Local
Fenty beat Gray in gay precincts
But visible LGBT enclaves are mostly in white neighborhoods
Vince Gray and Mayor Adrian Fenty. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Editor’s note: Go here to see a breakdown of votes in the gayest neighborhoods. Our chart does not include the last of the 15 LGBT precincts we analyzed for this story — Precinct 23, which includes parts of Columbia Heights and the U Street, N.W. corridor. In that precinct, Fenty received 443 votes (57 percent) and Gray received 332 votes (42 percent).
Election returns for the city’s Sept. 14 Democratic primary show that Mayor Adrian Fenty won in 12 of the 15 electoral precincts believed to have high concentrations of LGBT residents, even though many LGBT activist leaders backed City Council Chair Vincent Gray for mayor.
Gray won the primary with a citywide vote of 54 percent to 44 percent, making him the strong favorite to win the November general election in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a margin of nearly nine to one.
LGBT-supportive D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) also beat gay challenger Clark Ray, the city’s former parks and recreation director, by lopsided margins in all 15 of the gay-oriented precincts. Ray came in third behind Michael D. Brown, the city’s shadow senator, in all but one of the 15 LGBT precincts.
Many LGBT activists following the election said Ray was an attractive candidate but they saw no reason for backing him over Mendelson, who is one of the Council’s strongest supporters on LGBT issues.
While the visible “gay” precincts went for Fenty by wide margins, nearly all of those precincts are in majority white neighborhoods, suggesting that the LGBT vote could have split along the same racial lines as the city vote as a whole in the mayoral race.
All but one of the 15 precincts believed to have high concentrations of LGBT residents are in majority white Wards 1, 2 and 6, which Fenty won. Majority white Ward 3 also went heavily for Fenty.
Majority black Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8 went for Gray by wide margins.
Both Gray and Fenty have strong records of support on LGBT issues. Gray voted for and Fenty signed the city’s same-sex marriage law.
“The black gays in Washington, D.C. tend to be from Washington, D.C. and they live in all parts of the city,” said gay Democratic activist Brad Lewis, who is black. “So I don’t think there’s any one particular precinct that would be the black LGBT precinct,” he said. “I’m at a loss to tell you which one that would be.”
Lewis, a former president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group, joined other activists who hold the view that most black gays voted for Gray.
“I think there were a lot of concerns, especially in the African-American community that their voices weren’t necessarily being listened to by Mayor Fenty,” Lewis said. “I think that transcended sexual orientation.”
Gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell, who also lives in Ward 8 and who backed Gray, has identified Precinct 112 in Ward 8’s Anacostia neighborhood as the one precinct east of the Anacostia River where an identifiable concentration of black gays live. Gray won Precinct 112 by a wide margin.
The precincts selected as areas where high concentrations of LGBT people live include the longstanding gay neighborhoods of Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and Logan Circle. They also include areas where large numbers of LGBT people have migrated in recent years such as Columbia Heights, Shaw and the U Street, N.W. corridor that stretches between 9th Street and 17th Street.
Two precincts on Capitol Hill and Precinct 127 in the Southwest D.C. waterfront neighborhood are also included as LGBT-oriented areas.
In addition to winning in Precinct 112 in Anacostia, Gray won Precincts 127 in Southwest and 18 in Shaw, which are believed to have large numbers of black LGBT residents.
Speculation begins on appointments
Gray most likely will name a new director of the city’s Office of GLBT Affairs and ask Police Chief Cathy Lanier to remain in her position, according to sources familiar with Gray.
Gray’s impending decision on whether to retain controversial city schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has captured the attention of the media and most political insiders.
But to many LGBT activists, Gray’s decision on whether to keep Lanier as chief and his working relationship with her should she stay on will have a critical impact on the status of the department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit and efforts to combat hate crimes.
During his campaign for mayor, Gray criticized Fenty’s decision to adopt a plan by Lanier to downsize the GLLU’s central headquarters as part of an effort to create a system of affiliate GLLU officers in each of the department’s seven police districts.
“I don’t think it should be an either-or proposition,” Gray told the Blade in an August interview, saying he would prefer to have a fully staffed GLLU headquarters along with affiliate officers.
