Local
D.C. same-sex couples up 40% in 2010 Census
Data show Va., Md. same-sex couples up 50%
D.C. has retained its status of having the highest number of same-sex couples per 1,000 households compared to all 50 states, and it had a 40 percent increase in the number of people identifying themselves as same-sex couples since 2000.
Those are among the findings of newly released data from the 2010 U.S. Census as analyzed by the Williams Institute, a think tank affiliated with the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. The institute specializes in LGBT related issues.
The data show that Maryland had a 51 percent increase in the reported number of same-sex couples from 2000 to 2010 and Virginia saw a 49 percent increase in same-sex couples for that same ten-year period.
“The increases are far higher than population increases,” said Williams Institute official Gary Gates. “So we feel most of the increases we’re seeing in states, cities, and counties are attributable to more people reporting they’re a couple than ten years ago.”
The 2010 Census data show that 5,146 D.C. households declared themselves as being headed by same-sex couples, representing a rate of 19 same-sex couples per 1,000 households. In the 2,000 census, 3,678 households in the District identified themselves as same-sex couple households.
Of the 5,146 D.C. same-sex households reported in the 2010 Census, 72 percent were gay male couples and 28 percent lesbian couples.
Ninety percent of the same-sex households reported in the 2010 Census for D.C. were not raising children compared to just 10 percent who reported they were raising children, according to the Williams Institute analysis of the data.
The Williams Institute analysis also shows that the highest concentration of same-sex couples in D.C. reported in the 2010 Census were in census tracks in neighborhoods of Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, Shaw West, Shaw East, and an area bounded by “Morrow Drive to Piney Branch Parkway, N.W., Rock Creek and 16th Street, N.W.”
The data show that the highest concentration of same-sex couples raising children were female couples living in mostly black neighborhoods in the far Southeast and far Northeast sections of the city.
The D.C. data were released Thursday by the Williams Institute, which is known officially as the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy. The Williams Institute has analyzed Census data pertaining to same-sex couples since the 2000 U.S. Census, when the census first began counting them.
The 2010 Census data released by the Williams Institute show these figures for same-sex couples living in D.C. area suburban jurisdictions:
- Montgomery County, Md. – 2,911 same-sex couples; 8.2 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- Prince George’s County, Md. – 2,525 same-sex couples; 8.3 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- Fairfax County, Va. – 2,783 same-sex couples; 7.1 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- Arlington, Va. – 1,328 same-sex couples; 13.5 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- Alexandria, Va. – 941 same-sex couples; 13.8 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- Baltimore, Md. – 3,226 same-sex couples; 12.9 same-sex couples per 1,000 households
Gates said the data the institute has analyzed so far show that the number of same-sex couples reported nationwide has increased by about 50 percent between 2000 and 2010. Gates said population growth and migration of LGBT people to certain locations accounts for some of the increase.
But he said most of the increase appears to be due to a decision by far more same-sex couples to self-identify while filling out the 2010 U.S. Census questionnaire, which was sent to all U.S. households.
Although D.C.’s rate of 19 same-sex couples per 1,000 households is the highest among the 50 states, several cities have rates far higher than D.C. if D.C. were to be viewed as a city.
Provincetown, Mass., a gay vacation destination with a sizable population of LGBT people living there year-round, leads the nation among cities with 50 or more same-sex couple households, with a rate of 163 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, Gates said.
The city of Wilton Manor, Fla., long known as an LGBT-friendly enclave next to Fort Lauderdale, came in second among cities in the 50 or more same-sex household category, with a rate of 140 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, according to Gates.
Palm Spring, Calif., came in third, with 115 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, Gates said.
In a development that appears to represent an LGBT population shift more than a greater degree of gay couples “coming out” in the Census questionnaire, Gates said the city of Rehoboth Beach, Del., came in fourth place in the category of same-sex couples in cities with 50 or more same-sex households.
Gates said the 2010 Census data show Rehoboth, a popular LGBT resort town, has a rate of 107 same-sex couples per 1,000 households. Gates noted that the actual number of same-sex couple households counted in the 2010 Census for Rehoboth was 81, an increase of 47 couples over the 34 same-sex couples that declared themselves in the 2000 Census.
“I think what you see there is this kind of movement from vacation home to actual residence for a lot of people,” Gates said. “I think in the last decade people made a lot on the real estate market in D.C. and bought vacation properties in Rehoboth. And I think now quite a few of them have moved there.”
Steve Elkins, an official with Camp Rehoboth, an LGBT advocacy group and community center in Rehoboth, said the census figures don’t surprise him.
“You see it every day. We’re in all walks of life,” he said, from local politics to the outlet malls.
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.
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