A Democratic congressional candidate is under fire from Republicans for hosting a fundraiser at a San Diego LGBTQ nightclub with sexually themed menu items.
Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego city councilmember, scheduled the Thursday event at Gossip Grill, which bills itself as “San Diego’s only inclusive Queer Women’s and LGBTQ+ restaurant and nightclub.” Tickets start at $100, or $50 for young adults, with the gathering aimed at helping flip California’s 48th Congressional District blue.
The National Republican Congressional Committee blasted von Wilpert for her venue selection, questioning its appropriateness for a congressional campaign.
“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.
Gossip Grill’s menus feature drink items named “Camel Toe Mojito” and “P–sy Punch,” and categorize some food sections as “foreplay” or “happy ending.” The restaurant also hosted a “F—r Me Friday” DJ night in June, according to its events calendar.
Listed to attend the fundraiser are numerous LGBTQ organizations, including Equality California, the Human Rights Campaign and local activists. The event represents a key moment for von Wilpert’s campaign as she seeks to consolidate support from the district’s progressive base.
The openly bisexual candidate has made LGBTQ+ rights a central pillar of her campaign, pledging to fight bans on gender-affirming care, conversion therapy and book restrictions she says target queer voices.
In 2023, von Wilpert 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.
The controversy arrives as von Wilpert has gained national Democratic backing for the competitive open-seat race. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added her to its “Red to Blue” program, signaling significant investment in her campaign against Republican Jim Desmond.
The district, redrawn after Proposition 50, is considered one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities nationwide. Vice President Kamala Harris carried the area by 3 points in 2024.
Von Wilpert’s campaign platform emphasizes affordability, public safety and reproductive freedom alongside LGBTQ+ rights. She previously served in the Peace Corps during the AIDS epidemic in Botswana and founded a legal clinic to combat discrimination in the Deep South before returning to San Diego.
The California Post reached out to the Wilpert campaign for comment on the venue controversy.
Gossip Grill, established in 2009, describes itself as “a vibrant, fun place to be free and celebrate who you are.” The venue hosts regular drag shows, karaoke nights and themed events, and states that “most of what’s spent at Gossip flows right back into community service.”
The fundraiser is scheduled for Thursday evening at the Hillcrest location on University Avenue.
In the viral moment that sparked the NRCC attack, the Republican committee seized on Gossip Grill’s adult-themed branding and menu language to paint von Wilpert as out of step with mainstream voters. The “F—r Me Friday” event series and drink names like “P–sy Punch” became focal points in Martinez’s statement linking the venue to what he termed a “perverted agenda.”
Von Wilpert faces Desmond in the November general election for the coastal Southern California seat.