The local group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence has complained that Lanier spurned their longstanding request to retain a fully staffed GLLU headquarters office, which GLOV says is needed to train and coordinate the affiliate officers.
Once source familiar with the Gray campaign said Gray would likely set a policy on how the GLLU should be set up and ask Lanier to follow that policy should he decide to retain Lanier. But one police source said Lanier feels strongly about keeping in place the changes she has made with the GLLU.
The source, who spoke on condition of not being identified, predicted Lanier would resist Gray’s plan to add more officers to the GLLU’s central office, a development that would “test” Gray’s resolve in keeping to his campaign promise to restore the GLLU to a staffing level set by former Police Chief Charles Ramsey under the administration of Mayor Anthony Williams.
Gray has declined to disclose his plans for appointments for all city agencies, saying it would not be appropriate for him to discuss personnel matters until after the November general election.
Most local activists have praised Christopher Dyer, who has served since 2007 as director of the GLBT Affairs Office under Fenty. But sources close to the Gray mayoral campaign, who spoke on condition that they not are identified, said they expect Gray to name his own person to head the GLBT office.
The City Council created the office through legislation introduced by gay Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) during the Williams administration. The legislation also established a mayoral GLBT advisory committee, to which Fenty named Dyer as chair.
Gray has said he strongly supports the GLBT Affairs Office and its advisory panel. During his campaign for mayor he has said the office and advisory panel would play an important role in his administration if he were elected mayor.
Some activists have speculated that Jeffrey Richardson, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, which endorsed Gray for mayor, and Christopher Fitzgerald, coordinator of Gray Pride, an LGBT committee established under Gray’s mayoral election campaign, would be among the candidates Gray would likely consider to head the LGBT Affairs Office.
Neither Richardson nor Fitzgerald could be reached for comment by press time.
District of Columbia
Imperial Court of Washington drag group has ‘dissolved’
Board president cites declining support since pandemic
The Imperial Court of Washington, a D.C.-based organization of drag performers that has raised at least $250,000 or more for local LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ charitable groups since its founding in 2010, announced on Jan. 5 that it has ended its operations by dissolving its corporate status.
In a Jan. 5 statement posted on Facebook, Robert Amos, president of the group’s board of directors, said the board voted that day to formally dissolve the organization in accordance with its bylaws.
“This decision was made after careful consideration and was based on several factors, including ongoing challenges in adhering to the bylaws, maintaining compliance with 501(c)(3) requirements, continued lack of member interest and attendance, and a lack of community involvement and support as well,” Amos said in his statement.
He told the Washington Blade in a Jan. 6 telephone interview that the group was no longer in compliance with its bylaws, which require at least six board members, when the number of board members declined to just four. He noted that the lack of compliance with its bylaws also violated the requirements of its IRS status as a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c) (3) organization.
According to Amos, the inability to recruit additional board members came at a time when the organization was continuing to encounter a sharp drop in support from the community since the start of the COVID pandemic around 2020 and 2021.
Amos and longtime Imperial Court of Washington member and organizer Richard Legg, who uses the drag name Destiny B. Childs, said in the years since its founding, the group’s drag show fundraising events have often been attended by 150 or more people. They said the events have been held in LGBTQ bars, including Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, as well as in other venues such as theaters and ballrooms.
Among the organizations receiving financial support from Imperial Court of Washington have been SMYAL, PFLAG, Whitman-Walker Health’s Walk to End HIV, Capital Pride Alliance, the DC LGBT Community Center, and the LGBTQ Fallen Heroes Fund. Other groups receiving support included Pets with Disabilities, the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington, and Grandma’s House.
The Imperial Court of Washington’s website, which was still online as of Jan. 6, says the D.C. group has been a proud member of the International Court System, which was founded in San Francisco in 1965 as a drag performance organization that evolved into a charitable fundraising operation with dozens of affiliated “Imperial Court” groups like the one in D.C.
Amos, who uses the drag name Veronica Blake, said he has heard that Imperial Court groups in other cities including Richmond and New York City, have experienced similar drops in support and attendance in the past year or two. He said the D.C. group’s events in the latter part of 2025 attracted 12 or fewer people, a development that has prevented it from sustaining its operations financially.
