Albert Serna Jr., OpenSecrets

Drag queens unite to form political action committee ahead of 2024 election

A new political action committee is stomping the runway, bringing together some of the biggest names in drag to push back against anti-LGBTQ legislation and politicians. Through a flurry of social media posts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and X, the PAC has begun a campaign to raise funds ahead of the November election.

Aptly named Drag PAC, the committee was officially formed in March 2024 Federal Election Commission filings show. As a hybrid PAC, the committee can make limited donations to politicians from one account but raise and spend unlimited money to make independent expenditures from another.

In a YouTube video announcing the launch of the committee, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni Peppermint, Monet Exchange, Alaska, BenDeLaCreme and Willam explain that they connected to form the first and only PAC led by drag queens.

“I think everyone is a little disheartened with a lot of our elected leadership,” said “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 5 and All Stars Season 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon in the video. “And frankly our community is being assaulted and it’s escalating to violence.”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 9 alum Peppermint told OpenSecrets that she was initially approached by rapper and podcaster Dan Stermer, professionally known as Big Dipper, to start the PAC.

Because Big Dipper was familiar with Peppermint’s involvement in social issues and activism including the Black Queer Town Hall, the performer said she wasn’t surprised that she was approached to join.

Peppermint said that it is important to raise money to support candidates whose ideals and motives align with the PAC’s mission. She added that candidates who don’t support LGBTQ issues or who actively work against the interests of queer individuals are sometimes supported by large donors.

“Candidates that we would want to support us, people that we would go out and vote for, are being defeated at the polls by candidates that have so much backing, millions of dollars,” Peppermint said. “What we want to do is support candidates, sort of pick that same model and support candidates who are willing to speak up on behalf of the LGBTQ community.”

July 2024 FEC filings show that the PAC has raised more than $140,000 so far, with long-time Democratic donor Dylan Bulkeley-Krane contributing $60,000 since March. Bulkeley-Krane is one of the committee’s organizers and is also the co-founder of Disability Action of America.

Bulkeley-Krane told OpenSecrets that he donated the initial start-up funds to the PAC so that the committee could get off the ground. “Since then we’ve received hundreds and hundreds of small dollar donations and a few big donations as well,” Bulkeley-Krane said. “Much of our staff, including the Queens, volunteer our time for the PAC, so all of the money we raise go towards our GOTV efforts, filming content, hosting events and building our tech tools.”

Rainbow waves

While committees that have historically supported LGBTQ issues are not new — the LGBTQ Victory Fund has raised more than $1.8 million during the 2024 cycle and contributed just over $129,000 to Democratic candidates — Drag PAC appears to be the only federal political committee openly led by drag performers.

Podcaster and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 4 alum Willam said that part of what makes Drag PAC unique is the commitment to boosting candidates and politicians who are actively supporting queer issues.

“We haven’t endorsed anybody but our focus is on voter outreach and we will be highlighting down ballot candidates who are fighting for our communities in the future,” Willam said, adding that they personally support candidates who are visibly working to support the community, citing examples including Honey Mahogany of San Francisco and Maebe A. Girl of Los Angeles.

Mahogany, another Drag Race alum, ran for supervisor of District 6 in San Francisco but was defeated by Matt Dorsey. The social worker and activist previously served as a member of the San Francisco DCCC and was later elected chair.

Girl was the first ever drag queen elected to public office after winning a seat on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. She would go on to run unsuccessfully against Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for California’s 28th congressional seat in 2019 and again in 2021. After Schiff announced his retirement to run for California’s Senate seat, Girl said she would run to replace him in 2024 but lost the primary.

To get candidates like Mahogany and Girl elected, there needs to be a high level of engagement from younger generations, Peppermint said, adding that educating people about who the candidates are and what they represent is part of the plan.

“It’s important for people to understand what types of people are getting ready to run for office,” Peppermint said. “It’s important to understand what the support of those people looks like and understand how those people move through the world of politics and through the ranks. How people, how we as individuals, can support those people.”

Peppermint said educating younger voters, particularly Gen Z, is a focal point of Drag PAC and noted that younger people tend to be more progressive but don’t always show up to vote.

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts College, 41 million members of Gen Z will be eligible to participate in the 2024 presidential election, eight million of whom will be new voters. It is these voters who Drag PAC is trying to engage through voter registration and social media presence. But to do that, the PAC needs monetary support.

“I want to be able to affect change and make sure the right people get elected,” Willam said. “So I’ll go wherever there’s a party that there’s campaigns and I need to schmooze some people and get them to get their checkbooks and Venmo’s out because drag queens are good at what? Getting money.”

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Corporate sponsors of Pride events contribute to politicians with anti-LGBTQ leanings

This article originally appeared in OpenSecrets. Sign up for their weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Throughout Pride Month, it has become increasingly common for corporations to adorn their websites in rainbow flags, espouse their support for LGBTQ+ rights and try to win over a community that has historically been stereotyped as having a disposable income. But some of those companies still steer big money to groups and politicians who oppose LGBTQ+ rights.

