District of Columbia
Howard Univ. National Black HIV/AIDS Day forum tackles LGBTQ issues
White House officials join experts in discussion on ‘policy & care’
The director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and the White House Senior Advisor on LGBTQ+ Engagement joined two Howard University deans and three professors specializing in public health in a panel discussion on Monday in connection with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
The Feb. 7 event, called “A Dialogue on Wellness, HIV Policy & Care for the Black Community,” was held on the Howard University campus at its Interdisciplinary Research Building. Ravi Perry, professor and chair of the Howard University Department of Political Science, served as moderator of the panel session.
Perry opened the session by giving an overview of Howard University’s decades long involvement in HIV/AIDS research and medical care as well as in public policy studies related to HIV/AIDS.
“As a political scientist, I always argue that the importance of HIV care should not be limited to medical care alone,” he said. “We have to engage in policies that will ultimately lead to the changes we want to see. And that is why we are here today, to talk about those things together.”
The first two participants to speak were Harold Phillips, the current director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, and Reggie Greer, who holds the dual title of director of Priority Placement and Senior Advisor on LGBTQ+ Engagement at the White House.
The other panelists included Dr. Celia Maxwell, Associate Dean for Research at the Howard University College of Medicine; Dr. Goulda Downer, Associate Professor and Director of Howard’s National HIV Integration Project; Dr. Sandra Crewe, Dean of Howard’s School of Social Work; and Dr. Evaristus Nwulia, professor at Howard’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Medicine and a practicing psychiatrist with a specialty in HIV-related mental health.
Phillips and Greer said the White House, under the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, has been monitoring and focusing its attention on the latest developments in the fight against HIV/AIDS being conducted by federal agencies as well as the communities impacted by HIV/AIDS, including the African-American and LGBTQ communities.
Phillips, who appeared virtually on a large video screen, announced he was unable to attend in person because he had just tested positive for COVID and was still in his social isolation period. He said he was thankful that his vaccinations “were doing what they are supposed to do” and his symptoms were limited to that of a “mild cold.”
He praised Howard University for hosting the panel session and the panelists from Howard, who he noted have been involved in HIV work for many years.
“HIV remains a disproportionate risk to African Americans, and young African-American gay and bisexual men account for more new HIV infections than any other group,” Phillips told the gathering. “And HIV affects African-American heterosexual women more than women of any other race or ethnicity,” he said.
“So, while we have seen an 8 percent decrease in new HIV infections since 2015, that is not true for the Black community,” he said. “That’s why this day is still an important day so that we can work to ensure African Americans are aware of their HIV status, of the care and treatment options that will help them live longer and healthier lives and get to an undetectable viral load.”
Greer, who’s gay and who attended the event in person, said the White House staff has worked hard in the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, “to really make sure that marginalized voices, people from all parts of our communities,” including the LGBTQ and African-American communities and people with HIV, have a voice at the White House.
“This is also Black History Month, so we’re thrilled to be here not only on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day but at the beginning of Black History Month in which the Biden-Harris administration has made Black health and wellness a theme of this Black History Month,” he said.
Greer also noted that among those attending the panel session in person was Hannah Bristol, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Among the topics discussed at the event, in response to questions asked by Perry, were the reasons the panelists, including the Howard University professors and doctors, believe African Americans currently make up the highest number of new HIV infections in recent years; the best ways to address HIV/AIDS in the African-American LGBTQ community; and the impact of criminalization of HIV transmission that’s part of the laws of many states in the U.S. on efforts to curtail HIV transmission.
Crewe, the dean of Howard’s School of Social Work, said the “lack of equity” in the U.S. healthcare system in past years has played a role in African Americans being disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS.
Phillips appeared to sum up some of the concerns raised by the moderator Perry when he pointed out that only 8 percent of African Americans, according to studies, have been accessing the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP.
“So, we still have a lot of work to do in our community,” he said. “And I’m glad we are having this dialogue here and that Howard University continues to be at the forefront in trying to ensure that these messages get out to our community.”
A recording of the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day panel discussion can be accessed on Facebook.
In an official statement released at the reveal event Capital Pride Alliance described its just announced 2026 Pride theme of “Exist, Resist, Have the Audacity” as a “bold declaration affirming the presence, resilience, and courage of LGBTQ+ people around the world.”
The statement adds, “Grounded in the undeniable truth that our existence is not up for debate, this year’s theme calls on the community to live loudly and proudly, stand firm against injustice and erasure, and embody the collective strength that has always defined the LGBTQ+ community.”
In a reference to the impact of the hostile political climate, the statement says, “In a time when LGBTQ+ rights and history continue to face challenges, especially in our Nation’s Capital, where policy and public discourse shape the future of our country, together, we must ensure that our voices are visible, heard, and unapologetically centered.”
The statement also quotes Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President Ryan Bos’s message at the Reveal event: “This year’s theme is both a declaration and a demand,” Bos said. “Exist, Resist, Have Audacity! reflects the resilience of our community and our responsibility to protect the progress we’ve made. As we look toward our nation’s 250th anniversary, we affirm that LGBTQ+ people have always been and always will be part of the United States’s history, and we will continue shaping its future with strength and resolve,” he concluded.
