Three of four candidates running in the city’s June 21 Democratic primary for mayor and two of the three candidates running in the primary for the office of D.C. Attorney General cited what they each said was their strong record of support on LGBTQ related issues at a May 2 LGBTQ candidates forum.

The forum was the third in a series of five LGBTQ candidate forms organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest local LGBTQ political organization.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter whose administration includes more out LGBTQ appointees than any previous D.C. mayor, did not attend the Monday night forum due to an apparent scheduling conflict.

Bowser instead attended a Ward 3 “Meet & Greet” reception for the mayor co-organized by gay Democratic activist Kurt Vorndran at a restaurant in the city’s Tenleytown neighborhood. Vorndran said the event was scheduled before he received word that Capital Stonewall Democrats would be holding its mayoral forum at the same time and date.

Those attending the Stonewall mayoral forum included the three other mayoral candidates on the June 21 primary ballot — D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large), D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), and former trial attorney and civil rights advocate James Butler.

The three mayoral candidates responded to a wide range of questions asked by forum moderator John Riley ranging from LGBTQ housing and homeless related services, anti-LGBTQ violence, special needs for LGBTQ seniors and youth, and the continuing higher rate of HIV infection among black men who have sex with men, MSM.

The candidates also addressed additional issues pertaining to all city residents, including gun violence and public safety, the shortage of affordable housing, whether the city’s public school system should remain under mayoral control, and whether sex work should be decriminalized. Several local LGBTQ and transgender rights organizations have expressed support for decriminalization of sex work.

As he had when the issue came before the D.C. Council in a public hearing, Robert White expressed support for decriminalizing sex work for consenting adults with continued criminalization of sex trafficking. Trayon White said he needed more time to learn about the pros and cons and decriminalization and did not have a position on the issue. Butler expressed strong opposition to decriminalization, saying it would lead to more sex trafficking by pimps.

Trayon White said he favors ending the current mayoral control over the public school system and Robert White said he wants an “independent” school superintendent no longer under the control of the mayor. Butler said he supports retaining the current mayoral control over the school system.

Two of the three D.C. attorney general candidates participated in the attorney general part of Monday’s night’s forum. Those participating included longtime D.C. attorneys Bruce V. Spiva and Ryan L. Jones. The third candidate running in the primary for the attorney general position, local attorney and law firm official Brian Schwalb, did not attend the forum. Schwalb has been endorsed by current D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who is not running for re-election.

Jones and Spiva each said they have supported LGBTQ equality in representing LGBTQ clients in discrimination cases. The two said they would push hard for the enforcement of the city’s Human Rights Act that bans discrimination against LGBTQ people and other minorities if elected attorney general.

Similar to past D.C. elections, each of the Democratic mayoral and attorney general candidates expressed strong support for the LGBTQ community.

Longtime D.C. gay rights activist Phil Pannell, who said he watched most of the Monday night mayoral and attorney general forum, said this year’s city election was continuing D.C.’s longstanding status of fostering candidates running for public office who strongly back LGBTQ equality. Like other activists, Pannell said this gives LGBTQ voters the “luxury” of choosing which candidates to support based on other important issues.

The next Capital Stonewall Democrats forum, scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, will be for the city’s Ward 1 and Ward 5 D.C. Council races. The Stonewall group will hold its fifth and final forum on Wednesday, May 11, for the D.C. Council Chair and at-large Council races.

A video recording of the May 2 forum can be accessed here.
 
Following is a Washington Blade transcript of the opening statements of each of the mayoral and attorney general candidates participating in the Capital Stonewall Democrats virtual forum on May 2:

Mayoral Candidates

Robert White

Thank you so much. I’m very excited to be here. I’m Robert White. I’m a father, a husband, an at-large Council member and a fifth generation Washingtonian. So, I grew up in D.C. like so many other people in a family that struggled to get by decade after decade, generation after generation. But my life took a very important turn when I was young. I was 8 years old. I lost my mom to breast cancer. And just a month later I was in a near fatal car accident myself and it left me out of school recovering so long that I fell tragically behind at school.

I failed the third grade. I could not catch up still and actually failed every single grade from third grade to tenth grade. Now what happened to me is what happened to so many young people who fall behind in school. I was labeled a troublemaker and I was treated that way. And at a time when I needed people to step up for me, most people counted me out.

But ten years after my tenth grade a guidance counselor told me that I would never go to college. I was a lawyer sitting beside Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton fighting on Capitol Hill for D.C. residents. To get from where I was to where I am now, I had to learn to become a problem solver. And that skill set is a skill set that I have brought the past fifteen years working in all three branches of government and both the federal and local government.

It’s how I helped deliver for D.C. on Capitol Hill with Congresswoman Norton. It’s how I helped deliver for D.C. residents when I worked in the Office of the Attorney General under Attorney General Karl Racine. And it’s how I’ve delivered for D.C. residents as a Council member. I have focused on affordable housing, workforce development, on helping our returning citizens, and on education.

I have been a national leader on childhood education. I have fought outside the box in ways to address our affordable housing crisis. And I’ve made the District of Columbia the first jurisdiction in the nation to expand voting rights to all incarcerated residents, who never should have lost the right to vote.

Today I’m asking for your vote because we need a problem solver as mayor. And that’s the mayor I will be.

James Butler

Thank you so much. And thank you to the Capital Stonewall Democrats. And thank you for my opponent, Robert. I’m seeing way too much of you these days, almost on a daily basis. But thank you for all you do to further the ends of democracy for these organizations, Capital Stonewall Democrats.

