Opinions
Anti-LGBTQ group ‘Science for Truth’ spreads hate globally
Russian website translates propaganda into more than 18 languages

By HEIDI BEIRICH | A rather mysterious Russian website run by a group called Science for Truth (ĐаŃка Са ĐżŃавдŃ) is a major vector worldwide for lies about the LGBTQ+ community. Their site, pro-lgbt.ru (meaning âabout-LGBTâ in Russian), was previously identified by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) as an organization that repeatedly appeared in top search results for conversion therapy, the discredited practice of attempting to change LGBTQ+ peopleâs sexual orientation or gender identity that has been described as akin to torture by a U.N. special rapporteur. It showed up prominently on Bing and Google in places like Kenya, Colombia and even the U.S. (see the full GPAHE report here.)
A unique aspect of the site is that it translates its anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda into over 18 major languages, including all major European languages, as well as Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese. The site also publishes articles in languages that have fewer speakers, including Serbian, Georgian and Hungarian, which are less likely to be content moderated. Even though the site is filled with dehumanizing material about LGBTQ+ people, it still shows up as a top search result for information on LGBTQ+ issues in many countries. This allows the group to spread their bigoted messages far and wide globally, making it an influential actor in the broader anti-LGBTQ+ movement. According to the Semrush app, the pro-lgbt.ru site garnered around 15,000 unique visitors in July 2023 alone.
So what is Science for Truth?
Started around 2017, Science for Truthâs mission is to âdisseminate facts that are deliberately kept silent by the leaders of the LGBT movement, which leads to the involvement of unsuspecting citizens in a destructive lifestyle, fraught with the most serious consequences for their health and well-being.â As indicated in its name, the group presents itself as disseminating materials based on science created âin collaboration with scientists, psychiatrists and sexologists.â This statement, though, is highly misleading; what Science for Truth disseminates is dehumanizing pseudoscience apparently designed to undermine the movement for LGBTQ+ rights in Russia and abroad.
Much more than a simple group of âscientists,â Science for Truth spreads lies and dehumanizes LGBTQ+ people on its website, Telegram channel, and VK account by describing LGBTQ+ people as âpedophiles,â âhomofascistsâ and potential terrorists. For instance, the site has a post postulating that âanti-sperm bodiesâ that are âformed in sodomites and homosexualsâ could lead to âautoimmune infertility, miscarriages, cancer in children and DNA destructionâ resulting in a âgenocideâ if spread amongst society. They also post in support of aversion electroshock therapy, which involves electrical shocks, at times to a manâs genitals, while they look at gay pornography or related material, as a solution to âcureâ oneâs innate homosexuality.
The group is known for targeting the LGBTQ+ movement and attempting to bully activists and scientists living in Russia. In 2018, the group took aim at a scientific paper released by two academics at the once liberal-leaning Moscow university, Higher School of Economics (HSE), accusing them of âcollaborationismâ for having written that gay people âshould be assumed to be born that way,â and elaborating that their efforts to destroy âtraditional valuesâ were âa psychological means of destroying Russian statehood and a way of destroying the collective identity of the peoples of Russia.â They also regularly cheer on the placing of Russian LGBTQ+ activists on the notorious list of âforeign agents,â and the arrest of activists for âtreason,â and encourage supporters to report their materials to the Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) for them to be blocked.
One of the principal figures connected to Science for Truth is the mysterious figure who goes by Ivan Stepanovich Kurennoy (Đван ĐĄŃĐľĐżĐ°Đ˝ĐžĐ˛Đ¸Ń ĐŃŃоннОК), and refers to himself as the coordinator of Science for Truth. He uses the avatar of a white-bearded traveler from the 19th century in all of his online publications. In his works, he refers to himself as an âindependent researcherâ or a âDepopulation Technology Researcher,â and he engages in widespread conspiracy-mongering. The basis for many of his views regarding the LGBTQ+ movement comes from his belief in a secret plot to depopulate the earth by lowering the birth rate through the spread of LGBTQ+ values. He claims that the publication of the now widely discredited book “The Population Bomb,” which wrongly predicted a mid-20th century demographic catastrophe caused by insufficient agricultural production and overpopulation, set off a series of events in the West that led political leaders to introduce the LGBTQ+ agenda in order to limit population growth.
