Democrat faces backlash over 'perverted' San Diego fundraiser

A Democratic congressional candidate with a “perverted agenda” is under fire for her choice to host a fundraiser at a venue with “Foreplay” and “Happy Endings” on its menu.

San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is holding a fundraiser Thursday at Gossip Grill, which bills itself as “San Diego’s only inclusive Queer Women’s and LGBTQ+ restaurant and nightclub.”

Tickets for the fundraiser start at $100, or $50 for young adults, with the event billed as a gathering of local LGBTQ+ groups seeking to help flip California’s 48th Congressional District blue.

Gossip Grill is an adult-themed establishment. The restaurant hosted a “Finger Me Friday” DJ night back in June, and its menus are sexually suggestive — offering drink items named “Camel Toe Mojito” and “P—y Punch.” It also categorizes some of its food categories as “Foreplay” or “Happy Endings.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee blasted von Wilpert for her venue selection, questioning its appropriateness.

“Out of touch Marni von Wilpert found the perfect headquarters for her radical campaign,” Christian Martinez, NRCC spokesperson, said in a statement.

“Her perverted agenda pushes hormone treatments on kids, shuts parents out, and puts sexual content in front of young children. That dangerous agenda belongs in a nightclub, not Congress,” he added.

Listed to attend the fundraiser are numerous LGBTQ organizations including Equality California and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as local activists in the space.

The California Post reached out to the von Wilpert campaign for comment.

The openly bisexual candidate has made LGBTQ+ rights a key campaign issue, pledging to fight bans on gender-affirming care, conversion therapy and book restrictions she says target queer voices.

In 2023, von Wilpert also helped replace LGBTQ+ books checked out en masse from a Pride display at a Rancho Peñasquitos library and pushed for broader LGBTQ+ representation in local libraries.

“Denying others the right to read LGBTQ-affirming books is just another way of telling LGBTQ people they don’t belong — and that’s dead wrong,” she told the San Diego Tribune at the time.