Local
Stein Club unable to endorse in 3 Council races
Graham, Bonds finish second to challengers
Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), a four-term incumbent, failed to secure a Stein Club endorsement Wednesday night. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political organization, was unable to make an endorsement in three of the five City Council races it considered Wednesday night when no candidate in three of the contests was able to capture a required 60 percent of the vote from more than 140 members in attendance.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), a longtime supporter of the LGBT community, easily won the club’s endorsement in his re-election bid after beating Democratic challenger Calvin Gurley by a vote of 120 to 13.
“I’m pleased and honored,” Mendelson told the Blade after the vote. “I’m very proud of my record on LGBT issues, not the least of which is marriage equality,” he said. “I’ve tried to be very supportive and I appreciate the support in return.”
Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) also won the club’s endorsement by beating Democratic challenger Kathy Henderson by a vote of 124 to 13. A third candidate running in the April 1 Democratic primary for the Ward 5 Council seat, Carolyn Steptoe, didn’t attend the forum.
Brianne Nadeau (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
In a development that surprised some club members, challenger Brianne Nadeau finished ahead of gay Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), a four-term incumbent, by a vote of 70 to 64, with one person voting for no endorsement. Although Nadeau’s supporters called the outcome a victory for her, the vote total came nowhere near the 60 percent threshold needed for an endorsement.
Graham’s supporters, including former Stein Club President Kurt Vorndran, said the close vote between Nadeau and Graham didn’t reflect the true sentiment of LGBT voters, whom they said would vote overwhelmingly for Graham in the April 1 primary.
Nadeau supporters dispute that assessment, saying the Ward 1 civic activist and former Advisory Neighborhood Commission member has emerged as Graham’s strongest challenger in years.
The voting took place after incumbents and challengers running for Council seats in Wards 1, 5 and 6; an at-large seat; and the position of Council Chair gave opening remarks and answered questions from the audience.
Many of the questions were about non-LGBT issues, highlighting what some Stein Club members said was the perception that LGBT issues may no longer be a key factor because nearly all candidates running for public office in D.C. support LGBT equality.
Close to 200 people attended what the Stein Club called a combined endorsement meeting and candidate forum, which was held at Unity of Washington Church at 1225 R St., N.W.
In yet another surprise to some of the attendees, challenger Nate Bennett-Fleming, who holds the position of shadow U.S. Representative, finished ahead of incumbent Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large) by a vote of 68 to 51 in a run-off ballot.
In the first ballot vote, Bennett-Fleming beat Bonds by a vote of 60 to 53. Challengers John Settles and Pedro Rubio came in third and fourth with 14 votes and 12 votes respectively.
In the Ward 6 race, Democratic activist Charles Allen, former chief of staff for Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), finished ahead of Darrel Thompson, a former chief of staff for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), by a vote of 68 to 65. Both have expressed strong support for LGBT rights and have worked on LGBT issues in their previous jobs.
Similar to the Ward 1 and At-Large races, the vote spread between Allen and Thompson was too close to give Allen the 60 percent margin he needed for an endorsement.
“When you have these endorsement processes it’s about who can bring their people out and who can electrify their constituency – and I think everyone did that,” said Earl Fowlkes, a member of the Democratic National Committee from D.C. and Stein Club member who served as moderator at the forum.
“That’s why there were these close races,” he said. “The people that are involved believe their candidate is better and they came out on a cold winter night and stayed for two ballots.”
Fowlkes said the club shouldn’t be disappointed in the lack of endorsements in the three Council races because the division in the vote reflects the sentiment of the club’s members.
Calvin Gurley (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
All of the candidates speaking at the forum except Gurley, Mendelson’s challenger, expressed strong support for LGBT rights and promised, if elected, to be an advocate for the LGBT community.
Gurley, who received a “0” rating from the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, spoke mostly about non-LGBT issues, saying he is committed to cleaning up corruption and waste in the city, which he said would benefit all residents, including LGBT people.
GLAA said it gave Gurley a 0 rating because he didn’t return the group’s questionnaire and it had no knowledge of his view on LGBT issues. At the forum, Gurley said he never received the questionnaire. GLAA President Rick Rosendall has said the group is meticulous in making sure that questionnaires are mailed or emailed to the addresses the candidates submit to the Board of Elections when they file papers to run.
During a period of discussion among club members following the forum, speakers appeared to be equally divided in their support between Graham and Nadeau.
Lesbian activist Barbara Helmick, a longtime Ward 1 resident, praised Graham for his long record of support on LGBT issues but said it was time for “new blood” on the Council.
“Let’s give the new gal a chance,” she said, in urging fellow club members to vote for Nadeau.
Patricia Hawkins, former deputy director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, told of her work with Graham during the years he served as director of Whitman-Walker at the height of the AIDS epidemic and prior to his election on to the Council.
“He’s an important asset to our community and every community,” she said.
The Stein Club is scheduled to hold a similar endorsement meeting and candidate forum on March 6 for the eight Democratic candidates running for mayor, including Mayor Gray. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, 474 Ridge St., N.W.
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 this 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. will be moderating a panel at Dupont Underground on Sunday. 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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