The D.C. Council on July 14 gave final approval for the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget that includes an amendment calling for increasing the number and size of funding grants that the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs provides for local organizations providing services for the LGBTQ community.

The amendment, called the “LGBTQ Community Grant Amendment Act of 2026,” was introduced earlier this year by D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member.

The D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition called the Parker amendment “a historic measure that establishes the District’s most sustainable model for a vehicle for investing in LGBTQ communities.”

The Council approved the version of the FY 2027 budget bill with the attached Parker amendment in its first of two required votes on June 9. Shortly after voting unanimously to give final approval of an earlier version of the two-part budget measure on July 7 that includes the Parker amendment, the Council sent the bill to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature.  

Bowser has expressed strong opposition to several provisions in the $22 billion budget measure passed by the Council that are unrelated to the Parker amendment regarding the Office of LGBTQ Affairs. The mayor has yet to say whether she will sign, veto, or choose not to sign the bill.

The latter option would allow the bill to become law if Congress does not choose to overturn it during its required 30-day legislative review period for all D.C. bills. Political observers believe the Council will vote to override a veto if Bowser chooses to veto the bill.

When contacted by the Washington Blade on July 22 to determine where the mayor stands on the budget bill, mayoral spokesperson Daniel Gleick said only, there was “no update on the budget just yet.”

Among other things, the Parker amendment calls for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to issue a $980,000 grant in FY 2027 to a private, nonprofit organization in partnership with the office “for the purpose of supporting programs that promote the welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community.”

It says the organization selected would also initiate its own fundraising effort to expand the amount of funds beyond the amount the office would provide, enabling it to provide larger grants to a greater number of local LGBTQ organizations.

“The legislation arrives at a critical moment, as LGBTQ-serving organizations face unprecedented uncertainty,” the D.C. Budget Coalition said in its comment on the Parker amendment. “Growing demand for services is colliding with shrinking resources, federal attacks on LGBTQ programs, and ongoing threats to local funding streams,” the coalition’s statement says.

In what some observers have called a highly controversial action; the budget bill approved by the Council reverses and restores millions of dollars in budget cuts proposed by Bowser in the budget she submitted to the Council earlier this year.

Among other things, the Council’s budget preserves the current level of funding for housing vouchers, childcare, paid family leave, and other programs slated to be cut in the mayor’s proposed budget, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Bowser points out that the Council approved budget bill calls for using $150 million from the city’s reserve fund, which she and others have said could put the city in jeopardy in future years. The mayor has said the cuts were needed to prevent a major funding shortfall brought about by the action by Republicans in Congress to cut the city’s budget by over a billion dollars.     

(Editor’s note: This is the third installment in a three-part series profiling the candidates for mayor of Rehoboth Beach, Del.: Commissioners Suzanne Goode, Susan Stewart, and Craig Thier; a fourth candidate, William Raak, filed to join the race but has not responded to multiple Blade inquiries. Visit washingtonblade.com for previous installments.) 

Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner Craig Thier says his experience in public service and finance has prepared him to lead the city as residents elect a new mayor on Aug. 8.

Thier, who has owned property in Rehoboth Beach since 2002 and has lived there full time for a little more than five years, said he first sought public office after becoming concerned about the city’s financial planning.

“A couple of years ago, when I decided to run, the city raised taxes and fees across the board unnecessarily. They had a broken budgeting process,” said Thier.

Elected as a city commissioner in August 2024, Thier draws on a background in corporate finance and consulting, He said he could improve the city’s budgeting practices.

“I felt that I could bring that experience in and help the city improve that broken budgeting process,” he said.

Thier said one of his accomplishments as commissioner has been helping transition the city from annual budgeting to long-term financial planning.

“Within the first year, I worked with the city administration to transition us from an annual budgeting process that was really broken to a multi-year planning process,” he said.

If elected mayor, Thier said his first priority would be improving relationships among members of the Board of Commissioners.

“First would be just civility. There is a lot of infighting among some of the commissioners,” said Thier.

He says that he wants to focus on “getting people to work together so that we can get back to the business of the city.”

Thier said disagreements are inevitable but believes they should be handled more respectfully.

“We have to return to civility. People need to respect each other, people need to respect the right of other individuals to express their thoughts and opinions,” he said. 

“That lack of civility absolutely has impacted our ability to get the business of the city done.”

He also said meetings should remain focused on the agenda even when commissioners disagree.

“Everyone’s got to tone things down a little bit,” Thier said. “Just because we may not agree with someone’s position doesn’t mean that that position isn’t valid.”

He added that after discussions conclude, commissioners should be willing to accept the outcome.

“People need to be prepared to move on if they don’t have the support,” he said.

Thier pointed to his previous elected experience as another qualification for the mayor’s office.

“I spent 12 years on a school board, five years as president, and I’m finishing up my second year here [as commissioner]. I believe that I have far more experience than anyone else.”

“I’ve been able to accomplish things because of my experience, and I’ve been doing this a long time,” he added.

Thier also said maintaining Rehoboth Beach’s perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index would remain a priority if he is elected.

“It is absolutely a priority for the city,” he said.

“I think it’s one of the great things about the city of Rehoboth Beach is the diversity that’s there, and that we’ve been a very welcoming community.”

