District of Columbia
D.C. man sentenced to 7 months for attack against gay Asian man
Sentencing follows accepted plea offer
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday sentenced District resident Patrick Trebat, 39, to seven months in jail following a dramatic court hearing in which a gay Asian man, Sean Lai, described how Trebat assaulted him and his parents while shouting homophobic and anti-Asian slurs in an unprovoked attack last August on a D.C. street.
The sentencing came after Trebat pleaded guilty during the same hearing to three counts of misdemeanor simple assault, with one of the counts designated as a hate crime based on the victim’s ethnicity. The guilty plea was part of a plea bargain offer by prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C.
In exchange for Trebat accepting the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop two earlier felony charges of bias-related assault with significant bodily injury brought against Trebat in connection with the attack on Lai and his parents.
Judge Michael O’Keefe officially sentenced Trebat to 21 months of incarceration for the three charges, but suspended all but seven months of the sentence. O’Keefe also sentenced Trebat to three years of supervised probation upon his release, with the stipulation that he will be required to serve the full 21 months if he violates the terms of his probation.
Trebat, who had been released on a partial home detention order shortly after his arrest just under 10 months ago, was placed in immediate custody and escorted out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals after the conclusion of the sentencing part of the hearing to begin serving his sentence.
In delivering a victim’s impact statement in the courtroom, Lai told O’Keefe that in addition to inflicting physical injuries on him and his parents that required emergency treatment at a hospital, Trebat’s attack on his family caused deep emotional scars that continues to haunt all three of them.
He said he objects to the plea bargain deal on grounds, among other things, that it does not designate Trebat’s violent attack as a hate crime based on Lai’s sexual orientation, only on his and his parents’ ethnicity.
Court records show that Trebat attacked Lai and his elderly parents, who are of Chinese ancestry, as they were walking on a street in the city’s Observatory Circle neighborhood near where they were living and within sight of the Washington National Cathedral.
Police charging documents filed in court state that Trebat called the three victims “faggots” and shouted, “You are not Americans” as he approached them while they were walking along the 3700 block of Fulton Street, N.W. at about 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2021. One of the documents says Trebat punched and shoved the three victims, knocking each of them to the ground, after initially punching Lai’s father in the head from behind while shouting, “Get out of my country.”
“As painful as it is to relive this moment when this atrocious attack took place, I choose to be here today because I wanted you to hear my own voice and perspective, as well as the perspective from my parents,” Lai told the judge. “The defendant attacked me and my elderly parents without provocation, motivated simply by his hatred toward our race and my sexual orientation,” Lai continued.
“But what breaks my heart the most is what was done to my parents,” he said. “I had to take them each to several orthopedics appointments over the following months. I secretly cried in my bed each night after seeing the pain that was inflicted on them and the psychological trauma that they experienced.”
Gay D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mike Silverstein followed Lai by delivering an LGBTQ community impact statement before the court on behalf of the city’s ANC LGBTQ Rainbow Caucus, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, and what Silverstein said was Lai’s request that he speak on behalf of the Asian and Pacific Islander community.
“Thank you, Your Honor, for the opportunity to give this victim’s impact statement,” Silverstein said. “And please forgive me for the next 13 words, which were not mine,” he said.
“’Fuck you bitch!’ ‘Faggot!’ ‘You are not Americans! Get out of this country!’”
“Those were the 13 words Patrick Trebat shouted at Sean Lai and his elderly mother and father just before Mr. Trebat physically attacked them without provocation,” said Silverstein as courtroom spectators listened intently.
“As members of the LGBT+ community, we feel this was an attack on every one of us,” Silverstein continued. “It was a direct attack on our right to exist and to live openly in the District of Columbia. We respectfully ask the court to issue the maximum jail sentence so that our community can feel that we are protected, and that we need not live in fear that those who would do us harm will get off easy,” he said.
After asking Trebat to confirm that he fully understands and agrees to the terms of the plea offer, O’Keefe invited Trebat to give his own statement just prior to the sentencing.
Trebat, who was dressed in a suit and tie, offered his “deepest apologies” to Lai and Lai’s parents, who were not present in the courtroom. Trebat said he was intoxicated on alcohol and drugs at the time of the incident and had no recollection of what happened.
