Local
Stein Club election challenged by losing faction
Outgoing officers call special meeting to consider invalidating victory by new members
Lateefah Williams (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The officers of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club announced on Wednesday that the club will hold a special membership meeting on Dec. 19 to consider invalidating its Dec. 3 election in which three new members won three of the club’s five officer positions.
In a development that stunned many of the club’s longtime members, at least 46 mostly young LGBT activists who joined the club less than a week prior to the election appeared to have lined up enough votes to defeat Stein President Lateefah Williams and her two vice presidential running mates, seemingly gaining control of the club.
But this week, several unidentified club members came forward to challenge the election of the three new officers on grounds that the home address for 11 of the new members who voted in the election couldn’t be confirmed, according to a memorandum prepared by an attorney advising the club on the challenges.
The memorandum by Donald R. Dinan, general counsel to the D.C. Democratic State Committee, says the club also could not verify whether another six of the new members qualified for a special membership category under which they joined at a discounted membership fee of $15. The regular membership fee is $35.
Under the club’s bylaws, the special membership is restricted to “senior citizens, students and limited income” members.
“Providing an incorrect or false address would be grounds for disqualifying a voter,” Dinan states in his memo. “Likewise, if one were to misrepresent their status in order to qualify for Special Membership and pay the lower dues, that representation could likewise disqualify the voter.”
Dinan added, “In this case, the number of questionable votes is greater than the margin of victory in each of the three races.”
The challenge to the election comes after a number of longtime Stein Club members expressed outrage that a group of newcomers, most of whom had never attended a club meeting, managed to wrest control of the club from its established officers and members.
Supporters of the new crop of members point out that the club’s rules and bylaws do not prevent people from joining the club immediately prior to an election of officers.
Martin Garcia (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The new members were led by gay political consultant Martin Garcia, 27, who defeated Williams for the club’s presidency by a vote of 47 to 45. Garcia is an account manager for the D.C. based political consulting firm The Campaign Workshop. He worked for three years on election campaigns for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund prior to starting his current job in January.
Angela Peoples, 26, a policy analyst for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, beat club backed candidate Jon Mandel, a staff assistant to D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), by a vote of 47 to 44. The two competed for the post of vice president for legislative and political affairs.
Vincent Villano, 26, communications director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, defeated club backed candidate Hassan Naveed, a public relations firm staffer and vice chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, by a vote of 48 to 41. If he withstands the election challenge, Villano would become the club’s vice president for administration.
“We are disappointed that the Stein leadership intends to challenge new members who want to contribute to Stein’s growth,” Garcia said in a statement released Wednesday night.
“Stein’s membership rolls nearly doubled because of our recruitment efforts, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
“These new members are young people, people of color, and people from low-income backgrounds who were otherwise not engaged in Stein’s activities…We should be having a special meeting celebrating these new members, and finding ways to engage them.”
Villano said the Stein Club officers who called the special meeting with just a week’s notice appear to have violated the club’s bylaws, which require a two-week advance notice of a special meeting.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the club said its officers voted to call the special meeting to address the challenges to the election “brought by Stein Club members,” whom the release did not identify. The release said any officer whose election may be impacted by the special meeting did not vote on the question of whether the special meeting should be called. Williams, the club’s current president, is the only officer that could be affected by the special meeting.
The club’s current two vice presidents, Julius Agers and Jerome Hunt, did not run for re-election. The club’s treasurer, Barrie Daneker, and secretary, Jimmie Luthuli, were not challenged by the new members and won re-election unopposed.
Dinan said that because the club election was held by secret ballot there is no way of knowing how each member voted.
“Therefore, the number of voters whose addresses and/or Special membership status cannot be confirmed substantially affected the outcome of the election and would be grounds for invalidating the election,” Dinan states in his memo.
Dinan told the Blade in a telephone interview Wednesday night that his memo is not a fact-finding document and that it is the responsibility of the club and its members to determine whether the membership status and addresses of the new members in question are valid.