Thier credited city staff for helping achieve the city’s perfect score and said he would continue working with LGBTQ+ organizations, including CAMP Rehoboth.

“I have relationships with these organizations. I would continue to foster these relationships,” he said. “It’s critical that we’re doing the things to maintain this perfect score.”

Thier also expressed support for the city’s partnership with Clear Space Theatre Company as it works toward constructing a permanent performing arts venue downtown.

“Clear Space has been part of the community for more than 20 years. I think they’re an important part of the community.”

He said the theater contributes to Rehoboth’s identity as a tourist destination.

“The tourists come to Rehoboth for the whole package: the beach, the boardwalk, our restaurants, our retailers, Clear Space. They’re an important part of that whole package.”

The election will take place on Aug. 8 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.

I was inside Benning Road train station in April waiting for my train with two friends on the way to school. It usually took me 25-30 minutes to get from Benning Road Station to school at Congress Heights. As I waited for the train, I kept noticing that every train that got to five minutes away would disappear from the Metro screen before it got to my stop. 

I found out from one of my friends that a Metro work vehicle had crashed into a train at Metro Center and that all trains were now delayed. While my friends were able to call their family to pick them up, I had no such luxury. The train was my only option. It took me more than an hour to get to school. I missed my first period because of it and had to make up my work later in the day. I was marked absent because when a student misses one class, they’re marked absent for the day and an email is sent to their parents. I felt irritated knowing that I had to deal with all of these problems that weren’t even my fault due to an incident that happened on a different side of town. 

The incident at Metro Center isn’t the only incident that I have experienced on the subway. I have experienced kids fighting and almost pushing me on the tracks, massive delays because a woman was passed out on the train and Metro police pulling out their assault rifles and arresting someone in the station, which caused people to panic and start running.  

I later learned the crash that led to me being late to school caused 11 injuries to people who were on the train, according to media reports. And the Metro has experienced other dangerous incidents this year. A man was beaten so badly on Cinco de Mayo that he needed staples in his head and another man was beaten to death by a stranger at the Addison Road station. 

However, I’ve never experienced any incident that has led to me getting hurt, nor actually seen anyone get hurt.  

So, is the Metro safe? 

Metro experienced the lowest crime rate in its history in 2025, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said. The crime rate decreased by 37 percent in 2025 compared to 2024. 

Last year, the Metro Transit Police Department increased enforcement efforts department-wide by more than 25 percent, Metro said. WMATA said it is in the process of installing upgraded video systems on our 6000 and 7000-series rail cars, which make up most of the cars in the system. This new camera system allows for live video access to rail cars from Metro’s Integrated Command and Communications Center.

Asked if he felt unsafe using the Metro, Dr. Aruna Rajam, a teacher at Bard High School Early College DC and George Washington University, recalled being on the train with a man who was smoking weed and yelling.  

“It didn’t turn physically violent, but it was alarming and made me feel like the situation could go sideways quickly,” said Rajam, who takes the train to both of his jobs, traveling day and night. 

Incidents like these are what make Rajam feel unsafe occasionally when he is riding the subway at night: “Late at night — like my 8:45 ride from Foggy Bottom to Springfield — it’s a different atmosphere.” 

Jayden Payne, a rising sophomore at Bard, worries even more. 

“There was a man who seemed intoxicated, moving around his phone, pretending it was a gun-all up in ladies’ faces,” he said in an interview. 

When asked if he would recommend the subway to others, he gave a firm “no” due to all of the incidents that he has heard about that have happened on the Metro. 

Erin Bray, who graduated from Bard in June, recalled an incident when a man brought a gun on the train when she was on it. Asked if she felt safe on the subway, Bray said: “No, because there’s not enough security and people keep bringing [weapons] on there.” 

Metro said it launched a Safety Risk Reduction Plan to improve riders’ safety and employs several other safety tactics, including Safe Passage patrols to help students in D.C. get to and from school safely. 

While all of the people interviewed said that they saw or experienced an uncomfortable incident, Metro said it is increasing its security and safety protocols. 

WMATA data coincides with what one of my interviewees said about his experience on Metro. 

“I feel safer now than I felt riding the Metro today than I did 10 years ago,” Dr. Samuel Slattery, a social science teacher at Bard High School Early College, said.  

He spoke of his experience with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority subway in Philadelphia in comparison: “… That’s what an unsafe train system feels like,” Slattery said. 

The week before he was interviewed in May, Slattery said he was on SEPTA and there was a woman “eating beans off the floor of the train,” a homeless man “passed out in the middle of the train,” and a mentally ill woman yelling in his and other passengers’ faces that, “‘Jesus was watching her’ and the rest of us were in contact with demons.” This incident agitated Slattery so much that he said, “Screw this” to his friend and decided to pay extra for an Uber.

Metro riders who want to report an incident or safety concern can call Metro Transit Police (MTPD) at 202-961-2121 or text MYMTPD (696783). Metro also posts a daily Crime Blotter on its website where the public can see the calls MTPD responded to on a given day.  The Crime Blotter can be found here: https://www.wmata.com/about/transit-police/crime-stats.cfm 

Christian Jennings, a 2026 graduate of Bard High School Early College DC, is a rising freshman at North Carolina State University, where he plans to major in nuclear engineering. He worked with journalist-instructors at Youthcast Media Group on this article.