Chief Economist at the Koppa LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab, Lee Badgett, said that the idea that LGBTQ communities have more money to spend is a misrepresentation of the community as a whole.

“There’s long been an incorrect stereotype about LGBTQ people that they are well off, lots of income, no real financial problems,” Badgett said. “We know that gay and bisexual men and bisexual women in particular tend to have lower earnings than their heterosexual counterparts. Same for transgender and cisgender people, transgender people are earning less.”

Lack of clarity on how politicians and corporations are spending can create a false narrative that a specific corporation or political figure solely aligns with LGBTQ rights, when they may also give to anti-LGBTQ groups. OpenSecrets has found that even corporations that publicly condemn anti-LGBTQ legislation regularly steer tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to legislators who advanced those bills.

Melissa Michelson, professor of Political Science at Menlo College, calls this behavior during Pride month a type of “rainbow washing.”

“Politicians engage in rainbow washing for the same reason that corporations do because they want consumers, slash voters, slash potential donors to think well of them. And maybe that means you will donate money to them, or maybe you will consider voting for that,” Michelson told OpenSecrets. “Either way that’s the currency of politics, whether it’s a financial donation or a vote, that’s what every candidate needs.”

Fairweather support

Large donors to Pride events in June have done everything from changing their logos to making posts on social media, but some of their political giving tells a different story.

Delta Air Lines sponsored multiple Pride events in California, New York and Washington D.C.

The airline’s PAC donated more than $300,000 to Republican candidates, including $8,500 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and $5,000 to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) – both of whom have supported anti-LGBTQ legislation according to GLAAD.

Blackburn has been a vocal opponent of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and Scalise who has a long history of introducing and supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.

All Republican Senators who received funds from the PAC received less than 20 from the Human Rights Campaign Congressional scorecard. Many did not reach the double digits.

The airline donated another $45,000 to GOPAC and $10,000 to the dark money group Alliance for American Exceptionalism, both of which work to elect conservatives with records of voting against LGBTQ+ rights at the state and federal level. Mark Green who compared LGBTQ Americans to ISIS, received $5,000 from GOPAC, filings show. GOPAC also gave $5,000 to Michigan State Sen. Tom Barrett whose campaign sent out anti-trans text messages.

Another big sponsor for Pride events across the country is MasterCard, whose PAC also steered more than $100,000 to Republican candidates in 2024, including $10,000 to Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and $4,000 to Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Both politicians have openly opposed bills that would protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals, including a vote in 2022 against the Respect for Marriage Act. Republicans who received funds from Mastercard did not pass 60 on the HRC scorecard while Democrats did not score below 90.

Defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton’s corporate PAC contributed almost equally to Republicans and Democrats in 2024, giving more than $100,000 to Republican Candidates and $87,000 to Democrats. Some recipients from the defense contractor’s PAC include $4,000 each to Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and $5,000 to Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). Calvert has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights but his views shifted to ostensibly support marriage equality after his district was redrawn to include Palm Springs, a city that has the largest LGBTQ population per capita in the U.S. But in 2023, Calvert voted for the Parents Bill of Rights Act, legislation that would force schools to out transgender students.

Gallagher backed two amendments that would remove protections for transgender people experiencing homelessness in 2019. He also voted against the Equality Act in 2021 which would have explicitly protected LGBTQ people through federal civil rights law. “The Booz Allen PAC makes contributions on a bipartisan basis to U.S. federal congressional candidates,” a spokesperson from Booz Allen said in a statement to OpenSecrets. “The PAC continues to evaluate and execute a giving strategy aligned with our diverse global business, our corporate values, and our interests as a large employer.”

Delta and MasterCard did not respond to requests for comment.

While some companies sponsoring Pride events have made contributions to groups and politicians with records of opposing LGBTQ rights, it is noteworthy that the organizations publicly support Pride because that is not something that historically happened, Michelson told OpenSecrets.

“I don't remember 10 years ago that you'd walk into Target and there were rainbows everywhere,” Michelson said. “In the same way that corporations are responding to this new kind of national focus on LGBTQ rights I would imagine that that's paralleled in the political arena.”

That support, however, isn’t without its own issues. Earlier this year the national brand Target announced that it would be limiting its pride section after conservative pushback on pride-themed items and bathing suits for transgender people.

Despite the pullback on pride merchandise, Target has still been a corporate sponsor for a number of pride events around the country. How much they’ve donated in those sponsorships is unclear.

It has become common for various groups like airlines, big banks, and defense contractors to sponsor stages or portions of Pride events, which have historically worked to offset the cost of hosting the events.

“Every June, every corporation, every politician, everybody wants to say, ‘I'm supportive of LGBTQ rights, I'm an ally of the community,’” Michelson said. “Maybe you never hear anything from them about issues facing the community the rest of the year, but suddenly in June, they're very concerned and very supportive.”