District of Columbia
Capital Pride board member resigns, alleges failure to address ‘sexual misconduct’
In startling letter, Taylor Chandler says board’s inaction protected ‘sexual predator’
Taylor Lianne Chandler, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors since 2019 who most recently served as the board’s secretary, submitted a letter of resignation on Feb. 24 that alleges the board has failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization.
The Washington Blade received a copy of Chandler’s resignation letter one day after she submitted it from an anonymous source. Chandler, who identifies as transgender and intersex, said in an interview that she did not send the letter to the Blade, but she suspected someone associated with Capital Pride, which organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, “wants it out in the open.”
“It is with a heavy heart, but with absolute clarity, that I submit my resignation from the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors effective immediately,” Chandler states in her letter. “I have devoted nearly ten years of my life to this organization,” she wrote, pointing to her initial involvement as a volunteer and later as a producer of events as chair of the organization’s Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee.
“Capital Pride once meant something profound to me – a space of safety, visibility, and community for people who have often been denied all three,” her letter continues. “That is no longer the organization I am part of today.”
“I, along with other board members, brought forward credible concerns regarding sexual misconduct – a pattern of behavior spanning years – to the attention of this board,” Chandler states in the letter. “What followed was not accountability. What followed was retaliation. Rather than addressing the substance of what was reported, officers and fellow board members chose to chastise those of us who came forward.”
The letter adds, “This board has made its priorities clear through its actions: protecting a sexual predator matters more than protecting the people who had the courage to come forward. … I have been targeted, bullied, and made to feel like an outsider for doing what any person of integrity would do – telling the truth.”
In response to a request from the Blade for comment, Anna Jinkerson, who serves as chair of the Capital Pride board, sent the Blade a statement praising Taylor Chandler’s efforts as a Capital Pride volunteer and board member but did not specifically address the issue of alleged sexual misconduct.
“We’re also aware that her resignation letter has been shared with the media and has listed concerns,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said.
“As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “We’re doing this because the community’s experience with CPA must always be safe, affirming, empowering, and inclusive,” she added.
In an interview with the Blade, Chandler said she was not the target of the alleged sexual harassment.
She said a Capital Pride investigation identified one individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior over a period of time. But she said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that applies to all board members and she cannot disclose the name of the person implicated in alleged sexual misconduct or those who came forward to complain about it.
“It was one individual, but there was a pattern and a history,” Chandler said, noting that was the extent of what she can disclose.
“And I’ll say this,” she added. “In my opinion, with gay culture sometimes the touchy feely-ness that goes on seems to be like just part of the culture, not necessarily the same as a sexual assault or whatever. But at the same time, if someone does not want those advances and they’re saying no and trying to push you away and trying to avoid you, then it makes it that way regardless of the culture.”
When asked about when the allegations of sexual harassment first surfaced, Chandler said, “In the past year is when the allegation came forward from one individual. But in the course of this all happening, other individuals came forward and talked about instances – several which showed a pattern.”
Chandler’s resignation comes about five months after Capital Pride Alliance announced in a statement released in October 2025 that its then board president, Ashley Smith, resigned from his position on Oct. 18 after Capital Pride became aware of a “claim” regarding Smith. The statement said the group retained an independent firm to investigate the matter, but it released no further details since that time. Smith has declined to comment on the matter.
When asked by the Blade if the Smith resignation could be linked in some way to allegations of sexual misconduct, Chandler said, “I can’t make a comment one way or the other on that.”
Chandler’s resignation and allegations come after Capital Pride Alliance has been credited with playing the lead role in organizing the World Pride celebration hosted by D.C. in which dozens of LGBTQ-related Pride events were held from May through June of 2025.
The letter of resignation also came just days before Capital Pride Alliance’s annual “Reveal” event scheduled for Feb. 26 at the Hamilton Hotel in which the theme for D.C.’s June 2026 LGBTQ Pride events was to be announced along with other Pride plans.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats elect new leaders
LGBTQ political group set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Longtime Democratic Party activists Stevie McCarty and Brad Howard won election last week as president and vice president for administration for the Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political organization.
In a Feb. 24 announcement, the group said McCarty and Howard, both of whom are elected DC Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, ran in a special Capital Stonewall Democrats election to fill the two leadership positions that became vacant when the officers they replaced resigned.
Outgoing President Howard Garrett, who McCarty has replaced, told the Washington Blade he resigned after taking on a new position as chair of the city’s Ward 1 Democratic Committee. The Capital Stonewall Democrats announcement didn’t say who Howard replaced as vice president for administration.
The group’s website shows its other officers include Elizabeth Mitchell as Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs, and Monica Nemeth as Treasurer. The officer position of secretary is vacant, the website shows.
“As we look toward 2026, the stakes for D.C. and for LGBTQ+ communities have never been clearer,” the group’s statement announcing McCarty and Howard’s election says. “Our 50th anniversary celebration on March 20 and the launch of our D.C. LGBTQ+ Voter’s Guide mark the beginning of a major year for endorsements, organizing, and coalition building,” the statement says.
McCarty said among the organization’s major endeavors will be holding virtual endorsement forums where candidates running for D.C. mayor and the Council will appear and seek the group’s endorsement.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to Capital Stonewall Democrats. McCarty said the 50th anniversary celebration on March 20, in which D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council are expected to attend, will be held at the PEPCO Gallery meeting center at 702 8th St., N.W.
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