Republicans have been accusing Democrats of secretly demanding concessions on LGBTQ+ issues to end the shutdown for the past month, despite LGBTQ+ issues not appearing at all in the continuing resolutions that would reopen the government. Now House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is getting called out by the myth-busting website Snopes for saying that Democrats are supposedly demanding funding for LGBTQ+ Balkans.The shutdown happened because Congress was unable to pass legislation to fund the federal government. Both Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans put forward continuing resolutions to fund the government, but neither passed because not enough senators from the opposing party voted for either, so the 60-vote threshold wasnt met. Related Mark Takano blasts Republicans for cruelly blaming shutdown on trans people The main difference between the Republican and Democratic resolutions is whether certain health care subsidies would run out at the end of this year: the Democrats resolution kept the health care credits alive, while the Republican resolution let them expire. The Democratic continuing resolution also contains some provisions that would make it more difficult for the president to simply ignore Congress power of the purse, since, as Democrats pointed out, theres no use in negotiating an end to the shutdown if the White House isnt going to respect Congress agreement.Democrats have been focusing the story on the health care credits, arguing that Republicans let the government shut down in order to make health care costs go up for millions of Americans and to partially fund tax breaks for the wealthy. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Republicans are trying to shift the framing and blame LGBTQ+ people in particular. The president and other Republicans, for example, have said that the shutdown is happening because Democrats want free health care for undocumented immigrants and transgender for everybody, which isnt true.At a press conference last Tuesday, Johnson tried again to make the shutdown about LGBTQ+ people, saying that Democrats are demanding money to foreign countries, including $4 million for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the Balkans. They want $2 million for feminist democratic principles projects in Africa. Were not doing that. BREAKING: In an infuriating development, Speaker Johnson exposes that to reopen the federal government, Chuck Schumer DEMANDED "$4 million for global LGBTQI+ awareness campaigns around the world""$4 million for LGBTQI+ democracy grants in the Balkans. They want $2 pic.twitter.com/9Vld9iyXxz Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 28, 2025 That statement was shared online by Republicans, who also appear to have made up the claim that it was Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who demanded the Balkan money, even though Johnson didnt say that.We found no evidence to support the idea that Schumer or any Congressional Democrat specifically demanded $4 million dedicated to LGBTQ+ awareness campaigns in order to reopen the government, Snopes wrote about the claim. Snopes believes that the number might come from the administrations attempts to cut a grant to Outright International for $3.9 million to promote democracy among LGBTQ+ people in the Western Balkans, one of many grants that the administration unilaterally rescinded without Congressional approval, perhaps illegally. Johnson even though he didnt explain this in his comments may have looked through all the different grants that the administration cut funding to this year, and since Democrats want to make it harder for the administration to cut funding to congressionally-approved programs, he picked out an LGBTQ+ grant and flogged it to draw attention away from the health care credits.Johnsons wording made it seem like the grant would be new spending, which it is not. The Balkan grant was approved in 2022 and lasts until 2027. LGBTQ Nation asked out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) the chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus about whether there is any reason to believe that the shutdown is because of LGBTQ+ spending or laws. Absolutely none, he said. Absolutely zero, none.Our funding bill does not include any changes to current laws as they relate to medical care for transgender people, Takano added. Our Democratic alternative bill does not do that.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.