“I was legitimately out of my mind that night,” the told the judge. He said alcohol and prescription drugs caused him to engage in “stupid” acts. “I am sorry for the shame I brought to my parents, to American University, and to the victims,” he added.
He was referring to his status as a graduate student at American University at the time of his arrest. The university later expelled him from his enrollment there after American University students protested that he had initially been allowed to continue his studies following a hate crime arrest.
“This event was not personal. I ’m not a racist,” he said. “I take full accountability for what happened. I’m a changed person.”
Trebat’s attorney, Brandi Harden, asked O’Keefe to sentence Trebat to only a suspended jail term and a stringent term of probation rather than incarceration, saying that he suffers from and has long been treated for mental health issues, which would be worsened if he were to be sent to jail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Platt, the lead prosecutor in the case, expressed opposition to Harden’s request, telling the judge that Trebat was already receiving a “significant benefit” from the plea offer.
“We don’t dispute that the defendant was intoxicated,” Platt said. But he added that the plea deal includes a provision for mental health and substance abuse treatment and that Trebat needs to be held responsible for his actions.
“This was part of hate crimes against Asians across the country,” Platt told O’Keefe before providing statistics of the violent hate crime attacks against Asian Americans nationwide. “This type of attack will not be tolerated,” he said.
Although Platt acknowledged that Trebat also hurled homophobic slurs at Lai and his parents during the attack, he did not explain why prosecutors chose not to include a hate crime designation pertaining to sexual orientation in the plea bargain offer.
“I believe he is remorseful,” O’Keefe said in handing down his sentence. “But there has to be some punishment,” he said. “You have been shamed, and that is part of the penalty,” O’Keefe added. “It was your own actions that brought this on … I think this sentence strikes a good balance.”
In response to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on why prosecutors decided to reduce the severity of the charges against Trebat through the plea agreement and did not include sexual orientation in the hate crime designation, U.S. Attorney spokesperson William Miller sent a brief statement to the Blade.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office thoroughly investigated and analyzed the facts and circumstances of this case and provided what we determined to be an appropriate plea offer,” the statement says. “We extend a plea offer in almost every case charged in Superior Court,” it says.
“The plea offer extended in this case included a bias enhancement,” the statement continues. “Our office is committed to fully prosecuting bias-related crimes and held this defendant accountable for his appalling conduct.”
The texts of the victim’s impact statement delivered in court by Lai and the community impact statement given by Silverstein can be viewed below:
U.S. v. Trebat
Victim Impact Statement
By: Sean Xiangwen Lai
Your Honor,
Thank you for the opportunity to give my victim impact statement. I have gathered the courage to stand before you today at this hearing, to tell the court and my community about the defendant’s assault on me and my elderly parents, and the suffering we have endured as a result of his horrific actions. As painful as it is to relive the moment when this atrocious attack took place, I choose to be here today because I wanted you to hear my own voice and perspective, as well as the perspective from my parents.
The defendant attacked me and my elderly parents without provocation, motivated simply by his hatred toward our race and my sexual orientation. We were walking on the streets of our neighborhood, enjoying our time outdoors during this unprecedented time when being outside of our home was a small joy of which we could take advantage. We were defenseless, feeling what we thought was secure so close to our home, when he assaulted us, beating up my parents and me. I am here today to tell the court in person that a man who would do this to an innocent family deserves the maximum prison sentence and does not deserve the leniency he has already received from the plea bargain offered by the prosecutors, which my family and I have expressed is very disappointing.
Last August, my parents and I were taking a walk in our neighborhood, very near our home. It was a beautiful Saturday night, but little did we know that our lives would be changed forever that night. “Fuck you bitch! Faggot! You are not Americans! Get out of this country!” were the words the defendant yelled at us before he punched my dad in his head with a closed fist from behind causing him to fall to the ground. When my mom and I hurried over to help my dad, the defendant attacked us as well. As a result of the fall my dad took when the defendant attacked him, my dad suffered a fracture to the bone of his left wrist and both of his knees were injured; my right pinky finger was fractured; and my mom’s right shoulder muscle was torn. All of us had bruises and cuts on all over our bodies. He appeared to get scared as I started yelling loudly for help on our quiet neighborhood street. He stopped attacking us and attempted to leave. As he was trying to flee the scene, I yelled at him: “This is a hate crime. You are not getting away with this.” He stopped, turned around and smirked at me saying “Oh, I will!”