Another belief relates to the COVID pandemic, where Kurennoy argued that a âchippingâ process taking place during the vaccination drive was part of these same âdepopulationâ efforts. In another one of his odd rants, he wrote that Russian parliamentarians could do âwhat Hitler failed to doâ and pass the 2019 draft law âOn the Prevention of Domestic Violence,â which, though it never passed, sought to strengthen Russiaâs comparatively weak laws against domestic violence.
Some of Kurrenoyâs past posts are tinged with antisemitism which may be an indication of where some of his stranger conspiracist beliefs originate from. Around 2016, before he turned to mainly demonizing LGBTQ+ people, Kurrenoy frequently posted about control of Ukraine by the Israeli lobby, secret plots by George Soros, and a âfifth columnâ in Russia that is descended from Jews. In one post, he explicitly points to âthe globalists,â referring to them as a âparasites,â as the source of funding for LGBTQ+ people.
Of the articles that the members of Science for Truth have published in academic journals, many, if not most of them are clearly not up to scientific standards, but rather ideological. These include, among others, âThe problem of anthropomorphic interpretation of animal behavior in the context of the discussion about the characteristics of human sexual behavior,â published in the âacademicâ journal “World of Science” (ĐĐ¸Ń ĐаŃки), in which the âindependent researchersâ of Science for Truth set out to disprove the argument that âhomosexuality is a kind of norm for humans, since it is common in nature.â The journal has a history of publishing questionable materials from other authors as well with titles such as âChanges in the physical properties of baptismal water under the influence of electromagnetic radiation,â pointing to the overall lack of scientific rigor of the journal. Interestingly, in the piece criticizing the HSE professorsâ paper, the Science for Truth authors claim that the authors had published in an English-language journal âapparently for better understanding in a country that has declared the fight for the rights of sexual minorities abroad a foreign policy priority,â making their agenda quite clear.
Another figure connected with the group is ViŃtor Grigorievitsch Lysov (ĐикŃĐžŃ ĐŃигОŃŃĐľĐ˛Đ¸Ń ĐŃŃОв) whose participation with the group goes back at least to 2017. On his livejournal account, Lysov has written articles on such topics as âthe sacralization of homosexuality,â and the âPederastization of Russia,â where he argues that the âpederastic value system has long been firmly rootedâ in Russian society. He makes regular appearances on the Science for Truth VKontakte (VK) page. Lysovâs main contribution to the Science for Truth project is his propagandistic texts âThe rhetoric of the LGBT movement in the light of scientific factsâ and âDehumanization,â in which he takes on the âmyths of gender ideology,â and claims that LGBTQ+ rights would lead to the ânormalization of pedophilia.â On his ORCID site, used for tracking academic publications, Viktor Lysov is listed as being located in both Russia and Germany. The website links he shares are of the anti-LGBTQ+ American organizations Family Research Institute and the American College of Pediatricians, both listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the German Institute for Youth and Society (Deutsches Institut fĂźr Jugend und Gesellschaft), an organization known for offering âconversion therapyâ services. In a solo publication in the “World of Science,” “Homophobiaâ is not latent homosexuality,” his affiliation is also listed as the German Institute for Youth and Society, in Reichelsheim, Germany, however, when a previous investigation reached out to the Institute, they denied having any affiliation with Lysov.
