District of Columbia

Vote in D.C.’s ‘LGBTQ precincts’ divided between Bowser, White

Bonds loses in 10 of 13 precincts with high concentration of queer voters

Published

4 years ago

July 6, 2022

Mayor Bowser won her primary race over Robert White, taking seven of the 13 precincts with high concentrations of LGBTQ voters. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Voters in 13 of the city’s 144 electoral precincts that LGBTQ activists have long said include a high concentration of LGBTQ residents and voters divided their vote between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Councilmember Robert White, her lead rival, in the city’s June 21 Democratic primary.

In the D.C. Board of Elections final but unofficial vote tally for the primary, which it released on July 3, Bowser beat Robert White (D-At-Large) in seven of the 13 so-called LGBTQ precincts. Robert White won in six of the precincts. The two mayoral candidates won or lost in the 13 precincts mostly by a close margin of less than 5 percent.

The other two Democratic mayoral candidates, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and former attorney and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner James Butler, received less than 10 percent of the vote in each of the 13 precincts in question.

The precincts include the neighborhoods of Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Shaw, Capitol Hill, Anacostia, and the Southwest Waterfront.

In the race for the D.C. Council Chair, incumbent Phil Mendelson and his only Democratic opponent, attorney and community activist Erin Palmer, each won six of the 13 LGBTQ precincts. The two finished in a tie vote in Precinct 90, which is part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, with each receiving 294 votes or 49.75 percent of the vote in that precinct, according to the Board of Elections final returns.

In the At-Large Council race, incumbent Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, did not fare as well as Bowser and Mendelson in the LGBTQ precincts. Bonds won in just three of the 13 precincts – those in Logan Circle, Shaw, and Anacostia.

Among her three opponents in the four-candidate race in the primary, attorney Nate Fleming won six of the precincts and ANC Commissioner Lisa Gore won in four of the LGBTQ precincts.

The fourth candidate running for the at-large seat, former DC Council staffer and former Howard University community relations official Dexter Williams, received less than 10 percent of the vote in each of the 13 precincts and lost in all of them.

The candidates challenging Bonds for the at-large Council seat – as well as all the Democratic candidates running for mayor and the Council Chair seat – expressed strong support for LGBTQ rights. Bonds’s poor showing in the LGBTQ precincts suggests that at least some LGBTQ voters may have voted for Fleming and Gore instead of Bonds based on other issues.

Bonds won the primary with 35.85 percent of the vote, with Gore receiving 28.08 percent of the vote and Fleming receiving 27.73 percent, according to the Board of Elections final vote count.

In the race for mayor, Bowser won the primary with 49.01 percent of the citywide vote. Robert White received 40.5 percent, Trayon White received 8.79 percent, and Butler received 1.38 percent.

In the Council chair race, Mendelson, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, won the citywide vote with 53.16 percent compared to challenger Palmer, who received 46.44 percent.

Four of the 13 precincts considered to have a high concentration of LGBTQ residents and voters are in Ward 1. They include Precincts 24 and 25 in Adams Morgan and Precincts 23 and 36 in Columbia Heights.

The final vote count for those four precincts show that incumbent Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) beat her gay opponent in the Ward 1 race, former D.C. police officer Salah Czapary, in each of the four precincts. Nadeau won in three of the four precincts by a margin greater than 10 percent of the vote.

In a development that surprised some in the LGBTQ community, Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest local LGBTQ political organization, endorsed Nadeau over Czapary in the Ward 1 Council race. Czapary received the endorsement of the national LGBTQ Victory Fund as well as from the Washington Post and former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams.

Activists following the race have said LGBTQ voters who backed Nadeau were clearly basing their vote on issues other than LGBTQ rights, for which Nadeau and a third candidate in the race, community activist Sabel Harris, have expressed support.

Nadeau won the Ward 1 primary with 48.46 percent of the vote. Czapary received 30.94 percent, with Harris receiving 20.36 percent.

In the Ward 5 D.C. Council contest, gay D.C. Board of Education member Zachary Parker won the primary in a seven-candidate race, placing him in a strong position to win the November general election and become the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council since 2015. The Blade couldn’t immediately identify precincts in Ward 5 that may have significant numbers of LGBTQ voters.

In the mayor’s race, Bowser and Robert White each won and lost one of the two LGBTQ precincts in Dupont Circle and Logan Circle by close margins. Bowser beat Robert White in Dupont Circle Precinct 14 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 45.42 percent. But Robert White won in the adjacent Dupont Circle Precinct 15 by a margin of 49.0 percent to 48.17 percent over Bowser.

The mayor won the Logan Circle Precinct 16 by a vote of 54.29 percent compared to Robert White, who received 41.12 percent. In the Logan Circle Precinct 17, Robert White beat Bowser by a margin of 48.29 percent to 46.33 percent.

