Melissa Etheridge And Billy Porter Will Headline An LGBTQ+ Fundraiser For Joe Biden

“A Fabulous Evening With Joe Biden” will take place virtually later this month.

Joe Biden will hold an LGBTQ+ fundraiser on April 23. The virtual event aims to raise money for the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles, NBC News reports. It will feature appearances by Melissa Etheridge, Billy Porter, Billie Jean King, and Kristin Chenoweth. John Gile and Jeff Valenson will co-host.

Tickets to the event start at $1000 for regular “guests,” while sponsors must donate $2800 and “champions” donate $5600. Supporters who are listed as co-hosts must pledge to raise $20,000 for the campaign.

All confirmed guests will be sent instructions for accessing the fundraiser online, according to the invitation, which refers to the event as “A Fabulous Evening With Vice President Joe Biden.”

“In light of the situation with COVID-19, please join Vice President Joe Biden for this virtual event,” the invite says.

According to Gile, the event will be modeled on Rosie O’Donnell’s recent livestream fundraiser for The Actors Fund, where celebrities performed and gave interviews.

“We’re feeling very optimistic about November,” Gile said, per NBC.

Biden is now the de-facto Democratic nominee, as Sen. Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign on Wednesday. Sanders will remain on the ballot, but will no longer be actively campaigning.

Prior to Sanders dropping out, he was a far more popular candidate with Hollywood and LGBTQ+ voters. Celebrities who did back Biden over Sanders include Cher, Barbra Streisand, and Tom Hanks.

The former vice president, who was recently accused of sexual assault by a former staffer, hasn’t held an in-person fundraiser since early March. As the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation, he pivoted to virtual fundraisers via Zoom on March 20. In addition to the LGBTQ+ fundraiser, Biden reportedly plans to host a “virtual fireside chat” fundraiser with donors next week and two other online fundraisers in April.

Meanwhile, the nation continues to grapple with the question of how to approach the presidential primaries and election amidst COVID-19.


What Do You Think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *