Local
A conversation with Police Chief Lanier
Her thoughts on domestic violence, trans victims and putting the GLLU ‘out of business’
‘People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion … So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business,’ D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit. (Washington Blade photo by Strother Gaines)
Editor’s note: Chief Lanier’s exclusive interview with the Blade covered a wide range of topics. Visit washingtonblade.com for the full transcript.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said her decision to invite the Anti-Defamation League, a nationally acclaimed civil rights group, to conduct an independent assessment of how the department investigates and reports hate crimes was prompted, in part, by complaints from LGBT activists.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade, Lanier said she believes the department is doing well in investigating and reaching out to the LGBT community in its fight against hate crimes, especially those targeting gay, lesbian and transgender residents.
But she cited concerns raised by some LGBT activists, including transgender advocate Jason Terry, a member of the D.C. Trans Coalition, who have questioned her and the department’s commitment to adequately addressing the city’s hate crimes problem. Terry has been among the activists who have criticized Lanier’s handling of hate crimes and other transgender-related matters during D.C. City Council hearings called to review police policies on hate crimes.
“I did it because a lot of times we compare ourselves with other law enforcement agencies,” Lanier said. “So we look at all the things we do and we say we think we’re doing really well. And then we go to a hearing and Jason Terry will say you’re a bunch of Keystone Cops,” said Lanier.
“And I go, ‘Wait a minute. I thought everything was going really well.’ And when we compare ourselves to other police agencies we’re light years above a lot of other agencies,” she said. “But you know sometimes just comparing yourself to other law enforcement agencies is not the mark. And so I thought I would have ADL tell me, ‘What is the mark?’”
Lanier took the unusual step of enlisting David Friedman, director of the ADL’s Washington, D.C., regional Office, to form a special task force to assess the department’s response to hate crimes.
Friedman invited the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group; the National Center for Transgender Equality; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, another nationally recognized mainline civil rights organization; and two university professors considered experts on hate violence to join ADL as members of the task force.
Among other things, the task force will look at how law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions address hate crimes, a police statement said. The statement said the task force would begin its work by conducting interviews and meetings with LGBT community members to obtain their views on how D.C. police are doing in addressing local hate crimes that target LGBT people.
“What I’ve asked them to do and what we’ve all agreed is just come in and take a look at everything we’re doing and kind of grade us,” Lanier said.
New lead in beating of gay man
In a wide-ranging discussion on a number of other issues, Lanier told the Blade that police investigators have identified a person of interest in the March attack against a gay man on Georgia Avenue in the city’s Columbia Heights section.
The victim, who has asked not to be identified, was severely beaten and dragged by three or four male assailants, who punched and kicked him while shouting anti-gay names, causing him to suffer a broken jaw among other injuries, according to accounts by police and the victim.
“I think we will close that case,” Lanier said, noting that investigators are looking for a second person implicated in the attack in addition to the person of interest already identified.
That incident, which police listed as an anti-gay hate crime, along with the shooting of a gay man inside a nearby International House of Pancakes restaurant, also listed as a hate crime; and the beating of a transgender woman in Northeast D.C. – all occurring within a two-day period – prompted hundreds of LGBT activists and their supporters to hold a march and rally in the Columbia Heights neighborhood to condemn anti-LGBT violence.
Police have made an arrest in the IHOP shooting case, in which the victim suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Police said no arrests have been made in the attack against the transgender woman, which police said was not listed as a hate crime due to insufficient evidence that it was motivated by hate.
In discussing the changes she has made with the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, Lanier said her ultimate goal is to ensure that all members in the department are trained to fully respond to LGBT-related issues, making the GLLU no longer necessary.
“People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion,” she said. “All that shouldn’t matter. So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business. In the meantime by spreading the affiliates around and putting more and more affiliates out there with the enhanced training there’s a better understanding that there really is nothing different about people.”
Lanier was referring to her creation of a GLLU affiliate officers program in which officers from the department’s seven police districts respond to LGBT-related police service calls to supplement and expand the work performed by the five full-time GLLU members based in the unit’s Dupont Circle headquarters.
The department says there are now 99 affiliate GLLU members, with 10 or more assigned to each of the seven police districts. Lanier said officers cannot become affiliate members of the GLLU until they complete a special training program.
‘Domestic violence is huge’
Lanier said that although hate crimes capture much of the attention in the LGBT community concerning police matters, incidents of domestic violence make up a far greater number of cases GLLU officers and police detectives in general are called on to investigate.
“Domestic violence is huge,” she said. “Every morning when I look at my crime reports there are two things that stand out that have been unusual over the last year. The number of domestic violence assaults of all kinds and, yes, in all communities, and the robberies. Robbery is huge,” she said in referring to citywide trends against all residents.
Following is a partial transcript of D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s June 26 conversation with the Blade. The interview was conducted at the home of gay activist John Klenert, who hosted the session and participated in the discussion:
Washington Blade: What do you expect the newly created task force on hate crimes to accomplish?
Chief Lanier: What I’ve asked them to do and what we’ve all agreed is just come in and take a look at everything we’re doing and kind of grade us. You’ve got some of the experts that David Friedman [of the Anti-Defamation League] has brought in who have helped draft hate crimes statutes.
So based on that, the way we capture them, the way we investigate them, the way we report them – are we missing the mark somewhere? If we’re missing the mark, yes, give me recommendations on how to go forward. In terms of the outreach, I’m not sure what they’re going to find. And again, I’m looking from a law enforcement perspective. They may come back with some completely different recommendations about how we do outreach that’s not based on a law enforcement model at all.
But what we’re looking for is – How are we doing? And what is it we’re missing? And what are the recommendations? How can we improve that so that everybody else feels like we’re doing as well as we feel like we’re doing?
Blade: By outreach, do you mean alerting people in the community that a hate crime has taken place?
Lanier: Well that’s a good question isn’t it? For us, outreach has always been – in every community – one is getting information to people about what’s going on crime wise, how can you product yourself? What are the crime trends so you know what you need to protect yourself from? And then receiving information back from people in the community about what are they seeing and how do they feel about our response. So it’s kind of a two-way communication. That’s the biggest part of outreach. I think we’re doing that. We report everything. We hear back from the team members in the community in a variety of ways through the multi-team meetings and through email.
But the real outreach is kind of us doing things jointly. So in terms of hate crimes it’s great that we report it. It’s great that we have relationships with advocates. And I have exactly the same scenario going on right now in sex crimes in general related to sexual assaults in the city. We have these great relationships with all these advocates. We meet monthly. We exchange information two ways.
But what are we doing jointly to prevent these crimes to start with? We have a great team that discusses how we respond to it. But what are we doing to prevent it? So when I think of outreach I think having some of the advocate groups go out with us.
John Klenert: Who determines whether an incident is a hate crime? Is it the Attorney General?
Lanier: It’s the United States Attorney.
Blade: Don’t the police make the first call on whether a hate crime has occurred in the police report known as the 251 Report?
Lanier: We do mark it on the 251 but that is irrelevant as to whether they classify it as a hate crime. It’s not always apparent in the initial investigation. The initial investigation is, say when an arrest is made, when an arrest is made on the scene the investigation is just beginning. That’s just the preliminary. Did you break the law? Is there a violation of the law here? From there it becomes this lengthy investigation – grand juries, all those things – that’s where the determination is made whether they’re going to place actually the enhanced penalty of a hate crime.
It’s not something we have any control over. So that creates a little tension for us. And we’re a lot more visible and up front than the United States Attorney’s office….I’m not saying anything bad. But it’s the nature of our business. We’re at the front end. So we’re where people interact and see all the time. Very few people interact with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Blade: Aren’t there some cases that the police list as hate crimes and the U.S. Attorney’s office doesn’t? One example may be the Marine who was stabbed to death near the 8th and I Street Barracks, where the accused man called the victim an anti-gay name.
Lanier: Here’s the challenge that they [the U.S. Attorney’s office] have. And believe me; I don’t often defend the United States Attorney’s office. Our standard is probable cause. So if you look at a continuum of what you need to charge somebody with a crime – with reasonable suspicion you can stop somebody and detain them. With probably cause you can now place them under arrest. Arrest is not guilt, it’s just we have probable cause. And then the United States Attorney’s office has to take that and continue to push until they get to a point where they feel like there’s high probability of conviction.
When there’s not a high probability of conviction they have trouble going forward, not just because they like their conviction rate but because judges are not going to push the case through. So they have a much higher standard than we do. I have to give them that. And I know because once we make that arrest my detectives are working around the clock to help them get to where they need for beyond a reasonable doubt. And there’s a big jump between probable cause and beyond a reasonable doubt.
Blade: Do they sometimes consult the police when they are deciding whether to offer a plea bargain and lower the charge in a case?
Lanier: No, we do not consult on pleas. Obviously we’re the police. When we make an arrest we feel like we’ve got the right person. Again, they’ve got to get to a jury or a judge to get to beyond a reasonable doubt. And all these little things can create reasonable doubt.
Blade: Concerning the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, can you say where it stands now in terms of the changes you set out to make when you became chief? You made it clear you wanted some changes by adding affiliate GLLU members from the police districts. Is that complete at this time?
Lanier: Well it’s still going. We have a core group of five officers that are fully assigned – that’s their only assignment. And then we rotate the new affiliates. We rotate a couple of affiliates in for 90 days. When they come out of training two will rotate in. They will stay there full-time for 90 days and then they’ll rotate back out.
Blade: Do GLLU officers have to go through a class to be an affiliate member? Are you able to do enough of those? Isn’t that where GLOV [Gays and Lesbian Opposing Violence] provides trainers for the classes?
Lanier: They are. And that came out of the meeting here also [meeting between Lanier and community activists]. It was [transgender activist] Ruby [Corado]. Ruby just told this heart-wrenching story on the day I was here. And I said look, if you can tell that story yourself to the police officers you will completely change their perception in how they interact with people. It was a terrible story she told. And she said OK, I’ll do it. And that’s how the whole concept came about and others said we’ll help too. Now they’re at a point where they’re a little frustrated. They want to get paid.
Blade: They’re hoping to get a city grant to cover their costs.
Lanier: Right and the deputy mayor is looking into that. But the recommendation that came out of the meeting last week with the deputy mayor is that there are other city agencies that need to be educated on LGBT issues as well. It’s not just the police. And if we’re talking about grant funding for organizations to train [we should] put together a more comprehensive approach for all city employees because a person who is either insensitive or not familiar with LGBT issues who’s working in any branch of government isn’t that a problem?
Blade: Some sources are saying there’s a perception now that the GLLU officers are not doing the direct law enforcement work they had been doing in the past. They’re saying GLLU officers are no longer investigating cases, they’re no longer making arrests, interviewing witnesses or victims, and –
Lanier: There are too many cases for five people to handle – honestly.
Blade: Are they the only ones that can do that?
Lanier: No, no, no, no…The GLLU folks are not detectives. Remember now a detective is on a whole different career track in MPD. There’s a lot of work that goes along with being a detective. And investigating crimes should be done by a detective. And believe me that’s what the United States Attorney’s Office wants because the detective is the one that’s going to go through with the prosecution – all those steps I talked to you about – about building beyond a reasonable doubt.
Detectives do that. Uniformed officers do not for the most part. So certainly there’s no possible way that a group of five or seven or even 10 GLLU core members could do all those investigations. You wouldn’t have a quality investigation if they were trying to do them all. They should go to the district detective unit where the crime occurs.
Remember, the ultimate goal here at the end – I hope that someday we don’t need a LGBT anything. People are people. Police officers should be investigating, reporting, patrolling, managing crime regardless of who the suspect is and regardless of who the victim is.
So you know the whole goal is to put the whole thing out of business so that there’s no internal discrimination, so there’s no external discrimination. People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion. All that shouldn’t matter. So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business.
In the meantime by spreading the affiliates around and putting more and more affiliates out there with the enhanced training there’s a better understanding that there really is nothing different about people.
Blade: What can you say about whether some or most of the GLLU affiliate officers are gay?
Lanier: Some are gay; I would say about 60 percent are but not all.
Blade: So there are straight cops that don’t mind being part of the GLLU?
Lanier: Not at all. They volunteered. That’s all voluntary. And we have a group of volunteers for every class. I mean, it’s 2012. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have friends or family members. We’re people just like everybody else. We all have family and friends that are alcoholics, drug addicts, you know, white, black, whatever.
Blade: In terms of the guidelines for the GLLU, did somebody say recently – it might have been Deputy Chief Diane Groomes, that the GLLU members are not supposed to take official statements at the time they may interview a victim or something like that?
Lanier: They shouldn’t be getting statements from suspects until the detective is on the scene. That’s the case for any crime because if we’re going to go forward with a prosecution, if we have a suspect on the scene, there’s procedures that they follow to make sure that statements that are made are not excluded. And we want detectives to handle that. That’s for every crime. People will spontaneously make statements and we will copy them down. But in terms of debriefing and interviewing that’s the detective’s job.
Blade: Can you tell a little about a few incidents that happened in recent years where homophobic graffiti and anti-gay fliers were found in a few of the police districts, including the Third District?
Lanier: There was one in the Third District against an officer that I love dearly, one of the best police officers I’ve ever worked with. And he’s one of the most loved officers in the police department. Whoever did that, it really outraged a lot of people. And sometimes these cops that make these insensitive – you know, what they think are funny jokes or gestures – that’s got to stop because that’s not funny. So that’s why I spoke about that one. The other one at 5-D was Jehovah Witness literature. It was left in the station [by a member of the public].
Blade: The only other one we know about took place at the traffic division station – a flier with a photo making fun of one or two male officers saying they got married.
Lanier: It was in the major crash unit. It wasn’t a gay officer. I can tell you that cops make stupid jokes and it’s inappropriate. But I can tell you I have been here a long time and I’m still the majority on the police department now, my whole crew. I came on in ’89 or ’90. So the bulk of the department and my group is the biggest group and I’ve worked with them for many years. I can tell you the department has changed an awful lot. Women and a lot of people that were in the clique, old school, were treated very, very poorly over the years. This is a very different police department.
Blade: Are you saying these incidents are taking place less frequently?
Lanier: Do we have isolated people who have their own biases? Yes, sure. Do they act out inside the police department for others to see them? Extremely rare, extremely rare. I’m sure there are people out there policing who have biases we don’t even know about. What I’m saying is they know that there is no tolerance for it in the police department and they could lose their job for it. So you don’t see that outward bias inside the police department. Plus, like I’ve said, things have changed so much. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t have friends in just about every community. It’s just different now.
Klenert: Do we have any Muslim cops?
Lanier: Oh, sure. And I just signed off to let the Sikh community keep their religious scarf. They have been prohibited from policing and in fact they’re suing in New York. So I just signed an order to allow the Sikhs to keep their beards and their turbans.
Blade: In terms of the incidents we were talking about, did anything ever come of the investigations? You said at the time that the Internal Affairs division was investigating them.
Lanier: There was no discipline for the Jehovah Witness literature. It was put there. It should have been thrown out. We don’t know how long it was there. And still today they come through the station and they put literature there and we just throw it away because we can’t have any religious stuff there.
Klenert: Are the police up to full force?
Lanier: We’re at 3,900. At one point we were up to 4,100 and because of the budget cuts it dropped down. We were down below 3,800 for a while. So we’re back up to 3,900 now. I can tell you that this city is exploding.
Klenert: There are a lot of people moving in.
Lanier: I just did an analysis of the number of alcohol licenses. Another thing I’m looking at very closely is the alcohol-related assaults. I said let me see the top 10 locations that have the highest clusters of alcohol licenses. How many ABC licenses do you think there are in two blocks in Adams Morgan?
Klenert: About 40?
Lanier: Very good. It’s 38. So that’s like the gold mark. That’s like the most alcohol establishments you can cram into two blocks. I’ve got another block that’s got 36 in a three-block area. I’ve got another block that’s got 18. So now I’ve got at least 10 little Adams Morgans around the town. H Street, N.E., like I say. The U Street corridor I think has 36. So those are all things that if the city is going to keep thriving – if you go down there on weekends it’s Maryland and Virginia tags. People are coming from all over. Our nighttime population is as big as our daytime population…
Blade: What are your thoughts on the mayor’s proposal to allow the bars to stay open an extra hour during the week and on weekends?
Lanier: Here’s my take on that. Honestly, with all the interactions I have, I have the authority to do emergency closures [of bars] on a very limited basis. And I can tell you the bars I’ve had to close on an emergency basis – it’s the same bars over and over – or it’s the same owners. So either the bars are managed very well, which means they don’t over serve. They don’t bring in entertainment that they know has difficult followers. They have good security. I never have a problem with 85 percent of those businesses in this city. I never have a problem. They can stay open around the clock and I’d never have a problem. The ones that have a problem, they are going to be a problem all the time.
Blade: Regardless of how late they can stay open?
Lanier: That’s exactly right. Now in a neighborhood like this, would I want them stumbling through my neighborhood at 4 o’clock as opposed to 3 o’clock? That might be a problem. Crime wise it’s not a problem. I think disturbing people might be a problem.
Blade: Looking at the type of crimes I see reported by the GLLU in the crime reports we receive from Capt. Edward Delgado, who oversees the GLLU, it seems like domestic violence is far more prevalent than hate crimes. Is domestic violence the single most frequent type of case the GLLU gets calls for?
Lanier: It is. Domestic violence is huge and even though we’ve had – I said this to someone. Three years ago 20 percent of all murders were domestic violence related, which is dramatic. That’s a lot.
Blade: Is that across the board?
Lanier: It’s across the board, across the city. And we’ve been able to bring it down. We’ve only had three domestic violence murders this year. Unfortunately, two of those were children, infants. So we’ve put a couple of pilot programs in place to try and reduce domestic violence lethality and it’s worked. It’s called lethality assessment for high-risk domestic violence cases. But the number of actual assaults is just phenomenal.
Blade: Do you mean the number of domestic violence related assaults?
Lanier: Yeah. Every morning when I look at my crime reports there are two things that stand out that have been unusual over the last year. The number of domestic violence assaults of all kinds and, yes, in all communities, and the robberies still. Robbery is huge.
Blade: Are the two about the same or would you say domestic violence is a little higher?
Lanier: It’s street robberies that are high right now.
Klenert: But the murder rate is down, isn’t it?
Lanier: It’s way down … So right now if our trends hold – we’re at 40 murders today and we’re going into the seventh month. If our trends hold we’ll come in not only under a hundred but well under a hundred, under 80. …
Blade: The number of LGBT murders are also way down since the 1980s and 1990s. Do you have any idea why that is?
Lanier: I think it’s the culture of violence itself. I think in the culture of violence we’ve finally broken through. I think of the whole tipping point thing. We had to get to a tipping point where not only did we as a city but particularly as a police department say we can prevent murders and we’re going to and not, ‘Well, we can’t stop murders,’ which used to be our mentality and also sending that message to the criminal population.
Blade: You’ve said in the past that under some circumstances the department might not identify a murder victim as being gay on grounds of privacy. But have there been murders of gay men recently that we don’t know about because they’re not identified as such?
Lanier: I can’t think of any off the top of my head – no. But this is the hard part for me. If something happens in an area where there’s a lot of transgender prostitution, the first question from the advocates is was that a gay person or a transgender person? It’s not really my right to tell people somebody’s sexual orientation. And to a certain extent, people do deserve a little bit of privacy. We had a little bit of tension with the advocates in one of the transgender cases because a family member gave us a photo to use for the flier and the photo was pre-transition. That’s what the family wanted. How do I go back to mom and say I know this is the photo you want me to use, mom, but the advocates are up in arms because we didn’t use this picture? I’m going to respect the family. That’s really my tough decision but that’s my job. Whatever the next of kin expresses they want I have to honor that. And the advocates don’t understand that sometimes. They think we’re just being insensitive or at the very least we should show both photos. But you know I’m a mom. If that’s what the mom asks, how can I not do that?
Blade: That becomes difficult for the LGBT community because in some cases there is homophobia on the part of the parents and the child who may have been murdered was estranged from the parents.
Lanier: If we had a situation where the parents said no we don’t want that to be a part of this but we thought it would be important for us to put that out to the public to help us close the case, we would go back to mom and say look, I know you don’t want this out there and you don’t want this to be the last photograph of your son or daughter or whatever – I don’t think we have as good a chance of finding the killer unless we do this. And I would make that plea. But if I don’t think it’s relevant to closing the case then I’m going to respect the family. It’s a fine line, it really is. It’s a difficult line for us to walk…
District of Columbia
Your queer D.C. voting guide
June 16 primary nears; Lewis George, McDuffie lead in polling for mayor
LGBTQ voters in the nation’s capital are choosing among a long list of LGBTQ supportive candidates running for mayor, D.C. City Council, and the position of D.C. Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives in the city’s June 16 primary election.
LGBTQ activists who have spoken to the Washington Blade appear to be divided in their support for the two leading Democratic candidates for mayor – D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) and former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large) in a seven-candidate race.
Among the other five Democratic mayoral candidates is Rini Sampath, a cyber security consultant who told the Blade she identifies as queer.
“We’re living in an extremely diverse community, an extremely unique community,” she told the Blade. “And being able to self-label, self-identify as queer is something that I just want to take pride in.”
But a poll conducted by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s School of Policy and Government released on June 5 shows Sampath receiving just 3 percent in a sample of likely voters in the D.C. Democratic primary.
The poll, conducted from May 27-June 1, shows Lewis George leading in the mayoral primary with 36 percent compared to McDuffie, who had 25 percent. However, 25 percent of those polled were undecided in the mayoral race, according to the Post, indicating at least some of the undecided voters could go to McDuffie.
“Undecided voters are concentrated among groups that lean toward McDuffie, including moderates, Black voters and those ages 65 and older,” the Post story reporting on the poll states.
Another factor making it more difficult to predict the election outcome is the start in this year’s D.C. primary of ranked choice voting, which enables voters to select as many as five candidates on their ballot as their first through fifth choice depending on how many candidates are running for a specific office, including the office of mayor.