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count

Board of Elections

DC MAYOR

James Butler 1,753 1.38%

Muriel Bowser 62,391 49.01%

Trayon White 11,193 8.79%

Robert White 51,557 40.5%

Write-In 406 0.32%

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count

Precincts with High Concentration of LGBTQ voters

Board of Elections

DC MAYOR

Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle

James Butler 21 2.16%

*Muriel Bowser 488 50.26%

Trayon White 16 1.65%

Robert White 441 45.42%

Write-In 5 0.51%

Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle

James Butler 16 1.33%

Muriel Bowser 579 48.17%

Trayon White 17 1.41%

*Robert White 589 49.0%

Write-In 2 0.17%

Precinct 16 – Logan Circle

James Butler 21 1.55%

*Muriel Bowser 734 54.29%

Trayon White 34 2.51%

Robert White 556 41.12%

Write-In 7 0.23%

Precinct 17 – Logan Circle

James Butler 32 2.24%

Muriel Bowser 663 46.33%

Trayon White 43 3.0%

*Robert White 691 48.29%

Write-In 2 0.14%

Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan

James Butler 14 1.2%

Muriel Bowser 541 46.48%

Trayon White 9 0.77%

*Robert White 594 51.03%

Write-In 6 0.52%

Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan

James Butler 20 1.1%

Muriel Bowser 883 48.49%

Trayon White 19 1.94%

*Robert White 895 49.15%

Write-In 4 0.23%

Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights

James Butler 20 1.87%

Muriel Bowser 455 42.6%

Trayon White 49 4.59%

*Robert White 541 50.66%

Write-In 3 0.58%

Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights

James Butler 18 1.32%

Muriel Bowser 508 37.27%

Trayon White 102 7.48%

*Robert White 731 53.63%

Write-In 5 0.39%

Precinct 129 – Shaw

James Butler 43 1.67%

*Muriel Bowser 1,300 50.37%

Trayon White 148 5.73%

Robert White 1,081 41.88%

Write-In 9 0.35%

Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill

James Butler 12 0.98%

*Muriel Bowser 677 55.22%

Trayon White 14 1.14%

Robert White 521 42.5%

Write-In 2 0.16%

Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill

James Butler 7 1.14%

*Muriel Bowser 349 56.75%

Trayon White 11 1.79%

Robert White 246 40.0%

Write-In 3 0.51%

Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront

James Butler 13 0.84%

*Muriel Bowser 778 50.23%

Trayon White 128 8.26%

Robert White 628 40.54%

Write-In 2 0.13%

Precinct 112 – Anacostia

James Butler 18 3.59%

*Muriel Bowser 277 45.35%

Trayon White 107 21.36%

Robert White 148 29.54%

Write-In 1 0.2%

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count

Board of Elections

DC COUNCIL CHAIR

Erin Palmer 56,671 46.44%

*Phil Mendelson 64,877 53.16%

Write-In 406 0.32%

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count

Precincts With High Concentration of LGBTQ Voters

Board of Elections

DC COUNCIL CHAIR

Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle

*Erin Palmer 492 52.34%

Phil Mendelson 446 47.45%

Write-In 2 0.21%

Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle

*Erin Palmer 627 53.5%

Phil Mendelson 543 46.33%

Write-In 2 0.17%

Precinct 16 – Logan Circle

Erin Palmer 580 44.68%

*Phil Mendelson 715 55.08%

Write-In 3 0.23%

Precinct 17 – Logan Circle

*Erin Palmer 739 54.02%

Phil Mendelson 628 45.91%

Write-In 1 0.07%

Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan

*Erin Palmer 593 53.09%

Phil Mendelson 522 46.73%

Write-In 2 0.18%

Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan

Erin Palmer 866 48.93%

*Phil Mendelson 900 50.85%

Write-In 4 0.23%

Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights

*Erin Palmer 546 53.46%

Phil Mendelson 474 46.2%

Write-In 6 0.58%

Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights

*Erin Palmer 746 58.37%

Phil Mendelson 527 41.24%

Write-In 5 0.39%

Precinct 129 – Shaw

Erin Palmer 1,144 46.62%

*Phil Mendelson 1,299 52.93%

Write-In 11 0.45%

Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill

Erin Palmer 556 46.8%

*Phil Mendelson 629 52.95%

Write-In 3 0.25%

Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill

Erin Palmer 294 49.75%

Phil Mendelson 294 49.75%

Write-In 3 0.51%

Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront

Erin Palmer 674 45.66%

*Phil Mendelson 796 53.93%

Write-In 6 0.41%

Precinct 112 – Anacostia

Erin Palmer 168 35.52%

*Phil Mendelson 303 64.06%

Write-In 2 0.42%

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count

Board of Elections

DC COUNCIL AT-LARGE

Lisa Gore 33,225 28.08%

Nate Fleming 32,815 27.73%

*Anita Bonds 42,421 35.85%

Dexter Williams 9,356 7.91%

Write-In 504 0.43%

DC Democratic Primary

June 21, 2022

Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count

Precincts With High Concentration of LGBTQ Voters

Board of Elections

DC COUNCIL AT-Large

Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle

Lisa Gore 309 34.14%

*Nate Fleming 311 34.36%

Anita Bonds 207 22.87%

Dexter Williams 72 7.96%

Write-In 6 0.21%

Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle

*Lisa Gore 421 38.34%

Nate Fleming 355 32.33%

Anita Bond 222 20.22%

Dexter Williams 97 8.83%

Precinct 16 – Logan Circle

Lisa Gore 371 29.87%

*Nate Fleming 437 35.19%

Anita Bonds 350 28.18%

Dexter Williams 82 6.6%

Write-In 2 0.16%

Precinct 17 – Logan Circle

*Lisa Gore 413 30.87%

Nate Fleming 401 29. 97%

Anita Bonds 420 31.39%

Dexter Williams 101 7.55%

Write-In 3 0.22$

Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan

*Lisa Gore 384 36.4%

Nate Fleming 330 31.28%

Anita Bonds 261 24.74%

Dexter Williams 80 7.58%

Write-In 0 0%

Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan

Lisa Gore 571 34.19%

*Nate Fleming 595 35.63%