Garnik Surenovich Kocharyan (ĐĐžŃаŃŃна ĐаŃника ĐĄŃŃонОвиŃа) is one of the few âdoctorsâ at Science for Truth with an actual medical career. As a part of his practice, Kocharyan provides treatments for âdisorders of sexual preferenceâ including âviolations of sexual orientationâ and âsexual perversions.â He is the honorary president of the Kyiv-based conversion therapy clinic Association of Sexologists and Sex Therapists of Ukraine (ĐŃĐžŃŃаŃŃŃ ŃокŃОНОгŃв Ńа ŃокŃĐžŃĐľŃаповŃŃв ĐŁĐşŃаŃни, ASSTU), which claims to bring together âspecialists from various fields of natural sciences and humanitiesâ of sexology, and provide for âthe application and development of therapeutic methods aimed at improving a personâs sexual life.â The organization has published announcements calling for the full âdecommunizationâ of the country at the end of the war to deal with alleged left-wing plots to spread âgender ideologyâ in Ukraine. In some of the more polemical posts by the association, ASSTU have written:
âTotal illiteracy in the field of sexology and mass propaganda of LGBT â leads to the fact that even psychologists and doctors begin to believe that homosexuality is exclusively innate. Believing in such a thing is a crime against Ukrainian children, teenagers and youth, a crime against all future generations ⌠We will not allow Ukrainian science to be manipulated to meet the needs of organized groups of sexual deviants. We will not allow introducing LGBT ideology into the consciousness of our citizens.â
Aside from Kurrenoy, Kocharyan is one of the main propagandists associated with Science for Truth. He has published posts under the groupâs name promoting âconversion therapy,â one referring to âforced homosexualizationâ as a âmodern destructive trend in sex education,â and another concerning the alleged âfallacy of ideas about the innate nature of homosexuality.â
Beyond, this, Science for Truth also has a recognizable association with the ant-LGBTQ+ group CitizenGO. Several of their petitions have been published on the CitizenGo website, though they appear to have then been removed at a later date. It is interesting to note that while posts for other groups on the CitizenGo site have been given labels indicating that they were âcreated by a person or organization not affiliated with CitizenGO,â this was not the case with posts from Science for Truth, indicating an association with CitizenGO that may be closer than that of other organizations.
Several individuals are not full members of the Science for Truth team, but collaborate with them or promote each otherâs work. The doctors at the âPhoenix Clinicâ (ĐНиника ФоникŃÂť), based in the center of Rostov-na-Donu, are a regular fixture in Science for Truth posts. One associate is Olga Alexandrovna Bukhanovskaya (ĐŃŃ Đ°Đ˝ĐžĐ˛ŃĐşĐ°Ń ĐĐťŃга ĐНокŃандŃОвна) who was recently featured on a broadcast of Solovyov Live. Another is psychiatrist Anton Vasilyevich Dyachenko (ĐĐ˝ŃОн ĐаŃиНŃĐľĐ˛Đ¸Ń ĐŃŃŃонкО), who has written that it is âincorrect to deny the presence of a biological norm.â Among some of the cases treated by the psychologists of the âPhoenix Clinicâ are people who âinsist on changing their biological sex and feel like a representative of the other sex,â âstrive to dress in clothes of the opposite sex, but cannot overcome this need,â âaccuse relatives or neighbors of theft, which does not correspond to reality,â and those who âfeel possessed by spirits, genies, who force them to carry out their orders and commands.â Psychology PhD candidate Alexander Neveev (ĐНокŃĐ°Đ˝Đ´Ń Đовоов) is another Science for Truth associate with a pseudo-scientific career who has published interviews on the topic of homosexuality on the Science for Truth YouTube page. Alex Shatnerâs (ĐĐťĐľĐşŃ Đ¨Đ°ŃноŃ) partnership with Science for Truth goes back to November 2017, when he was a co-author of a text on the âmyth of homosexuality among animals.â He, too, is listed as a co-author in the “World of Science” article âThe problem of anthropomorphic interpretation of animal behavior in the context of a discussion about the characteristics of human sexual behavior.â
In order to break free of their small radical right-wing echo chamber in Russia, a member of their group in early 2018 has also attempted to influence Russian knowledge of LGBTQ+ issues by editing an enormous number of articles on the Russian Wikipedia page under the username âĐŃŃооŃâ (traveler) with content from the groupâs website. The edits made were so outrageous, with âsweeping conclusions based on an inaccurate understanding of biological problems,â that the moderators of the Russian site gave the user a topic-ban on âbiomedical information in LGBT articles.â After the account was further prevented from making these kinds of edits, the group released an article on their site criticizing the âbiasâ of the website moderators.