This frightening image of his maliciousness and remorselessness has played repeatedly in my worst nightmares ever since. And he remained unrepentant, even after he was arrested. With blood dripping from my mouth, I tried to explain what happened to the responding police officer at the scene. Handcuffed and detained, this man was still yelling at me saying “Shut the fuck up. Drama queen!” right in front of the police officer.
Not a day goes by that what my parents and I suffered does not interfere with our lives. I had to take several weeks away from work and lost countless nights of sleep. I spoke to a therapist for several months and I am still working through the trauma inflicted on me. Even now I can feel the pain in my right pinky finger, which serves an enduring reminder I cannot ignore. I continue to live in fear for being who I am: An openly gay Asian man.
But, what breaks my heart the most is what was done to my parents. I had to take them each to several orthopedics appointments over the following months. I secretly cried in my bed each night after seeing the pain that was inflicted on them and the psychological trauma that they experienced. For a long time, my mom was afraid to even walk on the street in the middle of the day, still afraid an attack could happen at any time. My dad still has pain in his wrist and both his knees.
I strongly believe that the attacker thought that he could easily get away with what he did, avoiding any severe punishment, based on his unrepentant words and behaviors following the attack and his arrest. And the plea deal proves that it was just a slap on the wrist for the hate crime he committed against me and my elderly parents. We have repeatedly expressed the frustration on the plea deal to the prosecutors. Three counts of simple assault with only one hate crime enhancement on national origin are simply unacceptable.
Therefore, I respectfully request that the court serve justice and issue the maximum jail sentence, which I believe is the right thing to do and will show the community that unprovoked violence against defenseless members of the community will not be tolerated, and that no one in the District of Columbia should live in fear of being targeted simply because of who they are.
Thank you.
U.S. v. Trebat
Community Impact Statement
By: Mike Silverstein, ANC Commissioner
I am offering this on behalf of 16 other openly LGBT+ elected D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, and on behalf of the DC Center for LGBT. Sean Lai has asked me to speak for our community, and the AAPI community. As someone who was Bar Mitzvah at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, this takes on a special urgency to me.
Thank you, Your Honor, for the opportunity to give this victim impact statement. And please forgive me for the next 13 words, for they were not mine….
“Fuck you bitch!”
“Faggot!”
“You are not Americans! Get out of this country!”
Those were the 13 words Patrick Trebat shouted at Sean Lai and his elderly mother and father just before Mr. Trebat physically attacked them without provocation.
As they were out for a walk, the Lai family was beaten for no reason other than their race and Sean’s sexual orientation.
As members of the LGBT+ community, we feel this was an attack on every one of us. It was a direct attack on our right to exist and to live openly in the District of Columbia.
We respectfully ask the court to issue the maximum jail sentence so that our community can feel that we are protected, and that we need not live in fear that those who would do us harm will get off easy. The maximum sentence will deter others from committing this brutal crime on our community and it will show the community that it is never open season on Asian Americans or LGBT+ people or anyone.
What happened to Sean and his parents reminds our community that violence against us — for being ourselves — can happen anywhere at any time: San Francisco City Hall, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the Atlanta shooting targeting Asians, an arson fire at a queer nightclub in New York City a month ago and all those unprovoked attacks on streets and subways against Asian Americans in the past two years.
Violent hate crimes are a plague upon our nation. What’s next? The defendants’ assault on Sean and his family is part of this ongoing horror.
Despite the progress we have made as a community, the LGBT+ community is still at risk, especially minorities. Murders of trans people have reached epic proportions. And here, this unspeakable attack on an Asian American and his family began with homophobic slurs.
Sean Lai is openly and proudly gay. He is proud of his Asian heritage.
He was attacked because of who he is — and that is who we are: Members of a minority, supposedly protected by law against discrimination and violence.
This brutal attack has deeply impacted and harmed us in many ways:
What happened to Sean brought back bad memories to nearly all of us, and fear and nightmares to some of us. So many of us spent years hiding who we are for fear of rejection and out of fear for our safety. Those of us who were in the closet kept silent as members of our community were bullied or attacked.
Those who have been bullied or attacked will always remember what happened to us. It becomes a part of us. Some in our community — especially our trans siblings — often do not walk alone in parts of D.C. or at certain times of the day because they don’t feel safe unless they are with someone else. Each of us must deal with the emotional harm individually — and attacks like this one — out of the blue, on a pleasant summer evening — in the shadow of the National Cathedral — triggers us in so many ways.