He said it is also up to the club to decide whether membership category and residential address issues are sufficient grounds for invalidating the election.
The club’s bylaws do not have a residency requirement, and supporters of the new officers say it should not matter whether the new members submitted their correct address on the membership application form.
Kurt Vorndran, a former Stein Club president, said he supports the decision by the officers to call the special meeting. But he said members participating in the meeting should be cautious about what action they take.
“Many club members are unhappy about the way the slate won the election,” he said. “But the question before the special meeting will be if any rules of the club were broken, not about what we think of the election tactics of one side.”
The special meeting is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. in Room 120 of the John A. Wilson Building at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Ward 8 gay Democratic activist and longtime Stein Club member Phil Pannell, who supported Garcia’s bid for the club presidency, said the club’s bylaws and rules don’t define or provide a process for determining whether a member qualifies for a low-income membership.
“Never in the history of the club has a member’s claim to be low income been questioned,” Pannell said. “If this isn’t handled right it could lead to the destruction of the club.”
District of Columbia
GLAA releases ratings for 18 candidates running for D.C. mayor, Council, AG
Mayoral contender Janeese Lewis Geroge among those receiving highest score
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George, a Democrat, is among just four candidates to receive the highest rating score of +10 from GLAA D.C. who are competing in the city’s June 16 primary election.
GLAA, formally known as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, has rated candidates for public office in D.C. since the 1970s. It rated 18 of the 36 candidates on this year’s primary ballot for mayor, D.C. Council, and D.C. attorney general based on its policy of only rating candidates who return a GLAA questionnaire asking for their positions on a wide range of issues, most of which are not LGBTQ-specific.
Among the candidates who did not return the questionnaire and thus did not receive a rating, according to GLAA, was Democratic mayoral contender Kenyan McDuffie, who along with Lewis George, is considered by political observers to be one of the two leading mayoral candidates running in the Democratic primary.
Lewis George and McDuffie, who each have long records of support for the LGBTQ community, are among a total of eight candidates running for mayor on the June 16 primary ballot: seven Democrats and one Statehood Green Party candidate. In addition to Lewis George, GLAA rated just two other mayoral candidates. Rini Sampath, a Democrat who self identifies as queer, received a +6.5 rating, and Ernest E. Johnson, also a Democrat, received a +4.5 rating
Under the GLAA rating system, candidate ratings range from a +10, the highest score, to a -10, the lowest possible score. In its ratings for the June 16 primary, the lowest score issued was +4.5. GLAA said in a statement that each of the 18 candidates it rated expressed strong support for LGBTQ-related issues in their questionnaire responses, indicating that the overall rating scores reflect the candidates’ positions on mostly non-LGBTQ-specific issues.
The three other candidates who received a +10 GLAA rating are each running as Democrats for the Ward 1 D.C. Council seat. They include gay candidate Miguel Trindade Deramo; Aparna Raj, who identifies as bisexual; and LGBTQ ally Rashida Brown. The only other Ward 1 candidate rated by GLAA is LGBTQ ally Terry Lynch, who received a +5.5 rating.
Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker, the Council’s only gay member who is facing two opponents in the Democratic primary, received a +7 GLAA rating. The two challengers did not return the questionnaire and were not rated.
“In seven out of 10 of our priorities, every candidate indicated agreement,” GLAA said in its statement to the Washington Blade in referring to the candidates it rated. “Total consensus on core issues signals that whomever is elected to Council and mayor, we should expect to hold our elected officials accountable to our goals of protecting home rule, resisting federal overreach, advancing transgender healthcare rights, and eliminating chronic homelessness in the District,” the statement says.
“While candidates agree on the basics, they distinguish themselves in the depth and creativity in their responses, and their record on the issues,” according to the statement, which adds that candidates’ full questionnaire responses and ratings can be accessed on the GLAA website, glaa.org.
Like past election years, GLAA does not rate candidates running for the D.C. Congressional Delegate seat or the so-called “shadow” U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate seats.