He said the membership, which helped support it financially through membership dues, has declined in recent years from close to 100 to its current membership of 21.
“There’s a lot of good we have done for the groups we supported, for the charities, and the gay community here,” Amos said. “It is just sad that we’ve had to do this, mainly because of the lack of interest and everything going on in the world and the national scene.”
Virginia
LGBTQ groups to join Spanberger inaugural parade
Virginia Pride among more than 25 orgs to march in Jan.17 event
Virginia Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural committee announced on Jan. 2 that at least two LGBTQ organizations will be among more than 25 state-based organizations, including marching bands, that will participate in her inaugural parade on Jan. 17.
A statement released by the inaugural committee says the parade will take place immediately after Spanberger is sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor and delivers her inaugural address in Richmond.
The statement lists the LGBTQ groups Virginia Pride and Diversity Richmond as two groups participating in the parade, although the two groups merged in 2021, with Virginia Pride becoming a project of Diversity Richmond. Among other things, Virginia Pride organizes Richmond’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
“A display of the impressive talent and beauty of every corner of Virginia, our inaugural parade will be a celebration of all that makes our Commonwealth strong,” Spanberger said in the Jan. 2 statement. “I’m excited for attendees in the stands on Capitol Square and families watching together at home to see this incredible showing of Virginia pride,” she said.
James Millner, who serves as director of Virginia Pride, told the Washington Blade about 75 people are expected to join the Virginia Pride-Diversity Richmond contingent in the parade. He said among them will be members of other Virginia LGBTQ organizations.
“We’re going to invite our staff, our board, our volunteers, and our community partners to join us,” Millner said.
“We are thrilled and honored to have been invited to participate in Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration festivities,” he added. “I think this represents a marked change from the previous administration and demonstrates what she campaigned on – which is she sees the diversity of the Commonwealth as a strength that needs to be celebrated,” he said. “And we are very happy that she has invited us to represent the diversity of the commonwealth.”
Millner appeared to reflect on the sentiment of the large majority of Virginia’s LGBTQ community in its support for Democrat Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the November 2025 Virginia election and the end of incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term in office on Jan. 17.
“After what we’ve been through with the Younkin administration, especially in its treatment of LGBTQ folks, especially transgender and nonconforming folks, I think we are all breathing easy and excited about what opportunities will exist in working with Abigail Spanberger,” he told the Blade.
District of Columbia
Two pioneering gay journalists to speak at Thursday event
Blade’s Chibbaro, Falls Church News-Press’s Benton talk long careers
Two local gay journalists will speak on a panel this week about their long, pioneering careers.
A celebration of the Falls Church News-Press’s Nicholas Benton and the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America, will be held this Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Women’s National Democratic Club of Washington. D.C., 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., at 6 p.m., according to a statement from organizers.
The program will explore their journeys, the evolution of LGBTQ journalism, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Benton and Chibbaro will also examine the various factors causing many news outlets to cease print publication and their energetic efforts to continue publishing their work both in print and online.
EVENT DETAILS:
- Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom.
- 6 p.m. complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing.
- Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax.
Benton’s latest book, “Please Don’t Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays,” will be available for purchase at the event.
Benton is a longtime local journalist and LGBTQ rights activist whose work has had a lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. Author of the first-ever editorial in the pioneering Gay Sunshine newspaper in 1970, he is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the Falls Church News-Press, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 and is the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia.
Chibbaro is the senior news reporter for the Washington Blade and a pioneering journalist in LGBTQ news coverage. He has reported on the LGBTQ rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the Blade in 1984.
PHOTOS: Freddie’s Follies
Imperial Court of Washington drag group has ‘dissolved’
What to watch for in 2026: midterms, Supreme Court, and more
A reminder that Jan. 6 was ‘textbook terrorism’
Claudia López criticizes Trump over threats against Colombian president
D.C.’s 10 best theater productions of 2025
A look back at the best books of 2025
The year in photos
Safer Ways to Pay for Online Performances and Queer Events