Anita Bonds 362 21.68%

Dexter Williams 132 7.9%

Write-In 10 0.6%

Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights

*Lisa Gore 336 34.46%

Nate Fleming 273 28.0%

Anita Bonds 278 28.51%

Dexter Williams 85 8.72%

Write-In 3 0.31%

Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights

*Lisa Gore 418 33.76%

Nate Fleming 318 25.69%

Anita Bonds 386 31.18%

Dexter Williams 112 9.05%

Write-In 4 0.32%

Precinct 129 – Shaw

Lisa Gore 662 28.03%

Nate Fleming 695 29.42%

*Anita Bonds 800 33.87%

Dexter Williams 195 8.26%

Write-In 10 0.42%

Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill

Lisa Gore 336 29.87%

*Nate Fleming 460 40.89%

Anita Bonds 254 22.58%

Dexter Williams 68 6.04%

Write-In 7 0.62%

Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill

Lisa Gore 164 29.55%

*Nate Fleming 206 37.12%

Anita Bonds 153 27.57%

Dexter Williams 30 5.41%

Write-In 2 0.36%

Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront

Lisa Gore 323 22.62%

Nate Fleming 394 27.59%

*Anita Bonds 594 41.6%

Dexter Williams 115 8.05%

Write-In 2 0.14%

Precinct 112 – Anacostia

Lisa Gore 74 15.95%

Nate Fleming 103 22.2%

*Anita Bonds 249 53.66%

Dexter Williams 37 7.97%

Write-In 1 0.22%

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District of Columbia

Bowser appoints first nonbinary person to Cabinet-level position

Peter Stephan named Office of Disability Rights interim director

Published

1 day ago

March 12, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

The Wilson Building (Bigstock photo by Leonid Andronov)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower has named longtime disability rights advocate Peter L. Stephan, who identifies as nonbinary, as interim director of the D.C. Office of Disability Rights.

The local transgender and nonbinary advocacy group Our Trans Capital and the LGBTQ group Capital Stonewall Democrats issued a joint statement calling Stephan’s appointment an historic development as the first-ever appointment of a nonbinary person to a Cabinet-level D.C. government position.

“This milestone appointment recognizes Stephan’s extensive expertise in disability rights advocacy and marks a historic advancement for transgender and nonbinary representation in District government leadership,” the statement says.

The statement notes that Stephan, an attorney, held the position of general counsel at the Office of Disability Rights immediately prior to the mayor’s decision to name him interim director.

The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Bowser plans to name Stephan as the permanent director of the Office of Disability Rights. John Fanning, a spokesperson for D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said the office’s director position requires confirmation by the Council.

Stephan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“At a time when trans and nonbinary people ae under attack across the country, D.C. continues to lead by example,” said Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats. “This appointment reflects what we have always believed that our community is always strongest when every voice is represented in government,” he said.

“This is a historic step forward,” said Vida Rengel, founder of Our Trans Capital. “Interim Director Stephan’s career and accomplishments are a shining example of the positive impact that trans and nonbinary public servants can have on our communities,” according to Rangel.

District of Columbia

Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary

Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event

Published

3 days ago

March 11, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Mayor Bowser is expected to attend the Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th gala. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50^th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.

A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8^th St., N.W. in D.C.

“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.

Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.

Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.

He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.

Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.

Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.

“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”

The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.

Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.

Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th

District of Columbia

Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79

Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’

Published

4 days ago

March 10, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

John Colameco, owner of the Green Lantern, died of undisclosed causes.

John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.

Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.

“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.

“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”

The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”

It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17^th Street, N.W. called Peppers.

According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14^th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.

The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.

“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.

“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.

The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.

“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”