Scott Wiener’s U.S. House Campaign Secures Unified Backing from Five Major LGBTQ+ Organizations

California State Senator Scott Wiener, a gay lawmaker representing San Francisco in the State Senate, has received a joint endorsement from five major LGBTQ+ organizations in his campaign for the U.S. House seat long held by retiring former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Human Rights Campaign PAC, Equality California, Equality PAC, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, and the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus announced their support in a coordinated statement on Wiener’s run for California’s 11th Congressional District.

According to reporting by The Advocate , the joint announcement underscores an effort by LGBTQ+ political and civil rights groups to consolidate support behind a candidate they describe as an experienced and reliable defender of equality. The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s news release also frames Wiener’s candidacy as critical to maintaining and expanding pro-equality representation in Congress.

The Human Rights Campaign PAC is the political arm of the Human Rights Campaign, which describes itself as the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the United States. Its endorsement in federal races is often seen as a signal to pro-equality voters and donors nationwide. In the joint endorsement, Human Rights Campaign PAC leadership characterized Wiener as a committed advocate who would continue to champion LGBTQ+ equality and broader civil rights in Congress.

Equality California, which calls itself the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, also cited Wiener’s legislative record on LGBTQ+ rights, HIV policy, and protections for transgender people in explaining its support. In its statement, Equality California emphasized that Wiener has been a “steadfast champion” for LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and people living with HIV in California’s Legislature.

Equality PAC, the political action committee affiliated with the Congressional Equality Caucus, focuses on electing pro-equality candidates to Congress. In the coordinated rollout, Equality PAC aligned itself with the other endorsing groups in backing Wiener as the candidate they believe will most effectively advance LGBTQ+ protections and broader civil rights in the U.S. House.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which describes itself as the only national organization dedicated solely to electing LGBTQ+ people to all levels of government, framed Wiener’s candidacy as part of its broader strategy to build a more representative democracy. In its news item on the endorsement, the organization highlighted that sending additional openly LGBTQ+ lawmakers to Congress can influence debates on federal nondiscrimination protections, health care access, and responses to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in various states.

The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, a group of openly LGBTQ+ legislators in the state, added institutional state-level backing, citing Wiener’s collaboration with caucus members on equality-focused legislative packages over multiple sessions. Their endorsement connects local legislative work on LGBTQ+ issues with the federal priorities Wiener says he would pursue if elected.

Wiener is seeking to represent California’s 11th Congressional District, which includes much of San Francisco and is currently represented by Nancy Pelosi, who has announced she will not run for reelection. Pelosi has been widely recognized by LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, for supporting measures such as the Equality Act and HIV/AIDS funding over her career.

Because the district is strongly Democratic, political observers note that the primary is likely to determine who ultimately holds the seat. This raises the national significance of Wiener’s endorsements: if elected, he would arrive in Congress with explicit backing from leading LGBTQ+ organizations and a long record on state-level LGBTQ+ and public health legislation.

The coordinated endorsements reflect an ongoing priority among LGBTQ+ advocates to increase both descriptive representation and substantive representation . Advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and Equality California have argued that openly LGBTQ+ lawmakers can bring lived experience to debates on issues like nondiscrimination protections, housing stability, reproductive rights, and access to gender-affirming health care for transgender people.

In their materials on the endorsement, both Equality California and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund link Wiener’s candidacy to broader national battles over LGBTQ+ rights, including efforts to resist state-level restrictions on transgender people and rollbacks of civil rights protections. These organizations present his run as one component of a strategy to build a pro-equality firewall in Congress at a time when federal protections, such as comprehensive nondiscrimination law, remain incomplete.

While voters in California’s 11th District will ultimately decide who succeeds Pelosi, the joint endorsement from five influential LGBTQ+ organizations signals that major national and state advocates see Wiener as a key figure in the next phase of federal LGBTQ+ policymaking.