The ranked choice process takes effect if no candidate receives at least 50 percent of the vote in a race with three or more candidates and serves as an instant run-off using voters’ second-choice or third or more choice votes until one candidate receives 50 percent of the vote.
In what appears to support the belief of many local political observers that Lewis George and McDuffie are the two leading mayoral candidates, the poll shows the remaining candidates receiving less than 5 percent.
They include former D.C. Council member Vincent Orange with 4 percent, local real estate manager and developer Gary Goodweather with 3 percent, and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security contractor Hope Solomon and real estate broker and Ward 1 community activist Ernest Johnson each receiving 1 percent.
Goodweather, a political newcomer, has attended LGBTQ events in his mayoral campaign and has expressed strong support on LGBTQ issues.
With that as a backdrop, the Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest LGBTQ political group, has endorsed Lewis George for mayor and GLAA DC, formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, awarded Lewis George its highest candidate rating score of +10.
GLAA said it did not issue a rating for McDuffie because his campaign did not return a GLAA candidate questionnaire on which it bases its ratings. A spokesperson for the McDuffie campaign said campaign workers later discovered the questionnaire landed in the spam folder of their email account and McDuffie would have returned it had he received it.
At GLAA’s invitation, McDuffie completed the questionnaire and GLAA has posted it with its full responses to a list of 10 questions on the GLAA website along with the questionnaire responses from other candidates, including Lewis George. Like Lewis George, McDuffie expressed strong support for a wide range of LGBTQ issues in his responses, but GLAA said it could not issue a rating for him due to the missed deadline for submitting the questionnaire.
According to GLAA, just two other mayoral candidates returned the questionnaire and received a rating. Sampath received a +6.5 rating, and Johnson received a rating of +4.5. Under the GLAA rating system, a -10 is the lowest possible rating, with a +10 being the highest.
D.C. Board of Elections records show that no Republican candidate is running for mayor and one Statehood Green Party candidate – Robert L. Gross – is running unopposed on the primary ballot for voters registered as Statehood Green Party members. GLAA’s website shows Gross did not receive a rating under the group’s policy of not rating candidates that do not return the questionnaire.
The Statehood Green Party and its candidates for local D.C. offices have historically been supportive of LGBTQ rights.
LGBTQ activists who are backing Lewis George or McDuffie appear to be gravitating to the two based on their political leadings separate from LGBTQ issues, just like voters in general. Lewis George, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, is popular among progressive voters.
McDuffie, who is seen as a more moderate candidate like current D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, is being supported by LGBTQ activists who hold those views, some of whom currently work in the Bowser administration.
Among Lewis George’s LGBTQ supporters are longtime Ward 8 community leader Phillip Pannell and former Capital Stonewall Democrats President Howard Garrett. Among the LGBTQ McDuffie backers are longtime D.C. Democratic activists John Fanning and David Meadows.
“The rights of LGBTQ residents in our country are under attack,” Pannell told the Blade. “We need a mayor of our nation’s capital who will be a progressive voice and force in standing up for our rights and advancing the quality of life for our community,” he said. “That is one of the reasons I enthusiastically support Janeese Lewis George for mayor.”
Fanning, a member of the staff of D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said he has observed McDuffie’s work on the Council firsthand. “He has been out and upfront on many of our issues and he has been an ally to our community,” Fanning said. “And I feel more comfortable with his judgements when it comes to city policy,” Fanning said, adding, “And I sense he has more of a pulse on how to grow our economy.”
In the race for D.C. Delegate to the U.S. House, five Democrats are competing in the June 16 primary, including D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Robert White (D-At-Large). Pinto and White have been outspoken supporters of the LGBTQ community. Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed White.
Also running as Democrats for the congressional seat are community activists Kinney Zalesne, Trent Holbrook, and Greg Jaczko, who have expressed support for LGBTQ issues at candidate forums. Denise Rosado is running unopposed for the congressional seat as a Republican, and Kymone Freeman is running unopposed as a Statehood Green Party candidate in the primary.
Under D.C.’s “closed” primary system voters can only vote for a candidate for a specific political party if they are registered members of that party in the primary. In the general election in November, voters can vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
GLAA has said it does not issue candidate ratings for the D.C. Delegate position, which has been held for many years by Democratic incumbent Eleanor Holmes Norton, who announced earlier this year that she is retiring and not running for re-election. Norton has been a longtime outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), also a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, is running unopposed for re-election in the Democratic primary, He received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +6.5 rating from GLAA.
Nine Democrats are running for the At-Large D.C. Council seat currently held by Bonds, who is also retiring and not running for re-election. Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed local pharmacist, community activist, and LGBTQ ally Oye Owolewa, who received a +9 rating from GLAA.
The other Democrats running for the at-large seat who received a rating from GLAA include Lisa Raymond, +7.5; Dwight Davis, +6.5; Dyana Forester, +6; and Fred Hill, +5.5.
Board of Elections ballot records show that Darrell Green is running unopposed for the at-large seat in the Republican Primary and Darryl Moch is running unopposed in the primary as a Statehood Green Party candidate.
In the Ward 1 D.C. Council race, five LGBTQ supportive candidates are competing in the Democratic primary, including two LGBTQ candidates – gay rights activist Miguel Trindade Deramo and bi candidate Aparna Raj. The Ward 1 seat became vacant when incumbent Democrat Brianne Nadeau announced she was not running for re-election.
Capital Stonewall Democrats announced it did not make an endorsement in the Ward 1 race because the endorsement vote by its members was divided and none of the candidates received a required 60 percent of the vote for an endorsement.