Science for Truth regularly lobbies the Russian government and pushes for ever-increasing restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia. Recently, Ivan Kurrenoy has even reached out to the famous pro-Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan to ask her to support their group and its issues. In September 2018, they called on the minister of health to continue to regard homosexuality as a pathology. In January 2019, the group published an open letter to the Russian Duma on the topic of the âimpending LGBT revolution in Russiaâ in which they spread more disinformation on the LGBTQ+ movementâs agenda to âconvertâ straight people, and LGBTQ+ values causing population decline in the West. As early as 2019, Ivan Kurrenoy has been petitioning government officials, such as Deputy Chairman of the Duma Pyotr Olegovich Tolstoy (ĐŃŃŃ ĐĐťĐľĐłĐžĐ˛Đ¸Ń Đ˘ĐžĐťŃŃОК), to call for the censoring of LGBTQ+ content online. In the publication “Zavtra” (Tomorrow), they published an open letter on October 16th, 2021, to the head of Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) Anna Yurievna Popova to investigate Vadim Valentinovich Pokrovsky, the head of the department of the research institute of epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, as a potential âforeign agentâ for voicing the importance of sex education for Russian children. After this letter was ignored, Science for Truth published an appeal in which they questioned whether Rospotrebnadzor was a âforeign agent.â The letter read:
âIn the face of Rospotrebnadzor, society would like to see an ally, and not compradors and collaborators, who are trying to introduce methods of molesting Russian children on the recommendations of the U.N. Committee (CEDAW), which requires Russia to destroy traditional values, including among religious figures, introduce âsex education,â abolish prevention of abortion and legalization of prostitution, among other things with the help of foreign agents.â
In the letter, they claimed that the appeal was made âthrough Senator Margarita Nikolaevna Pavlova,â implying that the group has at least some institutional support among the Russian elite. In a more recent letter, the group lambasted the Minister of Health Mikhail Albertovich Murashko for not doing enough at the U.N. to promote âRussian scienceâ (despite the fact that the group claims that Russian science is âso controlled by the West that it does not express a sovereign positionâ). They demanded, among other things, the promotion of âRussian science,â the restriction of trans-affirming care in clinics, and to check for âforeign agentsâ in the field of medicine. In May 2023, the group claimed that the ministry of education considered proposals of Science for Truth on âissues of mental norms and pathology in the field of psychosexual health and sexual perversions.â They have also written that the recent ban on gender-affirming care in Russia was originally a proposal that they submitted to the Russian government. In another post, the group claims to have been able to present their work at the 2022 Demographic Development of the Far East and Arctic conference (2022 доПОгŃаŃиŃĐľŃкОо ŃаСвиŃио ĐаНŃногО ĐĐžŃŃОка и ĐŃĐşŃики) in which anti-LGBTQ+ senator Inga Iumasheva Albertovna, who once spoke out against âLGBT propagandaâ being a âthreat to national security,â was present. Science for Truth were also present at the IV Hippocratic Medical Forum the year prior, when Albertovna also gave a presentation.
Despite this apparent interaction with the Russian government, GPAHE could not find Science for Truth or any other affiliated names in the official database of Russian NGOs. This fact, as well as the curiously anonymous nature of many of their members, points to its likely role as a small, yet influential soft-power instrument of the international anti-LGBTQ+ movement, given their ability to spread their bigoted message both domestically and abroad. Either way, Science for Truthâs influence in Russia and abroad is only growing, and its bigoted message is reaching further, particularly online.
