bill that would have made providing gender-affirming care for minors a crime.

Fitzpatrick has emphasized his support for the Equality Act, which would extend federal nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. His campaign website cites that backing as evidence of his commitment to equality.

For Liz Bradbury, CEO of Keystone Equality, a statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, those individual positions must also be weighed against the congressional leadership his seat helps sustain.

“Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is a moderate Republican who has crossed the aisle in Washington a number of times to vote in favor of LGBT rights, particularly in favor of sustaining marriage equality,” Bradbury said in a statement to The Advocate.

“The moderate-conservative organizations that tout his support have not advocated for the rights of Transgender Youth and other fundamental LGBT rights.”

Bradbury said her organization welcomed Republicans who opposed the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. But she urged moderate Republicans who value equality to consider becoming Democrats or independents.

“The presence of moderate Republicans in Congress creates a majority that continues to fuel the radical far-right leadership,” she said.