GLAA awarded its highest +10 rating to both Deramo and Raj as well as to Ward 1 Democratic candidate Rashida Brown. It assigned a rating of +5.5 to candidate Terry Lynch but did not issue a rating for the fifth Democratic candidate – Jackie Reyes Yanes, who did not return the GLAA questionnaire.
The group didn’t issue ratings for Ward 1 Republican candidate Jett James Jasper or Statehood Green Party candidate Jude Cranniitch, both of whom are running unopposed. GLAA has said it sent out its questionnaire to all candidates listed by the Board of Elections to be placed on the ballot and does not rate those who do not return the questionnaire.
In the Ward 3 D.C. Council race, incumbent Council member Matthew Fruman (D), also an outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, with no GOP or Statehood Green Party candidate running in the primary. Fruman received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement but was not rated by GLAA.
In the Ward 5 Council race, incumbent Zachary Parker, the Council’s only gay member, is being challenged by two Democrats in the primary – community activists Bernita Carmichael and Bridget French. Parker received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +7 rating from GLAA. Carmichael and French did not receive a GLAA rating.
Political observers in the ward believe Parker is the favorite to win the primary as well as the general election in November, when he will be challenged by Republican Jeffrey Kihien-Palza and Statehood Green Party candidate Joyce Robinson-Paul, who are running unopposed in their party primaries on June 16.
In Ward 6, incumbent Council member Charles Allen (D). a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +6.75 rating from GLAA. He is being challenged in the primary by Democrats Gloria Ann Nauden and Michael Murphy. Ward 6 political observers consider Allen the strong favorite to win the primary and the general election, when he will be challenged by Republican Jorge Rice, who is running unopposed in the GOP primary. No Statehood Green Party candidate is running for the Ward 6 Council seat.
Capital Stonewall Democrats did not make an endorsement for the D.C. Council special election for the At-Large Council seat that became vacant when then-independent Council member McDuffie resigned to enable him to run for mayor as a Democrat. Under the city’s Home Rule Charter adopted by Congress, that At-Large seat is restricted to a “non-majority party” candidate, meaning a non-Democrat.
The three candidates running for the seat, all independents, include incumbent Doni Crawford, who was temporarily appointed to the seat earlier this year; former D.C. Council member Elisa Silverman; and Jacque Patterson, president of the D.C. Board of Education. All three have expressed support for LGBTQ issues. GLAA issued a +6.5 rating for Crawford and a +5.75 rating for Silverman.
In the race for D.C. Attorney General, Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed incumbent Brian Schwalb, who is an outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter. He is being challenged in the Democratic primary by D.C. attorney and law firm partner J.P. Szymkowicz, who is a Ward 3 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.
Attorney and local law firm partner Manuel Rivera is running unopposed for the Attorney General office in the Republican primary. No Statehood Green Party candidate is running for the AG post. GLAA issued a rating of +4.5 for Rivera but did not issue ratings for Schwalb or Szymkowicz.
Finally, in the race for the so-called “shadow” D.C. U.S. Senator and D.C. U.S. Representative—offices with no voting or official authority in Congress that were created to lobby Congress on behalf of D.C. issues—Capital Stonewall Democrats did not make an endorsement. In the Democratic primary Paul Strauss is running unopposed for the shadow U.S. Senate seat and Franklin Garcia is running unopposed for the shadow U.S. House seat. Both have been LGBTQ rights supporters.
No Republican or Statehood Green Party candidates are running for either of the two “shadow” positions. GLAA does not issue ratings for the two positions.
Following are short excerpts from the detailed statements four of the seven Democratic mayoral candidates submitted to the Capital Stonewall Democrats or the Washington Blade.
Kenyan McDuffie: “As mayor, every piece of legislation I sign, craft, or endorse should also encompass the interest and input of the LGBTQ community members and advocates…From housing to health care and everything in between… We have a dire crisis regarding the rise in homelessness especially among the youth in our LGBTQ communities. In my administration that simply cannot be the status quo and will not be…I have been a consistent champion for our LGBTQ community and will remain so as mayor of D.C.”
Janeese Lewis George: “As mayor, I will protect our LGBTQ+ neighbors against federal attacks on their identity, including their health care…On the Council I have been a strong supporter of pro-LGBTQ+ bills, including making D.C. a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming health care as well as addressing discrimination and harassment in nightlife and hospitality…And as mayor, I am prepared to move up and win those fights – a fight for D.C. statehood, a fight for our true economy, and a real opportunity to uplift our Black queer and trans youth.”
Gary Goodweather: “A Goodweather administration will defend every D.C. law protecting LGBTQ residents. I will establish a Defend DC office to coordinate the District’s legal and public response to federal overreach, with LGBTQ+ protections explicitly within its mandate…My affordable D.C. plan will produce 50,000 new homes with 36,000 affordable units, and I will ensure LGBTQ+ youth housing programs are funded as a budget priority.”
Rini Sampath: “I am an immigrant, proud queer woman, and a 10-year resident of Washington, D.C…For me, LGBTQ+ voters including transgender and nonbinary residents, are not a separate or symbolic constituency; they are a core part of a broader, multiracial, cross-ward coalition rooted in equity and opportunity.”
Vincent Orange: “I have a long and consistent record of supporting LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion in the District of Columbia, grounded in both policy and personal commitment. As the District’s Democratic Committeeman from 2006 to 2015, I publicly supported marriage equality and voted accordingly … During my time on the D.C. Council, I worked to advance protections for LGBTQ+ residents, including authoring and passing legislation to prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals in the workplace.”