We are sickened and angered by the incidents of physical violence against our community and we are tired of being overlooked or silenced. We are especially angered by the process of the criminal justice system.
To begin, this was an irrational, unprovoked attack on Sean and his family – and the community is extremely disappointed that the defendant was not detained pending the outcome of this case.
Sean and the LGBT+ community have waited months for closure in this criminal case, only to be here today to listen to a plea deal on misdemeanor charges. A victim of another hate crime in DC several years ago may have put it best, when she said, “when you bargain away the hate crime enhancement, you bargain away part of my soul.”
I also want to address the fact that, with respect to the crimes against Sean, the defendant was never charged with a hate crime enhancement with respect to sexual orientation; and, the crime that the defendant pled guilty to did not include any hate crime enhancement at all – just simple assault. Sean has repeatedly expressed to the prosecutors how important it is that the hate crime enhancements be included for both national origin and sexual orientation. Our community is disappointed that the defendant was not charged with a hate crime based on sexual orientation because a gay person was called “bitch” and “faggot,” physically assaulted, injured. If that’s not a hate crime based on sexual orientation, what is?
A sentence without significant jail time will leave members of the LGBT+ and Asian American community even more victimized, vulnerable and distrustful of the criminal justice system.
We are here today to implore the court to impose a sentence that will send a clear message that violence against people for who they are will not be tolerated.
We must stop Asian hate. We must stop violence against the LGBT+ community. We must stop violence against all people who are attacked because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or whatever. This epidemic of hatred and madness and violence is tearing our nation and our community apart. We must not live in fear, one of another.
We request a long jail sentence that shows that this court affirms the right of every person in the District of Columbia to live honestly, openly, and without fear.
We ask that the court provide justice for Sean and his family, the Asian-Pacific community, and the LGBT+ community. Thank you.
District of Columbia
Aparna Raj expected to become second LGBTQ member of D.C. Council
Winner of primary would also be first Asian American to serve on body
Ward 1 D.C. Council candidate Aparna Raj, who describes herself on her campaign website as a “renter, union member and queer woman of color,” emerged as the winner in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
She won in a five-candidate race with 52 percent of the vote in the fourth round of the vote count under the city’s newly implemented ranked choice voting system.
In a ward with an overwhelming majority of voters registered as Democrats, Raj, who identifies as bisexual, is expected to win in the November general election to become the Council’s second LGBTQ member.
She is running against two lesser-known candidates – Republican Jett James Jasper and Statehood Green Party candidate Jude Crannitch.
Her victory would mark the first time since 2015 that the Council has had two LGBTQ members. At 32, she would also become the Council’s youngest member and its first Asian-American member. She was born and raised in West Chester, Pa., in a family that came to the U.S. from India.
The current gay D.C. Council member, Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), won the June 16 Democratic primary against two lesser-known opponents with 77.5 percent of the vote and is expected to easily win re-election in the November general election.
Gay healthcare leader Jim Graham, who for many years served as executive director of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic, served as the Ward 1 Council member from 1999 to January 2015. Graham lost his re-election bid in 2014 to incumbent D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), who chose not to run for re-election this year. Graham passed away in June 2017.
Gay attorney David Catania served on the Council from 1997, when he won in a special election as a Republican, until 2015 after becoming an independent and giving up his Council seat to run for mayor in 2014. He lost his mayoral bid to incumbent D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Raj, who also identifies as a democratic socialist, is among D.C. Democratic mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George and Democratic At-Large D.C. Council candidate Oye Owolewa who are also democratic socialists and who won in the primary and are expected to win in November.
Political observers have said their primary victories and expected victories in the general election indicate many D.C. voters are seeking candidates with a perceived liberal, leftist perspective to address concerns, among other things, over the high cost of living, especially housing and rental costs.
Like nearly all candidates running for public office in D.C., those identifying as democratic socialists, especially Raj, have expressed strong support on LGBTQ issues.
Raj currently serves as communications manager for a progressive policy advocacy organization called Local Progress, which represents local elected officials throughout the country “fighting for racial and economic justice,” according to its website.
In an interview with the Washington Blade, Raj said she believes many LGBTQ D.C. residents are facing the same economic hardships as non-LGBTQ residents, and she plans to address those issues if elected.
