Local
Likely NYC Council candidate attends D.C. fundraiser
Elmendorf hosts event for Corey Johnson who may run to replace Quinn
More than 40 people attended a fundraiser for gay presumptive New York City Council candidate Corey Johnson in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night.
Gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) co-chaired the event that took place at gay Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf’s home. Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and columnist and Democratic strategist Karl Frisch were among those who attended.
“It was a real moving show of support for me from friends and allies down here in the District that I’ve been able to work with over the years,” Johnson, 30, told the Blade on Wednesday.
Elmendorf praised the likely candidate.
“Corey is a close personal friend and I offered to help him because I admire the guts he showed when he first came out as a high school quarterback; the dedication he has shown to the LGBT community and his passion for public service,” he said in an e-mail. “I have met a lot of candidates during my time in politics and government and he is one of the best.”
The former Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation staffer has not officially declared his candidacy, but he launched an exploratory committee in early April. Three of Johnson’s likely challengers in the 2013 Democratic primary—lawyer Yetta Kurland, Manhattan Community Board 2 Chair Brad Hoylman and Andrew Berman—are gay.
He would succeed lesbian New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn if elected.
“It says a lot on how far we’ve come,” said Johnson when asked about the fact that all three of his likely opponents are gay. “In many places in this country there aren’t LGBT elected officials. … In New York City things have progressed to such a point that I believe in certain parts of the city, voters no longer look at what a person’s sexual orientation is, they look at their history, their track record, their biography and what their vision is for the district. I believe all of us will be judged on that, so I think it shows tremendous progress that we’ve gotten to that point.”
Johnson, who has chaired Manhattan’s Community Board 4 since last July, attended the D.C. fundraiser three days after Quinn married her long-time partner Kim Catullo.
He acknowledged that he does not always agree with the likely 2013 mayoral candidate, but Johnson said that Quinn and her predecessor, gay New York State Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan) are well known outside the district. He also pointed out that he has publicly disagreed with Mayor Michael Bloomberg over the New York Police Department’s controversial stop and frisk policy, a law that requires contractors that receive at least $1 million in tax breaks and low-interest financing to pay their employees at $10 an hour and a measure that would provide paid sick leave to New Yorkers who don’t already receive it from their employers.
Johnson also described Bloomberg’s decision to appeal a New York State Supreme Court judge’s 2005 decision that struck down a ban on nuptials for gays and lesbians as disappointing. The mayor has subsequently backed marriage rights for same-sex couples.
“I’m always happy to welcome anyone that wants to come to our side and help fight for our rights,” said Johnson. “The mayor has done that most recently and he’s someone that we should use as an ally as we move forward.”
Johnson first rose to prominence in 2000 when the New York Times published a story about him playing on his Massachusetts high school’s football team. He worked as former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green’s political director during his unsuccessful 2006 state attorney general campaign. Johnson has also written for the gay blog Towleroad.
“Since I was 17 years old, I’ve always been engaged and involved in political advocacy and working for non-profits to try to affect real change in the world,” he said.
Johnson said he does not have any higher political aspirations if elected to the City Council.
“My goal is just to be on the City Council,” he said. “My sole focus is to be elected to the City Council and be the best Council member possible in the West Side of Manhattan with all the neighborhoods that encompass this district.”
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate next week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
Local
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
Rayceen Pendarvis to moderate Dupont Underground panel on Sunday
LGBTQ groups in D.C. and elsewhere plan to use Black History Month as an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate Black lives and experiences.
Team Rayceen Productions has no specific events planned, but co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis will attend many functions around D.C. this month.
Pendarvis, a longtime voice in the LGBTQ community in D.C. moderated a panel at Dupont Underground on Feb. 8. The event, “Every (Body) Wants to Be a Showgirl,” will feature art from Black burlesque artists from around the country. Pendarvis on Feb. 23 will attend the showing of multimedia play at the Lincoln Theatre that commemorates the life of James Baldwin.
Equality Virginia plans to prioritize Black voices through a weekly online series, and community-based story telling. The online digital series will center Black LGBTQ voices, specifically trailblazers and activists, and contemporary Black queer and transgender people.
Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director, stressed the importance of the Black queer community to the overall Pride movement, and said “Equality Virginia is proud to center those voices in our work this month and beyond.”
The Capital Pride Alliance, which hosts Pride events in D.C., has an alliance with the Center for Black Equity, which brings Black Pride to D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. The National LGBTQ Task Force has no specific Black History Month events planned, but plans to participate in online collaborations.
Cathy Renna, the Task Force’s director of communications, told the Washington Blade the organization remains committed to uplifting Black voices. “Our priority is keeping this at the forefront everyday,” she said.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is also hosting a series of Black History Month events.
The D.C. Public Library earlier this year launched “Freedom and Resistance,” an exhibition that celebrates Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. It will remain on display until the middle of March at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St., N.W.
District of Columbia
U.S. Attorney’s Office drops hate crime charge in anti-gay assault
Case remains under investigation and ‘further charges’ could come
D.C. police announced on Feb. 9 that they had arrested two days earlier on Feb. 7 a Germantown, Md., man on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation after the man allegedly assaulted a gay man at 14th and Q Streets, N.W., while using “homophobic slurs.”
But D.C. Superior Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., which prosecutes D.C. violent crime cases, charged the arrested man only with simple assault without a hate crime designation.
In response to a request by the Washington Blade for the reason why the hate crime designation was dropped, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office provided this response: “We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them.”
In a statement announcing the arrest in this case, D.C. police stated, “On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and continued walking,” the statement says.
“The suspect assaulted the victim and used homophobic slurs,” the police statement continues. “The suspect was apprehended by responding officers.”
It adds that 26-year-old Dean Edmundson of Germantown, Md. “was arrested and charged with Simple Assault (Hate/Bias).” The statement also adds, “A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”
Under D.C.’s Bias Related Crime Act of 1989, penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice against individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and homelessness can be enhanced by a court upon conviction by one and a half times greater than the penalty of the underlying crime.
Prosecutors in the past both in D.C. and other states have said they sometimes decide not to include a hate crime designation in assault cases if they don’t think the evidence is sufficient to obtain a conviction by a jury. In some instances, prosecutors have said they were concerned that a skeptical jury might decide to find a defendant not guilty of the underlying assault charge if they did not believe a motive of hate was involved.
A more detailed arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police in Superior Court appears to support the charge of a hate crime designation.
“The victim stated that they refused to High-Five Defendant Edmondson, which, upon that happening, Defendant Edmondson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim, “bald, ugly, and gay,” the arrest affidavit states.
“The victim stated that upon being called that, Defendant Edmundson pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push,” the affidavit continues. “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay,” it says.
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