Local
Stein Club endorses McDuffie in Ward 5 Council race
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group, Thursday night endorsed Democrat Kenyan McDuffie for the May 15 special election to fill a vacant Ward 5 seat on the D.C. City Council.
McDuffie received 74 percent of the vote by club members in a second-ballot runoff against second place candidate Drew Hubbard, who received 23.8 percent of the vote.
McDuffie received 54.7 percent on the first ballot, in which seven of the twelve candidates set to appear on the ballot competed for the club’s endorsement. All seven attended and spoke at a Stein Club forum, where the endorsement vote took place, at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters at 17th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Under Stein Club rules, candidates must obtain at least 60 percent of the vote from the membership to win an endorsement.
The other candidates appearing before the forum, each of whom expressed support for LGBT equality, received 5 percent of the vote or less in the first-round voting.
“I’m very pleased over receiving the Gertrude Stein endorsement,” McDuffie told the Blade after the vote. “I think it pretty much formalizes what’s always been the case – that I’ve been a staunch supporter of LGBT concerns, marriage equality and everything that matters to folks in this community.”
McDuffie said he hopes to tap what he calls a “sizable” number of LGBT residents in Ward 5, especially in the Bloomingdale and Brookland neighborhoods.
The other candidates who spoke at the endorsement forum, in addition to McDuffie and Hubbard, were Democrats Shelly Gardner, Kathy Henderson, Ron Magnus, Ruth Marshall, and Frank Wilds.
Republican candidate Tim Day, who is gay, has been endorsed in the Ward 5 special election by the D.C. Log Cabin Republicans. The Stein Club’s bylaws prevent it from endorsing non-Democrats.
Under city election rules, candidates of all parties as well as independents are eligible to run in special elections.
Stein Club president Lateefah Williams said she was pleased that McDuffie won the club’s endorsement.
“He’s an excellent candidate and has a chance of winning,” Williams said, in a multi-candidate race where the vote is likely to be split between several candidates.
David Mariner, executive director of the D.C. LGBT Community Center, served as moderator of at the forum, presenting written questions submitted from members of the audience.
One of the questions asked where the candidates stand on a controversial proposal by the city to open on ore more marijuana cultivation centers in warehouse districts in Ward 5 to facilitate a recently implemented D.C. medical marijuana law. Each of the candidates said they support the law’s intent of providing doctor prescribed marijuana for medical purposes but oppose Ward 5 becoming a “dumping ground” for such facilities.
Each of the candidates also said they would work to vigorously enforce the city’s non-discrimination laws for gay, lesbian and transgender residents of the city and would take steps to provide job training for a segment of the transgender residents, especially transgender women, who are believed to have a high rate of unemployment.
Virginia
Black transgender woman murdered in Va.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray killed in Petersburg on March 13
A Black transgender woman was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate she was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray, 42, shot to death inside a home in Petersburg. These initial media reports also misgendered her.
“My heart is shattered and heavy with grief at the news of Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray’s murder — the first trans life stolen from us this year,” said Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs for the National Black Justice Coalition, in a statement.
Kirby York in her statement also criticized the media coverage of Sanchez-McCray’s murder.
“The early reports of Shyyell’s death stripped her of her identity by misgendering her, a deeply damaging and persistent failure by law enforcement and media that haunts these cases again and again,” she said. “Misgendering doesn’t just erase a person’s truth — it can derail justice entirely, or worse, bury a case in silence as investigators chase the wrong identity, the wrong face, the wrong name.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
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