Fox News and Republicans are apparently scandalized that out bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who is running for one of California’s U.S House seats, held an August 13 fundraiser at a San Diego, California, lesbian bar called Gossip Grill.
The right-wing media outlet notes that the venue’s events include “Girls, Gays and Theys Sundays,” “Cabaret Drag Brunch Pride Extravaganza,” a Friday event named after genital stimulation, as well as menu headings like “Foreplay” (appetizers) and “Happy Endings” (desserts). Many other gay and lesbian bars use sexual innuendo and provocatively titled events to entice patrons.
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Fox News’ article quoted an unnamed National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson who called the bar “the perfect headquarters for [von Wilpert’s] radical campaign.” The spokesperson added that her platform of LGBTQ+ civil rights is “perverted” and “places an undue emphasis on sexuality.”
The Democratic candidate supports the Equality Act (federal legislation to establish comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity), and opposes bans on gender-affirming care, as well as “efforts to silence LGBTQ+ students in our schools,” her campaign website states.
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Accordingly, the same spokesperson claimed that von Wilpert “pushes hormone treatments on kids,” an inflammatory and untrue way of describing protecting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors (something affirmed by almost all major American medical associations). The spokesperson also said von Wilpert’s agenda “puts sexual content in front of young children,” a similarly untrue and inflammatory dogwhistle in support of anti-LGBTQ+ book bans, which often censor important literary works that sometimes contain depictions of non-heterosexuality.
Fox News asked von Wilpert’s campaign about “whether she thought the themes at [Gossip Grill] were appropriate for a congressional campaign.”
But Dan Rottenstreich, a spokesperson for von Wilpert’s campaign, said, “[von Wilpert’s Republican opponent, San Diego County Supervisor] Jim Desmond is worried about gay bar theme nights – Marni von Wilpert is worried about how to bring the cost of living down for everyday Americans. That pretty much sums up the choice in this race.”
von Wilpert won in the state’s non-partisan primary election last night, earning 20.8% of the vote, alongside Desmond’s 38.9%. She will now face Desmond in the general election this November.
Her GOP opponent, Jim Desmond, has an anti-LGBTQ+ record
In February 2025, Desmond introduced a motion asking the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to formally endorse the federal “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” legislation that would bar transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports. His motion failed.
Around the same time, he posted on Facebook claiming the San Marcos Unified School District was pushing a policy allowing “men in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms” — a reference to a district resolution that would have let students and staff use bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity. The district removed the bathroom and locker room provision in response to outcry following his post.
In 2022, Desmond twice voted against a county ordinance modeled on the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which explicitly extended protections to transgender women, gender-nonconforming people, and transgender men. Desmond also responded, “No Reply,” to an ACLU Action questionnaire asking whether he would publicly support California resources to maintain access to gender-affirming care.
von Wilpert faced anti-LGBTQ+ attacks from her failed Dem opponent too
Last February, California Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar’s campaign faced criticism over a memo suggesting that von Wilpert, as an LGBTQ+ candidate, would fail to win over Latino and veteran swing voters in her newly drawn congressional district.
Ryan Darsey, president of San Diego Democrats for Equality, called Campa-Najjar’s memo “heartbreaking,” “divisive,” and “hateful,” and said that it sends “a signal to a group of people that is offensive and homophobic.”
Out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) also criticized the memo. “When I ran for Congress, I heard the same anti-LGBTQ attacks — and I proved them wrong,” Takano said, according to The Advocate. “Our party wins when we build real coalitions rooted in respect and shared values, not when we echo the kind of divisive rhetoric that voters have grown tired of hearing. Democrats won’t defeat Republicans by sounding like them.”
Campa-Najjar lost the primary election last night after getting only 10.6% of the vote.
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