District of Columbia
Naval Academy midshipmen serve as Rainbow History Project interns
D.C. group says support symbolizes evolution of LGBTQ community
Vincent Slatt, director of archiving of D.C.’s Rainbow History Project, says he and other members of the group’s board were pleasantly surprised in 2017 when a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., invited members of the group to speak to a class she taught on LGBTQ studies.
Slatt told the Washington Blade the presentation that he and other Rainbow History Project members gave went very well, and the group’s interaction with the professor and the academy led to what he believes was an important step in the D.C. LGBTQ history group’s evolution.
In May of this year, three Naval Academy midshipmen became student interns for the Rainbow History Project as part of a four-week program to process and organize several dozen boxes of documents donated by the D.C. LGBTQ youth advocacy group SMYAL. According to Slatt, the midshipmen did an excellent job of organizing the SMYAL documents by putting them in folders and new professional archival standard boxes.
“And they created what’s called a finding aid to describe the collection,” Slatt said, noting that a finding aid is used by researchers who access Rainbow History Project’s collections in the way that people use a table of contents or an index to navigate a book.
In addition to working on the SMYAL documents, the Naval Academy interns – Midshipmen Brahmir Vick, Caroline Bilbray-Kohn, and Hannah Nunes – also conducted what Slatt says is another crucial component of Rainbow History Project’s mission. They transcribed more than 25 audio recordings of oral history interviews of LGBTQ people from the D.C. metro area that make up another important part of Rainbow History Project’s collections.
The three midshipmen in June completed their second year at the Naval Academy’s four-year studies program from which they will graduate in 2024 as commissioned officers with a bachelor of science degree.
Each of them gave a presentation on the specific work they did as Rainbow History Project interns at a June 23 event hosted by the DC History Center located in the city’s historic Carnegie Library building at 801 K St., N.W.
Slatt points out that in yet another important part of Rainbow History Project’s evolution since its founding in 2000, it entered a partnership with the DC History Center in 2008 in which the Center serves as a repository and physical host for the Rainbow History Project’s entire archival collection.
Among other things, the collection includes documents and papers from LGBTQ organizations and activists as well as individual LGBTQ people who played some role in the evolution of the D.C. LGBTQ community. The collection, details of which can be accessed on the Rainbow History Project’s website, also includes digitized audio recordings of the oral history interviews of LGBTQ people from the D.C. area.
The DC History Center, which was founded in 1894, describes itself on its website as a community-supported nonprofit organization that “collects, interprets, and shares the history of the nation’s capital through research and scholarship, adult programs, youth education, and exhibits.”
In an announcement on its website, the DC History Center called the June 23 event featuring the three Naval Academy students an important part of its work.
“For the second year in a row, DC History Center hosts students from the US Naval Academy for a crash course in DC LGBTQ+ history and archives, featuring the Rainbow History Project collections,” the website message says.
The DC History Center has become the “perfect group” to store and provide access for researchers and the public to Rainbow History Project’s archival collection “because they’re dedicated to local Washington, D.C. history,” Slatt told the Blade. “And we want all of our gay history to be part of Washington local history,” he said.
Anne McDonough, deputy director of the DC History Center, told those attending the June 23 event that the Center has had an excellent working relationship with Rainbow History Project, which has helped the public and researchers gain access to the archival records of local LGBTQ history.
During their presentation at the June 23 event, the three midshipmen presented photographic slides of some of the LGBTQ people whose oral history interviews they transcribed. The three said they each obtained an important understanding and knowledge of the D.C.-area’s LGBTQ history from listening to the oral history interviews.
The Rainbow History Project’s archives can be accessed at rainbowhistory.org.
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.”
District of Columbia
SMYAL receives $25,000 award for ‘courageous acts’
D.C. group provides support services for LGBTQ youth
The D.C.-based organization SMYAL, which provides services for LGBTQ youth in the D.C. metro area, including housing for homeless LGBTQ youth, announced on June 30 that it received a $25,000 award for its “courageous acts” in support of the community it serves.
The award was a monetary grant from The Courage Project, which describes itself as a “national initiative investing in acts of courage and compassion that strengthens our communities and democracy.”
A statement on its website says it was launched in May 2025 and is funded and backed by leading national foundations in the U.S.
“At SMYAL, we are deeply grateful to receive support from The Courage Project and are inspired by their bold investment in LGBTQ+ youth at such a critical moment,” SMYAL CEO Erin Whelan said in a statement. “For queer and trans young people, simply showing up as themselves each day requires immense courage, and that courage is strengthened when organizations like The Courage Project stand behind them loudly, proudly, and without hesitation,” Whelan said.
In its statement announcing the award SMYAL says The Courage Project will recognize SMYAL and other awardees and their work on July 3 at the Washington National Cathedral as part of a special interfaith service marking the U.S. 250th anniversary.
“The Courage Project is a bold initiative honoring everyday acts of bravery – the quiet, often unseen acts of heroism that reflect the best of the American spirit and strengthen democracy at the community level,” the project states on its website.
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