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The congresswoman from Massachusetts criticized the exclusion of funding that was meant to go toward an LGBTQ+ affordable housing project, slamming the decision as a blow to LGBTQ+ senior housing rights.
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley took a firm stand on the House floor last Monday against a Republican-led housing appropriations bill that omitted critical support for The Pryde, an LGBTQ+ affordable housing initiative. The project, which aims to assist LGBTQ+ seniors in the Boston area, had $825,000 in federal funding removed by the GOP majority on the House Appropriations Committee.
“I oppose this legislation for the draconian cuts and dangerous provisions included in it,” Pressley said, condemning the exclusion as a glaring oversight in a bill that she believes otherwise addresses critical funding priorities. The congresswoman accused her colleagues of hypocrisy, saying, “It would seem with my colleagues across the aisle that the word freedom is selectively applied.”
Related: House Republican ‘Terrorists’ Target LGBTQ+ Community Center Funding in ‘Unprecedented’ Move
Highlighting the hardships faced by LGBTQ+ seniors, the Democrat emphasized, “It does not apply to my bodily autonomy. It is not applied to intellectual freedom for our women, African-Americans, or LGBTQ siblings when it comes to our books, and it does not apply to the freedom to love who you love.”
Ayanna Pressley Blasts GOP, Affirms Support for The Pryde LGBTQ+ Senior Housing Project in Bostonwww.youtube.com
“The Pryde... would meet a critical need in my district at a time when mortgages are skyrocketing, and one-third of LGBTQ seniors are living in poverty,” Pressley stated, shedding light on the economic struggles within her constituency.
Pressley, vice chair of the Task Force on Aging and Housing, argued against the bill’s implications.
“Republicans are choosing homophobia over housing, profits over people, cruelty over compassion,” she said.
Pressley further criticized the Republican action as a display of contempt, connecting the denial of funds to broader societal issues.
“This act of policy violence contributes to the physical violence that far too many LGBTQ folks experience,” she said.
