Introducing Your New Big-Name Lesbian Super PAC

A new, first of its kind super PAC backed by big names like Jane Lynch and Billie Jean King will provide financial backing to pro-lesbian candidates of all shapes and sizes: Democrat or Republican, male or female, gay or straight, federal or state. The only bottom line is that all candidates they support must champion issues that impact lesbians and their families, defined on their website as:

-Ending discriminatory treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and their families;
-Protecting access to reproductive freedom and quality healthcare; and,
-Furthering social, racial, and economic justice for all Americans.

LPAC says it’s the the first super PAC to specifically focus on lesbians, who sometimes get lost within women’s and LBGT groups, although they’ll be working with both to be as effective as they can be. “Frankly, we created LPAC because we were shocked by this past year,” LPAC Chair and Treasurer Sarah Schmidt said in a statement. “Lesbians could no longer stand by and witness continued attacks on reproductive freedoms, marriage equality, and be immersed in a political sphere where women are not given a meaningful voice in politics.”

Schmidt told the Huffington Post that they’re not yet positive who they’ll endorse, but that Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only lesbian in the House who would be the first openly gay person in the Senate if elected, is an obvious choice. Will there possibly be any Republicans on the shortlist? Not likely. “Part of the reason why we’re mobilizing right now is because of what’s been going on in the political conversation and what we’ve been hearing coming from the Republican Party around these issues that’s been so disheartening,” Schmidt said. “We would really hope that we can find some Republican candidates to support. I’m not sure that’s going to happen this cycle.”

LPAC, Lesbian Super PAC, Launches With Backing Of Billie Jean King And Jane Lynch [Huffington Post]