Heidi Beirich is co-founder of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.
Opinions
My chance encounter with a pope and why goodness still matters
Early morning Vatican stroll turns into unforgettable memory

Itâs not every day you meet a pope. Mine was Pope John Paul. In the recent passing of Pope Francis, and all the love and generosity of this âPeopleâs Pope,â I was reminded of a similar man, with a similar heart, who I had the fortune to one day meet.
Thereâs no real yardstick for measuring a man whoâs the head of an institution that has been around since the Romans, who commands the respect of more than a billion people, and whose job it is to keep alive a 2,000-year-old message of love, hope, generosity, and salvation.
I wasnât planning on meeting him. More like it was fated, or Iâd like to believe that.
I was on a spiritual journey of my own. My schoolwork was over in Norway, and I was headed to Lebanon to write about the war there. I was a young man of 17, trying to figure out the world and how it worked â or didnât.
It was a week before Easter when I found myself in Rome, standing at the far edge of St. Peterâs Square. As I remember, it was very early and a very beautiful morning, sometime around six or so. Even at that age, I found great solace in the solitude of the early morning. Itâs as if I had the entire Square to myself, reflecting on this singular moment in time that I was alone in one of the greatest places of spiritual gathering in the world.
But I wasnât alone. Next to the fountain where I had parked my backpack laid a man, curled up next to the stone wall, in the gentle universal snore of inebriation. I quietly cupped some water to wash my face and neck, which apparently was enough to stir the man from his sleep.
I nodded my head at him, smiled, and gave a short wave in the universal sign that we were all good and passing fellows. He groggily waved back. I was about to gather up my rucksack and head out when I saw a man strolling across the far side of the Square, about 100 yards away He was in no hurry, which intrigued me. Another soul in search of morning quietude, I thought to myself. He sauntered along, thoroughly enjoying the morning air, occasionally looking up at the sky, which was equally as intriguing.
He was a happy man who was happy to be alive. I thought it was remarkable that on that morning, there were two happy people in the world, and they were both in St. Peterâs Square.
As if a bee to a flower, the man took a direction to a small group of people, three or four more souls walking together who stopped as the man approached them. I saw one of them reach out for the manâs hand and then he kissed it. Now my curiosity turned to wonderment, trying to understand what was taking place.
My Roman fountain friend began a slow drunken babble to me as he gestured toward the small cluster that I was evidently staring at. His Italian was as good as my English, and that was the end of it. Though he continued to say, âPapa, Papa.â I queried him back, having no clue what his Papa was. Then he sat up as if to collect every ounce of clarity that still inhabited him and said, âPope-a.â I pointed to the group. âThe Pope?â He nodded his head and said, âSi. Il Pope-aâ (which I later understood was a combination of the affectionate and respectful use of Papa for the Pope, combined with our English version â thus, âPope-aâ).
He smiled. I smiled. The apostle of the fountain had conveyed his message, and I was on my way to meet the pope.
Quickly, I made my way to the small gathering. I was a little unsure of how to add myself to the procession, as small as it was. My mind started to whirl with pope-laden imaginings. Would he be talking in Latin? Wearing silk robes? Would he be holding some relic of St. Peterâs golden staff?
I then slowed my walk, brought myself to the edge of the group, and there he was â the pope, John Paul himself. He was smaller than I had imagined. No staff or silk robes. He was chatting up the small group as if they were neighbors meeting in the middle of the sidewalk, exchanging news of the neighborhood or the latest sportâs scores, all in a breezy mixture of Italian and English.
He then spotted me and waved me over. I froze for a moment. With no time to study the Pope Manual of Papal Etiquettecy, I had no clue if I should kiss the ring or the hand, or shake it, or what? Not being Catholic, I was not versed on how to properly greet a pope.