“You know, we see it in D.C., in New York, in Philly, in Colorado, that it is getting very difficult for people to live and afford necessities like housing and childcare,” she told the Blade. “And over the past two years, where it felt like establishment Democrats on a national level were unwilling to stand with immigrants or queer and trans people, democratic socialists have been constantly fighting for everybody – for immigrants, for people of color, for queer and trans people, for women, for people who need abortions – things like that,” she said.
“I think that D.C. has done a really important and good job of trying to protect LGBTQ+ residents across D.C. in the face of the Trump administration,” Raj added.
“But I think especially with the Supreme Court decision around trans people and with just always the ongoing threat that the Trump administration could start bearing down on, like transgender affirming care and things like that, the next Council is going to have a really important task behind it to make sure that we’re trying to protect queer and trans people across D.C. as much as possible – including by making sure the Office of Human Rights has the support that they need,” she said.
Raj said the economic policies she plans to push for will help small businesses, including LGBTQ-owned businesses such as bars.
“I support making sure that workers have the stability that they need with dignified wages and with benefits,” she said. “And at the same time finding ways to cut costs for small businesses – whether exploring commercial rent stabilization, pushing back on costs of utilities, helping raise revenue by bringing back Streeteries and things like that,” she said.
The following interview has been edited for length. For the full interview, visit washingtonblade.com.
BLADE: As you may know, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which endorsed you and gay candidate Miguel Deramo in the June 16 primary, issued a statement after the primary saying they are pleased that you will likely become the first female LGBTQ member of the D.C. Council. But with that as a backdrop, are you aware of any other news media outlet aside from the Washington Blade that have identified you as an LGBTQ candidate as you self-identify on your campaign website as a queer woman of color? We are not aware of any other media reports on your LGBT identity.
RAJ: I think – I can’t list them off – but I think other publications have included the fact that I’m bi and I consider myself queer and their outreach about it.
BLADE: With that as a backdrop, where do you see things stand now going forward to the next D.C. Council session that you are expected to be on, where do you see things stand for LGBTQ residents of Ward 1 as well as citywide?
RAJ: I think that D.C. has done a really important and good job of trying to protect LGBTQ+ residents across D.C. in the face of the Trump administration. But I think especially with the recent Supreme Court decision around trans people and with just always the ongoing threat that the Trump administration could start bearing down on, like transgender affirming care and things like that, the next Council is going to have a really important task behind it to make sure that we’re trying to protect queer and trans people across D.C as much as possible – including by making sure the Office of Human Rights has the support that they need.
Trying to invest in and supporting housing vouchers, especially for LGBTQ+ youth, who are often more faced with homelessness than other youth. And that we are supporting schools and health clinics to make sure that LGBTQ+ students and patients are able to feel safe in good institutions.
BLADE: To go back to the D.C. primary election, a single Republican candidate named Jett Jasper ran unopposed for the Ward 1 Council seat. Do you know anything about him?
RAJ: Yeah, Jett and I have been in a debate back in March with all of the Democratic primary candidates … and he and I went around a little bit. So, I’ve met him.
BLADE: One of the interesting outcomes of the June 16 D.C. Democratic primary is the victories of candidates who like you and mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George — and at least two others — identify as democratic socialists. What message do you see that as providing the city?
RAJ: I think it is an important message that I think people see democratic socialist candidates as the candidates who will fight for them in the face of a cost-of-living crisis that is driving people out of D.C. and in the face of the Trump administration that’s threatening our community.
BLADE: What response do you have to those, including some in the business community, who have said the policies proposed by democratic socialist candidates would hurt the city’s economy and create budget problems that can harm a lot of people, including the LGBTQ community?
RAJ: I would say that the economic crisis that we’re seeing right now is a result of a combination of conservative, neoliberal economic policies at the local level and of the fascists in office at the federal level. You know, we are in tough economic times, not because of democratic socialism but because of rigid capitalism right now.
And I think we learned from the ‘80s and Reagan that trickle-down economics doesn’t work. And so, when people are suffering, when people are getting laid off, when people are getting health care funding cut, what we need to do at the local level is invest in people and make sure that our recovery is centered on making sure that people have housing, making sure that people have health care, making sure people have food assistance, instead of just giving money to the top and hoping that it tickles down.