15 LGBTQ candidates running for Democratic State Committee
At least 15 known LGBTQ candidates are running for seats on the D.C. Democratic State Committee in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Under local Democratic Party rules, the State Committee includes a total of 38 members, half of whom must be women and half of whom consist of men. The highest two positions include National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. Other positions include seven At-Large Committee men and seven At-Large Committee women, and two Committee men and two Committee women for reach of the city’s eight wards.
Democratic primary voters can vote for as many as seven At-Large male and At-Large female candidates and for two male and two female candidates in each of the ward committee races.
The known LGBTQ Democratic State Committee candidates are as follows:
National Committeeman
Phillip Pannell, Free DC Slate
David Meadows, Democrats United to Free DC slate
At-Large Committeeman
Jordan Kagelmayer, Free DC slate
Malake Glee, Free DC slate
At-Large Committeewoman
Lia Lake Kuduk, Free DC slate
Sonya Joseph, Free DC slate
Ward 1 Committeewoman
Vita Rangel, Free DC slate
Ward 2 Committeeman
Steven M. McCarty, Free DC slate
John Fanning, Democrats United to Free DC
Ward 3 Committeeman
Kurt Vorndran, Democrats United to Free DC slate
Michaell Haresign, Democrats United to Free DC slate
Ward 4 Committeewoman
Corey Welcher
Ward 7 Committeeman
Jimie Williams, Democrats to Free DC slate
Ward 8 Committeeman
Alejaibra Sloan, Free DC slate
Pride month festivities continue through the end of the month and there’s a new event for Rehoboth/Dewey Beach residents and visitors, Pride on the Bay, set for June 27.
Boaters will tie up at the sandbar near Massey’s Landing from 12-4 p.m. Visit Pride on the Bay’s Facebook page for a map of the exact location. You can rent pontoons for the day at Dewey Beach Watersports (deweybeachwatersports.com).
Aqua Bar & Grill is sponsoring the inaugural event and will provide a floating DJ for the afternoon. Aqua will then host an after-party back on land (57 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach).
Local part-time resident Brian Sparrow is organizing the gathering, citing the need for more Pride-oriented events at the beach.
“I decided to create an event in June for Pride month,” Sparrow told the Blade. “There aren’t many Pride events in Rehoboth and Dewey where we can take advantage of the Rehoboth Bay.”
He noted that there is another event called “Bay Pride” but that it is held in late summer on a Sunday. “Having the event on Saturday will allow for more boat renting options for visitors and friends to join,” Sparrow said, adding that he plans to make this an annual event.
District of Columbia
McDuffie on LGBTQ support and standing up to Trump
‘I’m committed to governing with the queer community at the table’
Former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie is running for mayor as Muriel Bowser’s third term expires in January. He’s running in a crowded Democratic primary field; recent polls show him in second place behind Council member Janeese Lewis George. D.C.’s primary is Tuesday, June 16.
The Blade sat down with McDuffie on June 8 for a wide-ranging conversation about his pro-LGBTQ record and challenges now facing the community.
The Blade reached out to fellow mayoral candidates Lewis George and Rini Sampath, who identifies as queer, for interviews. Neither responded to repeated requests over several weeks.
Blade: Members of the D.C. LGBTQ community are receiving information that most if not all the seven Democratic candidates for mayor, including you and Council member Janeese Lewis George, are strong supporters of the LGBTQ community. What message would you have for LGBTQ voters on why they should support you rather than one of the other candidates?
McDuffie: Thank you for the question, Lou. And thank you for your work over the years with the Washington Blade. I’m really looking forward to having this conversation. You know, Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, and our city is one of the most beautifully diverse and inclusive cities in America because generations of LGBTQ+ residents, advocates, and organizations have fought to make it that way.
And throughout my time on the Council, I’ve been proud to support that work by advancing equity and opportunity and standing up for the rights and dignity of every resident across the District regardless of where they live, who they know, how much money they have. And as mayor, I’m going to build on that progress by ensuring D.C. remains a place where LGBTQ+ residents can live safely, where they can access quality healthcare and housing, they can build families and businesses and thrive in the neighborhoods of our city.
And now more than ever, making sure we protect residents from a hostile federal administration, including President Donald Trump, who seeks to roll back civil rights and civil liberties.
Blade: Some people, including members of the LGBTQ community, have criticized Mayor Bowser for what they say has been her position of not standing up forcefully enough against the Trump administration on various issues, including the deployment of National Guard soldiers in the city. What are your thoughts on that? How would you deal with the Trump administration if you were mayor?
McDuffie: Well, I’m going to deal with the Trump administration by prioritizing D.C. residents first. I’m going to stand up and fight back against federal infringement from Donald Trump and from Republicans in Congress or any other individual or organization that seeks to threaten Washington, D.C. residents.
And that means on day one rescind the executive order that permits cooperation between the Metropolitan Police Department and ICE and DHS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security]. And I know because of my work 13-and-a-half years on the Council doing research, authoring transformational legislation that protects people’s civil rights, that makes the Metropolitan Police Department more transparent, doing things like authoring the landmark NEAR Act [a 2016 D.C. law aimed at reducing violent crime].
I know from that work, and I know from my former work as a civil rights attorney in President Obama’s Department of Justice that you have to fight to ensure that we have a fair and more just society. I did that as a civil rights attorney traveling the country fighting to protect people’s civil rights. I did that as a prosecutor who fought crime and delivered justice for victims.
And I’m going to do that as mayor to ensure that we use every legal and political tool available as mayor to resist any federal effort to roll back LGBTQ+ protections in Washington, D.C. And I’m committed to governing with the queer community at the table and lifting up their contributions to this city at the center of every decision that I make as mayor. You know that I’ve been a champion making Washington, D.|C. more equitable, more just, and economically inclusive. And I plan to continue to build on that work that I have done and the work that so many important people have done in the LGBTQ+ community in Washington, D.C. to make sure that our residents can live safely and thrive in Washington, D.C.