I then did what any non-Catholic American 17-year-old kid on a spiritual journey would do: I combined a handshake with a nod/kiss on the hand and the biggest kid-smile I could muster. He smiled back, with the understanding of what it was to be a pope and meet a kid like me both in awe and in happiness at being together there on the Sunday morning in St. Peterâs Square.
He asked me a few questions for which I have no memory of my answers. It didnât matter. I was talking with the pope.
There was no Instagram, or Facebook, or selfie-taking back then. Everyone somehow understood that this was a moment you stored in your mind and in your heart. To take pictures would have somehow sullied it, and everyone knew it.
John Paul was a man on a morning stroll, who shared his intimate time with a group of fellow morning seekers. He was warm, kind, and cordial â a prince of a fellow in my book. The type of man you could talk to in a bar, or on a train, or on a park bench. He practiced the generosity that is the best of the human spirit â to give without expecting anything in return. A gift of love that needs no bartering or transaction to fulfill it.
Lately, and with the recent passing of Pope Francis, I thought I needed to commemorate this memory of this day on paper. Watching how generous Pope Francis was with his love, to the children, to the sick and poor, to the downtrodden, to those who are so easily trampled over in the modern day haste to make civilization âbetterâ and âfaster,â it was no stretch to remember another man who so equally and mightily gave his heart and soul to others.
In a world where so many are seemingly trying to figure out who to hate and how to hate them, I find great solace in knowing that there are those who understand that the better angels of our nature are to be better.
On a beautiful Sunday morning, in the small tide of the oceans of history, I met with a man who helped me to remember once again that the Golden Rule is golden because it shines with goodness, grace, and generosity, and that is no small endeavor for all of us to journey toward in all of our lives.
Carew Papritz is the award-winning author of âThe Legacy Lettersâ who inspires kids to read through his âI Love to Readâ and âFirst-Ever Book Signingâ YouTube series.
Commentary
âA New Alliance for a New Millenium, 2003-2020â
Revisiting the history of gay Pride in Washington

In conjunction with WorldPride 2025, the Rainbow History Project is creating an exhibit on the evolution of Pride: âPickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.â It will be on Freedom Plaza from May 17-July 7. This is the ninth in a series of 10 articles that share the research themes and invite public participation. In âA New Alliance for a New Milleniumâ we discuss how Whitman-Walkerâs stewardship of Pride led to the creation of the Capital Pride Alliance and how the 1960s demands of the Mattachine Society of Washington were seen as major victories under the Obama administration.
This section of the exhibit explores how the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a cornerstone of the community since the 1970s, stepped up to rescue Pride from a serious financial crisis. The Clinic not only stabilized Pride but also helped it expand, guiding the festival through its 30th anniversary and cementing its role as a unifying force for the cityâs LGBTQ population. As Whitman-Walker shifted its focus to primary healthcare, rebranding as Whitman-Walker Health, a new era began with the formation of the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA). Born from the volunteers and community partners who had kept Pride going, CPA took the reins and transformed Capital Pride into one of the largest free LGBTQ festivals in the country. Under CPAâs stewardship, the festival grew to attract hundreds of thousands, with multi-day celebrations, headline performers, and a vibrant parade.
This period saw Pride become a true cross-section of the community, as former Capital Pride Alliance executive director Dyana Mason recalled: âIt was wonderfully diverse and had a true cross section of our community⌠Everybody was there and just being themselves.â The festivalâs expansion created space for more people to find a sense of belonging and affirmation. This growth was made possible through the support of sponsors, volunteers, and a city eager to celebrate-but it also sparked ongoing debates about the role of corporate funding and the meaning of Pride in a changing world.