BLADE: The city’s chief financial officer has said the city may be facing a significant budget deficit in the next fiscal year possibly because of congressional action in cutting the city’s budget. What are your thoughts on that?
RAJ: I think there are all these options ahead of us. I think what this past year has shown us is that D.C. needs to have a much more proactive relationship on the Hill. And especially next year we will likely be coming into a Democratic Congress. We need to be advocating for ourselves in building those relationships with Congress members, with senators. I think we took a very localized approach prior to the Trump administration.
And that put us on the defense with a lot of the budget cuts and things they were bringing to us. And now is the time when we need to proactively advocate for D.C. and advocate for eventually statehood so that we have totally the economy that we need. And in the meantime, there are a number of revenue raisers available to us that we have not been exploring. They are mainly trying to implement a business activity tax that would affect specifically large businesses that don’t pay franchise tax in D.C.
They are exploring a capital gains tax. Trying to put or institute a wealth tax, trying to put in a tax like in New York where people who have secondary residences here would be taxed on those secondary residences. And so, we have options available to us. And I think it’s a matter of if we have the political will or whether our Council is willing to explore those in the next year or two.
BLADE: One issue raised by the local LGBTQ group GLAA D.C. is whether candidates for the D.C. Council would support decriminalizing sex work among consenting adults. Did you address that in their candidate questionnaire?
RAJ: Yes, I do support decriminalizing sex work. I think there are a number of reasons. Sex work disproportionately impacts transgender women, especially trans women of color. And it leads to health and safety issues when we criminalize sex work. People can’t seek the healthcare that they need. People can’t report violence that they are facing. And so, I support decriminalizing sex work as part of a crime reduction in a way to allow people to be able to keep themselves safe.
BLADE: Regarding economic issues and local businesses, we now have at least 20 gay or LGBTQ bars or nightclubs in the city. Some have said they would be negatively impacted by the so-called tip wage issue that could require them to pay a full minimum wage. What are your thoughts on that?
RAJ: My perspective is like – Ward 1 has like seven or eight LGBTQ businesses and also there are also so many small businesses in general that I want to make sure that we support. And we can both support small businesses and workers at the same time. I support making sure that workers have the stability that they need with dignified wages and with benefits. And at the same time finding ways to cut costs for small businesses – whether exploring commercial rent stabilization, pushing back on costs of utilities, helping raise revenue by bringing back Streeteries and things like that.
BLADE: One of the Ward 1 LGBTQ business owners, David Perruzza, owner of the LGBTQ bars Pitchers and A League of Her Own, has said he has been negatively impacted by high rents.
RAJ: Yeah, exactly. So, I think rent is one of the biggest costs that small businesses face. And within D.C. there are a lot of vacant store fronts, and commercial rent stabilization is a very new idea. And landlords look at it differently. But I think it is a way we should look at supporting small businesses.
BLADE: Do you have any thoughts on how our new mayor should address and continue the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which has been in place now for 20 years? The new mayor will have to decide whether to retain or appoint a new director of that office.
RAJ: I can’t speak to those specific decisions. But I’m really excited to work with our incoming mayor, because she has been a really strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community over the years. And I trust that she will maintain and support the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. I would also like to see the continued support of the expansion of a lot of the programs of that office. and especially supporting organizations and supporting a possible LGBTQ fund for services and organizations in D.C.
BLADE: Will the budget issue play a role in that?
RAJ: Yeah – but I think especially right now in the political moment we’re in with the Trump administration, to just make sure we’re celebrating the trans and queer communities and maintaining or expanding programs at that office will really be important.
BLADE: Do you have any thoughts on the criticism Mayor Bowser has received from some local activists who say she has not spoken out strongly enough against the Trump administration’s attempts to curtail D.C. home rule while her supporters argue that she has helped to discourage Trump from taking further action to curtail D.C. home rule?
RAJ: From my perspective in Ward 1, I have seen nearly a year of my neighbors getting disappeared and living in terror. And I don’t believe that that is worth any sort of hypothetical threat of what Trump might do in our trying to protect home rule. I understand wanting to be strategic. But our responsibility as elected officials is to stand up for our communities whenever they are under threat.
BLADE: Are the individuals you are referring to who disappeared and who are under threat immigrants?
RAJ: Yes.
BLADE: Is there anything else you might want to say regarding your constituents in Ward 1, particularly the LGBTQ constituents?