And so, we’re going to fight back against Trump and any hostile federal administration to make sure we’re protecting the residents first. And we will work with the federal government where there is an opportunity to do transformational economic development projects like RFK, transformational infrastructure projects like expanding Union Station. Both of those will create thousands of jobs and thousands of opportunities for D.C.-based small businesses.
But I will draw a very bright line when it comes to protecting the civil rights of individuals across the District of Columbia, including the LGBTQ+ community and our vulnerable neighbors like our immigrant neighbors and families who in many cases today are living in the shadows, afraid to leave their homes, afraid to go to work, afraid to walk their kids to school because they’re being snatched off the streets in safe places around schools and places of worship. And it is utterly despicable what Donald Trump has done and how he’s weaponized our federal law enforcement.
Blade: As a follow-up to that, reports surfaced last year that the mayor had to cut the budget for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs for this year by $600,000 because of a large cut in the city’s budget by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Would you do something to try to restore the funds that were cut from that office?
McDuffie: Absolutely. I will as mayor fully fund the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and direct it to proactively identify gaps in city services while also ensuring that the Office of Human Rights has additional resources to vigorously enforce efforts against discrimination across government agencies and within the private sector where it arises. I am a civil rights attorney by training. And I will bring the full force of the District of Columbia government to bear when it comes to protecting the rights of our residents, including especially our vulnerable communities like LGBTQ+ community.
And we’re going to fully fund the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and make sure it is doing the work proactively to identify any gaps in services any gaps in resources that are needed to shore up the supports and services to the community. And that’s been my record on the Council, too. As you know, I’ve supported on the Council marriage equality. That I’ve supported helping to repeal D.C.’s anti-surrogacy laws, expanding opportunities for LGBTQ couples.
You know that I’ve supported polices that recognize diverse family structures and co-introduced and passed the birth certificate equality amendment act. I supported efforts to reduce bureaucratic barriers faced by transgender residents. So, that’s the kind of work that I’ve done as a Council member. And as mayor I’m going to really fight and deliver for our LGBTQ+ neighbors to ensure that they’re supported, seen, heard, continue to be woven into the fabric of our city.
Blade: Do you or your campaign have any plans for participating in any LGBTQ Pride events during Pride month?
McDuffie: Oh, we are going to be not only front and center in marching in the Pride parade but being there as a resources to work directly with the organizers to make sure that they have every single thing that they need to build on the strong legacy of Washington, D.C.’s Pride community and all the festivities that are associated with it. I was so proud to stand on the steps of the Wilson Building last year for WorldPride and announce what Washington, D.C. does and how we do it and why we’re so special as a city. And when it comes to supporting Pride this year, I’m going to be right there marching with everybody else and ensuring that the longstanding relationships with the LGBTQ community across the District of Columbia are shown and displayed as our nation’s capital sets the example of what it looks like to really protect the beautiful diversity that we have in our city.
Blade: People have been talking about the poll just released by the Washington Post showing you to be 11 points behind Janeese Lewis George in the race for mayor. Do you have any reaction to that?
McDuffie: Well, what the poll shows is that I have the broadest coalition of support across the District of Columbia. Because I continue to show up and meet residents where they are. That demonstrates whether you are a longtime resident or whether you are Black or white or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. My support in the District of Columbia is deep, and it is broad.
Because I will govern as mayor in the way I have led as a Council member, which is by building the broadest coalition possible, walking across differences and really coming out with solutions to address intractable issues. So, I know that Washington, D.C. has been a national leader when it comes to protecting civil rights and ensuring fairness and justice. And I’ve been one of the people who led on those issues, making our city more racially equitable, more socially just, and more economically inclusive.
Blade: As you know, some of your critics have been trying to link you to the Pepco electric rate increase and for being responsible for higher utility costs. Do you have a response to that?
McDuffie: They try to link me to a number of things that are a part of what is a widespread disinformation campaign much like what we’ve seen on a national level from Trump and other Republicans. I don’t accept it. I think the fact that I’ve been elected four times in the District of Columbia, I demonstrate my ability to work with residents across the District of Columbia to get things done.
When it comes to utilities, I’m going to fight to lower utilities costs for residents, ensuring that we expand renewables and alternative energy sources, recognizing that Janeese Lewis George was the only Council member who voted against expanding solar a couple of years ago. But I’m also going to make sure that we have automatic enrollment for individuals in the District of Columbia who are having trouble paying for the utilities. I will make sure we protect seniors who are feeling a squeeze when it comes to being able to pay for utilities …
And we’re going to make sure that everybody understands why their energy bill is going up and push back against disinformation, so that they understand that a lot of what we’re seeing in increased utility bills, which I also face with my wife, is driven by demand on the regional grid at PJM. It is the data centers that are driving up our costs and lowering supplies. I’m going to hold those data centers accountable to pay their fair share for how they are contributing to the increase in utility costs that residents across the District of Columbia and across the region are seeing on their Pepco bills.
Blade: Thank you for your time. Do you have anything else you may wish to say to conclude your remarks?
McDuffie: Just to be clear that the disinformation campaign that Janeese Lewis George and her supporters are waging is one of the lowest political tactics that we’ve seen in D.C. politics. But she is banking on voters who are not doing their research. And what I know is that D.C. voters are smart. They know me from my work on the Council. And they know I am better qualified on day one to stand up and fight back against Trump to protect home rule and to deliver a city that is safer, that is more affordable and deliver a government that is more accountable and works for residents across the District of Columbia.
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