National politics are woven throughout this era. In a powerful moment of recognition, Frank Kameny â the architect of D.C.âs first White House picket for gay rights and a founder of the Mattachine Society â was invited to the White House in 2009. There, President Obama and the U.S. government formally apologized for Kamenyâs firing from federal service in 1957, a symbolic act that echoed the earliest demands of DCâs own Mattachine Society, the cityâs first gay civil rights organization founded in 1961. The 2009 National Equality March revived the spirit of earlier mass mobilizations, linking LGBTQ rights to broader movements for social justice. The 2010s brought landmark victories: âDonât Ask, Donât Tellâ was repealed, marriage equality became law. These wins suggested decades of protest had borne fruit, yet new generations continued to debate the meaning of true liberation and inclusion.
Our exhibit examines how the political edge of Pride has softened as the event has grown. As the festival expanded in scale and visibility, the focus on protest and activism has sometimes faded into the background, even as new challenges and divisions have emerged. Some voices have called for a return to Prideâs more radical roots. The 2017 Equality March for Unity and Pride drew 80,000 people to D.C., centering intersectional struggles â police violence, immigrant rights, trans inclusion â and exposing the widening rift between mainstream LGBTQ progress and the lived realities of the most vulnerable. The question remains: Are LGBTQ officers marching in uniform a sign of progress or a painful reminder of Prideâs roots in resistance to state violence? During Capital Pride 2017, activists blocked the parade, targeting floats sponsored by corporations linked to weapons manufacturing, pipeline financing, and other forms of oppression.
As we prepare for WorldPride and the anniversaries of D.C.âs first Gay Pride Day Block Party and the White House picket, the Rainbow History Project invites you to experience this living history at Freedom Plaza. Through archival images and the voices of organizers and participants, youâll discover how Pride in DC has been shaped by resilience, reinvention, and the ongoing struggle to ensure every voice is heard.
Zoey OâDonnell is a member of the Rainbow History Project. Vincent Slatt is RHPâs senior curator.Â
Opinions
Council must approve new Commanders stadium deal
An important catalyst for economic development

I am a strong supporter of the Commanders stadium deal at the RFK site. The Council members who understand economic development will vote âyes.â
Chairman Phil Mendelson, and some of the others, are smart. Despite the chair being peeved he wasnât in on the negotiation, he will have some good ideas to tweak the deal, and will then get the seven members of the Council needed to pass it. While the deadline is July 15, there is a paragraph in the agreement reading it can be extended if both sides agree. Again, Mendelson is a smart guy. He will not pass up this incredible opportunity. Besides that, he recognizes it could happen without the Council if the president and Congress want it. It was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Commanders owner Josh Harris, who worked with the mayor, lobbying hard to get us the 180-acre site. Chances are, without their help, we wouldnât have it. So, the deal will move forward, as it should, based on its merits.
The domed stadium proposed by the Washington Commanders for the 180-acre RFK site is only one part of the planned incredible economic development opportunity Mayor Muriel Bowser has negotiated. This was a dream of the mayor for 10 years, and she worked with Congress to get the site turned over to the District. This finally happened last year when Congress passed the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden in January 2025. It gave the District the ability to develop the long-underutilized space for a mix of uses, lifting the restrictions that were in place under the previous lease. The legislation requires 30% of the RFK campus be reserved for parks and open space, not including a 32-acre riparian area along the Anacostia River.
Since the legislation was signed, the mayor worked closely with Josh Harris, principal owner of the Commanders, to negotiate the single largest private investment in the Districtâs history â a $2.7 billion investment from the Commanders. The mayor understands this investment will be the catalyst to activate 180 acres of what she has called âopportunityâ at the RFK campus. It is not only a sparkling new domed stadium. That will complement the transformation of the entire campus to include housing, parks and recreation, hotels, restaurants, retail, and neighborhood amenities.