RAJ: I’ll just add maybe one last note. We talk about the affordability crisis and that again bears down on the queer and trans community especially. A lot of people are struggling with housing costs and utilities. A lot of queer and trans people specifically are more likely to live in poverty and not make enough in wages. And so, we are trying to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that I think impacts the LGBTQ+ community as well.
District of Columbia
Campaign launched to elect more LGBTQ candidates to ANC seats
Capital Stonewall Democrats behind Queering ANCs effort
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, announced on July 7 it has launched a campaign to help elect large numbers of LGBTQ candidates to the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
The D.C. local government is believed to be unique among U.S. cities in currently having 46 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions consisting of 345 single-member districts in neighborhoods throughout the city in which unpaid Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are elected for two-year terms.
The commissions are charged with considering a wide range of policies and programs impacting their neighborhoods, including traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and D.C.’s annual budget, according to the ANC website.
Although the ANCs do not have authority to set or reject policies or proposals, such as applications for liquor licenses, city agencies are required to give “great weight” to ANC recommendations, according to the law creating the ANCs.
Kent Boese, a gay former ANC commissioner, currently serves as executive director of the D.C. Office of ANCs.
“We are launching the most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline initiative in the country,” said Stevie McCarty, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, in a July 7 statement that announced the Queering ANCs campaign.
“As an ANC member, I know firsthand how these seats shape our neighborhoods, from housing and public safety to sanitation,” McCarty says in the statement. “I’m proud to lead this effort to ensure more LGBTQ+ Washingtonians see themselves as leaders in their communities,” he said.
The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which was created by LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website that there are currently 38 caucus members consisting of elected LGBTQ ANC commissioners serving in the current 2025-2026 two-year term.
The website shows there are LGBTQ commissioners who are caucus members in each of the city’s eight wards, with six in Ward 1, eight in Ward 2, one in Ward 3, six in Ward 4, five in Ward 5, three in Ward 6, eight in Ward 7, and one in Ward 8.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine how many of them will be running for re-election in D.C.’s general election in November. But McCarty said Capital Stonewall Democrats hopes to recruit many more LGBTQ candidates to run for ANC seats.
The D.C. Board of Elections website shows the deadline for filing 25 required petition signatures to be placed on the ballot is Aug. 5.
A Queering ANCs website launched this week by Capital Stonewall Democrats provides details on how to run for an ANC seat and offers help for those interested in running.
“Think of someone in your building, neighborhood, friend group, community organization, or professional network who cares deeply about D.C. and would make a strong leader,” McCarty says in his statement. “Send them QueeringANCs.org and personally ask them to consider running,” he said.
The website can be accessed at QueeringANCs.org.
District of Columbia
Mary’s House founder, CEO retires
Dr. Imani Woody played leading role in opening DC’s first home for LGBTQ seniors
The board of directors for Mary’s House for Older Adults, DC’s first official home dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors, announced on July 7 that its founding president and CEO, Dr. Imani Woody, has retired.
Woody, who holds a PhD in Human Services, is credited with playing a leading role over many years in arranging both city and private funding needed to construct and operate the Mary’s House three-story building located at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E., in the city’s Fort Dupont neighborhood.
The house, which opened in March 2025, with a grand opening ceremony held in May 2025, includes 15 single-occupancy residential units and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
“It is with profound gratitude and hearts full of celebration that the board of directors of Mary’s House for Older Adults, DC (MHFOA) announces the retirement of our visionary founder, Dr. Imani Woody, from her role as president and CEO,” the Mary’s House board says in a statement.
“Dr. Woody’s journey with Mary’s House began with her vision and a kitchen table gathering of women with a bold, urgent, and loving vision: to create safe, affirming, affordable housing for LGBTQ/SGL older adults in Washington, DC,” the statement says.
It adds, “What started as a dream has grown into DC’s first affordable LGBTQ+/SGL affirming communal living space for adults 60 and over, a 15-room community residence at 401 Anacostia Road in Southeast Washington.”
The statement says Woody will continue to serve on Mary’s House board.
“The board will be sharing information about the leadership transition process in the coming weeks,” the statement continues. “We are committed to honoring Dr. Woody’s legacy by ensuring Mary’s House continues to thrive and grow in faithful service to LGBTQ/SGL elders experiencing housing insecurity and isolation.”
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