I’m James Butler. And I’m running to be D.C.’s next mayor. As many of you know, or you probably know, I’m a former trial lawyer and former ANC commissioner. I have sued state governments. I have sued municipalities. I have fought for justice and equality around the country my entire adult life. I currently am an advocate before the EEOC and the Office of Human Rights. I want to depart from my normal introduction since I am the only candidate that does not hold a public office right now and share with you what I’ve done over the last decade and what I continue to do in some of the LGBTQ spaces.

I have just recently did a forum on Capitol Hill at Henry’s focused on LGBTQ rights. That was moderated by Sterling Washington, who is Vincent Gray’s former LGBTQ Affairs Director. I’ve also been a volunteer and continue to be a volunteer for Whitman-Walker. I started in the days volunteering with Whitman-Walker when you could go up to the counter and just submit a dollar in your donation that way when they were in the Elizabeth Taylor Building. So, for nearly 20 years I’ve done that and still continue to do that today.

Presently, as an advocate before OHR [D.C. Office of Human Rights] I represent transgender persons, persons that are brining aggrievement based on gender identity and gender discrimination. I am committed to the fight. I will continue to be committed to the fight. And I appreciate you all having the name Capital Stonewall Democrats, because I’ve actually been to the Stonewall Inn in New York. I will continue to fight for justice and equality until the day I die.

Trayon White

Thank you. I want to thank everyone who joined tonight. I want to thank Capital Stonewall Democrats for your leadership and all the other organizations that have joined us tonight about this very important election that can change the trajectory of Washington, D.C. My name is Trayon White. I was born and raised here in Washington, D.C. My history has been fighting for those who are disadvantaged, and that includes those left without having a voice in D.C., for over 18 years. And as a result, people of D.C. have elected me to be a Council member here in the great Ward 8.

What I do know as a resident and a citizen of D.C., with a $20 billion budget, the money is not reaching everybody in an equitable way, not just in money but in resources and government accountability. And as a result, I have fought back and forth about tickets, lack of access to services, educational issues, housing insecurities. And so instead of me complaining about the problem, my job has become a solution to the problem. So, I put my name on the ballot to represent the entire D.C., especially for those who don’t feel they have a voice to make sure we have equity and inclusion. When the city has been growing tremendously every year but there are a lot of us in D.C. that don’t feel that growth. And so, our campaign has been a people’s campaign, giving people power and putting people over politics. So, my history has been fighting for several marginalized populations, especially the LGBTQ in D.C.

And as a result, we started a Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, with several organizations joining us, like the [inaudible] collaborative, Check It, Casa Ruby, SMYAL, Whitman-Walker Clinic, Mega Health, Bridge Project, THR Logistics, and the Anacostia Coordinating Council. So, we are excited to join you guys tonight to have this intensive dialogue on how we can help move D.C. along. My name is Trayon White. And I’m running for mayor. I hope to get your support on the ballot June 21, 2022. Thank you.

D.C. Attorney General Candidates

Ryan L. Jones

Thank you for having me. I feel honored and this is a privilege for me to be here. I enjoy sharing the stage with my colleagues and I relish the opportunity to tell you a little about myself. My name is Ryan Jones. However, I’m running because I know that it’s possible to create change that’s necessary…for all District residents. I’m certain today that many folks woke up in a single-family home under the comfort of warm sheets with the certainty that a meal could be had in the morning, while many others didn’t wake up with those same conditions.

And I want to create a balanced creative polity that allows each resident to [inaudible] some semblance of what most residents or many residents do have. We have the issues of food insecurity, lack of education opportunities, lack of opportunities to enjoy jobs that pay for all of the nice things that allow us to live wonderful lives…And I know that laws make a difference to allow us all to enjoy these things. And that’s a part of the reason why I’m running.

Since 2020, things have changed, with new conditions and a new reality. We’re on Zoom as opposed to in-person because of what was created, because of the pandemic. And I know that has exacerbated conditions. And I’m looking forward to creating and sharing a vision which strives to cure the disparity that’s been spiking and causing other problems like crime and homelessness and people being put out without the opportunity to succeed…As Attorney General you have the ability to allow these responsibilities to come to fruition. I look forward to our discussion to share our opportunity to get that done.

Bruce V. Spiva

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. My name is Bruce Spiva and I’m running for D.C. Attorney General. My parents grew up in the Jim Crow South and they went on to lives of service to others. And they believed strongly in the power of the law to change our lives for the better. And my father graduated from HBCU in 1954, the year that the Brown decision came down. And he was the one who really inspired me to become a lawyer.

And he instilled in me a sense of duty and courage to fight for change. And that’s what I’ve been doing these past 30 years as a civil rights lawyer fighting for housing justice, fighting for reform, including, I’m most proud, I’m very proud of the fact that I have fought for marriage equality for our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters, having submitted a brief fighting the blood rival that our brothers and sisters should not be allowed to marry because it wasn’t good for children. I submitted a brief on behalf of the American Psychological Association on that proposition.

And in truth – and I’ll be able to tell you a little bit more about this as we go on. But my consciousness on these issues was formed long ago in the 1970s when I was a kid and Anita Bryant came to town spewing that kind of hate. And my parents, I think because of the conditions that they had grown up in, in prejudice, fought strongly against that and spoke out against it. And that’s something that has stuck with me throughout my life as my consciousness grew on these issues.

I look forward to your questions tonight. And as AG, I will vigilantly enforce anti-hate laws and fight against discrimination against LGBTQ+ folks. Thanks so much.