With the exception of one question asking about transgender rights, none of the other nine of the 10 questionnaire questions are LGBTQ-specific. But most of the questions mention that LGBTQ people are impacted by the issues being raised, such as affordable housing, federal government intrusion into D.C. home rule, and access to healthcare and public benefits for low-income residents.
One of the questions asks candidates if they support decriminalization of sex work in D.C. among consenting adults, which GLAA supports. Lewis George is among the candidates who said they do not support sex work decriminalization at this time. The other two mayoral candidates that GLAA rated, Sampath and Johnson, said they support sex work decriminalization.
In the race for D.C. attorney general, GLAA issued a rating for just one of the three candidates running: Republican challenger Manuel Rivera, who received a +4.5 rating. Incumbent Democrat Brian Schwalb and Democratic challenger J.P. Szymkowicz were not rated because they didn’t return the questionnaire.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D), who is running unopposed in the primary, received a +6.5 rating. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who is facing three Democratic challengers in the primary and who is a longtime LGBTQ ally, received a +6.5 rating.
In the special election to fill the at-large D.C. Council seat vacated by the resignation of then-Independent Councilmember McDuffie to enable him to run for mayor as a Democrat, GLAA has rated two of the three Independent candidates competing for the seat. Elissa Silverman received a +5.75 rating, and Doni Crawford received a +5.6 rating.
Finally, in the At-Large D.C. Council race GLAA issued ratings for five of the 11 candidates running in the primary, each of whom are Democrats. Oye Owolewa received a +9; Lisa Raymond, +7.5; Dwight Davis, +6.5; Dyana N.M. Forester, +6; and Fred Hill, +6.6.
The full list of GLAA-rated candidates and their detailed questionnaire responses can be accessed at glaa.org.
Rehoboth Beach
From the Capitol to the coast: Rep. Sarah McBride shares Rehoboth favorites
As summer kicks off, Congresswoman Sarah McBride shares her favorite Rehoboth spots.
Each year for the past 19 years, the Washington Blade has kicked off the summer season with a quintessential tradition — a party in Rehoboth Beach. The annual celebration is well known among Blade readers as the unofficial start of summer and beach season. (This year’s event is May 15, 5-7 p.m. at Diego’s featuring remarks from Ashley Biden.)
Two weeks ago, the Blade sat down with Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, to discuss her first year in office. While reflecting on key milestones and challenges ahead, she also shared some of her favorite Rehoboth spots and what the beach town means to her.
“I love Rehoboth,” the state’s sole House member told the Blade, beaming from her office in the Longworth House Office Building. “I love Baltimore Avenue, and love going to Aqua and the Pines.”
Both Aqua and the Pines have long served as staples of Rehoboth’s LGBTQ community. From the Saturday night lines stretching down the street off the main drag to the Sunday tea dances, the venues have helped cement Rehoboth as one of the top LGBTQ beach destinations in the United States dating back to at least the 1940s, when LGBTQ federal workers would escape the pressures — and often prying eyes — of Washington for a queer haven along the Delaware coast.
While attitudes and the community itself have evolved over the decades, Rehoboth today can still feel like an extension of D.C. — only with more Speedos and sandy flip-flops. Conversations that begin in Washington about politics and nightlife often continue beachside, shifting from “What’s Bunker’s theme tonight?” to “Who’s DJing at Aqua?”
When asked where she likes to dine in town, McBride highlighted one longtime favorite while also teasing a new addition she’s eager to try.
“Drift Seafood and Raw Bar is one of my favorite restaurants,” she said. “I actually ran into a Rehoboth restaurateur the other day while I was at Longwood Gardens for the tulips — which were beautiful. The restaurateur just opened a new restaurant on the south end of Baltimore Avenue that I’m excited to try. It sounds like an Indian fusion restaurant.”