The mayor understands the economy of D.C. is changing. Between the pandemic, and now reduction in federal workforce, the city has to change how we generate revenue. As the mayor said, âWhen we got control of 180 acres of land on the banks of the Anacostia, we knew right away that partnering with the Commanders would be the fastest, and surest, route to bringing the entire RFK campus to life. As we focus on the growth of our economy, weâre not only bringing our team home, but weâre also bringing new jobs and new revenue to our city, and to Ward 7.â We have seen what Nationalsâ stadium did as the catalyst for that part of D.C. Remembering the fights over that stadium, and the fact the city, not the team, paid for it, we know it moved forward profitable development of the entire area by a minimum of 10 years.
Yes, it may be possible to redevelop this 180-acre site without a stadium; but itâs also clear it would take at a minimum at least 10 years longer, if ever, to do it without the Commanders investment. Under the terms of the deal, the Commanders will drive the investment of at least $2.7 billion to build a roofed stadium that can be used year-round, together with related improvements. The District will invest $500 million for stadium horizontal and non-vertical costs, paid for from the Sports Facilities Fee (formerly known as the Ballpark Fee). By leveraging dedicated funds from the Sports Facilities Fee, the District will not need to make cuts to the cityâs operating budget. In addition, the District will facilitate parking development using a $175 million revenue bond, which will be funded by in-stadium activity once the stadium is operating. Events DC will contribute up to $181 million for parking garages near the community recreation facilities, which Events DC will own. Additionally, similar to other large development projects such as St. Elizabeths East, the District will invest $202 million for utilities infrastructure, roadways, and a WMATA transit study. The study will determine if at some time there might be new bus routes, or even an additional Metro stop. Let us remember there was a stadium there before and the RFK campus is today readily accessible by many public transit options.
The approximately 65,000-seat stadium, expected to open in 2030, will occupy only 11% of the site. In addition to building the stadium, the Commanders will be responsible for activating and developing multiple parcels of land around the stadium. Those will include restaurants, entertainment venues, hotels, housing, green space, and more. The entire campus is expected to create approximately 5,000-6,000 housing units, of which at least 30% being affordable housing.
Throughout the construction process, the District will seek to preserve and continue to operate the popular Fields at RFK. The District will invest an additional $89 million to build a new sportsplex to host year-round sporting events and tournaments for youth in D.C. The mayorâs Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal will include $89 million for the sportsplex. Adjacent to the fields, park space, and sportsplex, the District will develop a new Kingman Park District, which will include housing, mixed-use development, open space, and recreational space. To do this, the campus planning effort, will be taking all the development parcels through the D.C. 2050 Comprehensive Plan update. In this way, community members and neighbors will have an opportunity to weigh in on what types of uses would best serve the community. All parcels in the Kingman Park District will go through the Districtâs RFP process and prioritize local businesses.
As the economy of the District changes, the mayor and Council must be
focused on responding to the shifts. Activation of the RFK campus through this deal is expected to create approximately 14,000 jobs in connection to the stadium construction alone, and 2,000 permanent jobs. The stadium and surrounding development are anticipated to create approximately $4 billion in total tax revenue, and yield more than $15.6 billion in direct spending over 30 years.
The District has a successful history of using catalytic sports investments to transform underutilized spaces into vibrant neighborhoods, including in Chinatown-Gallery Place with Capital One Arena (originally the MCI Center); Capitol Riverfront with Nationals Park; and St. Elizabeths East with the CareFirst Arena (originally the Entertainment and Sports Arena) in the past decade. During her time in elected office, the mayor has worked on successful deals for Audi Field, the CareFirst Arena, the renovation of Capital One Arena, and now this partnership with the Washington Commanders.
Again, Mendelson will have some good ideas that he will want to negotiate into the agreement as it moves through the Council. But the overall positive impact of this deal on the Districtâs economy will win the day. He, and many Council members, understand major sports are a significant driver of the Districtâs new economy, generating $5 billion in 2022 and attracting 7.4 million visitors in 2023. The fact is D.C.’s sports teams and their facilities have boosted neighborhood investment, with nearby commercial development outpacing the rest of the city, after each facility opened.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal for D.C. I urge everyone to contact your Council member, and tell them to vote yes.
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.