PA Dem Candidate Allegedly Diverts Opioid Funds to LGBTQ Youth Center

Bob Harvie, a Democratic House candidate and Bucks County commissioner in Pennsylvania, has been criticized for diverting funds from a local opioid recovery settlement to support an LGBTQ youth center called the Rainbow Room. The Bucks County Opioid Settlement Fund, intended for prevention, treatment, and recovery from opioid addiction, approved a $13,500 grant to Planned Parenthood Keystone to transport minors as young as 14 to the Rainbow Room. This center hosts controversial events such as "Drag Queen story time," "Queer Prom," and seminars on "medical transition," including topics on puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and sex-change surgeries for children. Critics highlight that the Rainbow Room also offers sexually explicit programming, including "Sex Ed Night / Masturbation" and provides condoms and lubricants to attendees as young as 13. The use of opioid settlement money for LGBTQ programming unrelated to opioid recovery has sparked community concern and legislative proposals to regulate such events. Despite the backlash, Harvie and local officials have not commented on the grant's reallocation or the center's activities.