When asked whether she frequents Poodle Beach — the longtime LGBTQ section of the shoreline — McBride shared that she prefers a quieter stretch of sand a bit farther north of Rehoboth’s gay beach scene.
“I usually go to Deauville, which is just north. It’s right there in between the boardwalk and Gordon’s Pond and North Shores.”
Regardless of where she chooses to unwind from the pressures of Washington and Dover, McBride was clear about how much both Rehoboth and Delaware mean to her.
“I love Rehoboth. I love the restaurants there. This is the professional privilege of my lifetime, getting to represent Delaware.”
“One of the things that I love is seeing how much goodness there is in this state,” she shared. “I represent more people in the House of Representatives than any other representative. Unlike most members who represent exclusively urban, suburban, or rural districts, I represent all three. Delaware demographically looks like America.”
She went on to say that representing a state whose demographics closely mirror the country as a whole gives her hope for the future — something that can at times feel elusive within the often-divisive halls of Congress.
“That means every day that I’m here, and every time Delawareans come to visit me, I get to see the full diversity of this country and this state on display. I get to see the goodness across that diversity, whether it’s diversity of identity or diversity of thought. It makes me even prouder to represent a state that time and time again judges candidates not based on their identities, but based on their ideals.”
She ended with a simple but hopeful message about her state and its people.
“Our politics are too often defined by hate. I’m glad Delaware and Delawareans are showing that a different kind of politics is possible.”
District of Columbia
Anti-LGBTQ violence prevention efforts highlighted at D.C. community fair
Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs organized May 8 event
Detailed advice on how LGBTQ people can avoid, defend themselves against, and prevent themselves and loved ones from becoming victims of violence, with a focus on domestic and intimate partner violence, was presented at a May 8 LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers Community Fair.
The event, organized by the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, included five workshop sessions and information tables set up by 14 LGBTQ-supportive organizations and D.C. government agencies or agency divisions, including the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s LGBT Liaison Unit and the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center.
Also playing a lead role in organizing the event was the D.C. LGBTQIA+ Violence Prevention and Response Team, or VPART, a coalition of D.C. officials and leaders of community-based organizations that work with the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
The event was held in meeting space in the building where the Office of LGBTQ Affairs is located at 899 N. Capitol St., N.E.
The workshop topics included de-escalation training on healthy relationships, bystander intervention, self-defense training, violence prevention grants, and suicide prevention.
“This will be a public safety and violence prevention event where community partners will educate attendees on various methods of violence intervention and trauma-informed practices,” according to a statement released by the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs prior to the start of the event.
The statement adds, “We will have live demos, interactive games, and workshops focused on strategies for self-defense, protecting vulnerable communities, increasing access to mental health resources, providing tools for recognizing domestic violence/intimate partner violence signs in intimate relationships, and assistance for substance abuse.”
Sonya Joseph, associate director of engagement for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the Washington Blade that studies have shown rates of domestic or intimate partner violence are higher in the LGBTQ community than in the community at large.
“Domestic violence and intimate partner violence are two very big prevalent issues in the LGBTQ community,” she said, adding that some of the workshops at the event would be providing “training on healthy relationships and how to recognize and prevent intimate partner violence and the signs of it.”
About 35 to 40 people attended the workshop sessions.
Experts specializing in violence impacting the LGBTQ community have said domestic violence refers to violence among people in domestic relationships that can include spouses but also siblings, parents, cousins, and other relatives. Intimate partner violence, according to the experts, refers to violence perpetuated by a partner in a romantic or dating relationship.
These D.C. based organizations or agencies that participated in the LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers event, and which can be contacted for assistance, include:
• Defend Yourself
• DC LGBTQ+ Community Center
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• Joseph’s House
• Us Helping Us, People into Living, Inc.
• MCSR (formerly known as Men Can Stop Rape)
• MPD LGBT Liaison Unit
• Volunteer Legal Advocates
• DC SAFE
• Destination Tomorrow
• D.C. Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants
• Life Enhancement Services
• ONYX Therapy Group
• U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
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