Local
Two gay Republicans join D.C. Council race
Two gay Republicans have announced they’re running for seats on the D.C. City Council this fall, with one challenging veteran gay Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).
Marc Morgan, who’s challenging Graham, and Timothy Day, who’s challenging Council member Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5), describe themselves as moderates with progressive views on social issues and moderate-to-conservative stands on economic matters.
Both men say they’re strong supporters of LGBT rights and would have voted for the city’s same-sex marriage law had they been on the Council when it passed, 11-2. The two also oppose holding a voter referendum or initiative on the gay marriage issue, saying the matter has been decided and the city should move on to other issues.
“I support it 100 percent,” said Day said when asked about the city’s same-sex marriage law. He added that he and his partner have been together for 10 years and he considers marriage equality a basic right.
Morgan noted his own role in working on campaigns in Arizona against two ballot measures seeking to ban gay marriage. Arizona voters defeated the first one held in 2006, marking the first time any gay marriage referendum or initiative in the U.S. was defeated. But voters reversed themselves in 2008 and passed a measure banning gay marriage in the state.
“We were hit by a tidal wave from Prop 8 in California and couldn’t compete with the fundraising from our opposition,” he said, referring to the California ballot measure that overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law in 2008.
Morgan and Day said they wouldn’t challenge Graham and Thomas on LGBT issues, and would instead focus on economic development and education, among other issues.
Graham, one of the Council’s most outspoken supporters of LGBT rights, has been highly popular in the ward and among LGBT voters. In 2006, he won the Democratic primary with 86 percent of the vote and the general election with 97 percent. Graham and Thomas also enjoy the support of many local LGBT activists.
Morgan worked for 15 years as a fundraiser for non-profit organizations addressing issues related to HIV/AIDS, animal welfare and the environment, according to his campaign biography. He currently works as deputy director of development for the Carbon War Room, a non-profit group that fights climate change. He said his top campaign issue is improved economic development in Ward 1, especially for small businesses.
Day, a native Ward 5 resident, is a small business owner whose company “focuses on aiding the non-profit community,” according to his campaign biography. He’s running to boost economic development in the ward and improve the city’s fight against HIV/AIDS. He has been elected twice as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in his ward.
Many local political observers said that the two men — like all GOP candidates — face an uphill battle in challenging Democratic incumbents in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nine-to-one margin.
Graham must win his party’s nomination in the September Democratic primary to compete against Morgan in the November general election. Most political observers expect Graham to win the primary, where he faces a challenge from former D.C. school board member Jeff Smith.
Smith is considered supportive of LGBT issues, but received a zero rating from the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance in his 2004 school board race because he failed to return a questionnaire and, at the time, his position on LGBT issues were unknown. The group automatically assigns such a rating to candidates that fail to return its questionnaire and whose record on LGBT issues cannot be determined. Its ratings are based both on record and questionnaire responses.
Thomas, who also has a strong record in support of LGBT issues, is facing at least three Democratic opponents in the September primary. His support and vote for the same-sex marriage bill was controversial in Ward 5, where some voters denounced Thomas for voting for the bill.
But similar to Ward 1, Ward 5 voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, making it difficult for a Republican to win there.
Although Republicans have won at-large seats on the Council, no Republican has won a ward Council seat since the city’s home rule government held its first Council election in 1974.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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