District of Columbia
NYC Council candidate advocates for LGBTQ refugees
Edafe Okporo fled homophobic violence in Nigeria eight years ago
Edafe Okporo, an author and immigrant rights activist, on Sept. 26 headlined the 25th anniversary celebration of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, a nonprofit providing legal services to immigrants facing detention and deportation, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Before taking the stage to read from his book “Asylum: A Memoir and Manifesto,” Okporo spoke to the Washington Blade about his experiences as an asylum seeker and the challenges faced by LGBTQ refugees in the U.S.
“Immigration detention centers are jails, but special jails for migrants,” Okporo, who is running for New York City Council, said.
In 2016, he was detained in an immigration detention center in Elizabeth, N.J., for more than five months. He had fled to the U.S. from his home country of Nigeria — which in 2014 criminalized same-sex relationships with penalties of up to 14 years in prison — after being beaten unconscious by a group of people who broke into his apartment and dragged him out onto the street. They had targeted him for helping found an LGBTQ rights organization.
He had imagined the U.S. as a place of safety and refuge, but after informing immigration officers he was seeking asylum, he was detained in a cell with 44 other inmates while officials evaluated his asylum plea.
He eventually won asylum with the help of immigration attorneys, but once he was released from detention, he initially experienced homelessness and a deep sense of isolation.
“In detention centers,” Okporo explained, “it’s hard for you to be able to have a sense of connection to American society.”
Today, he is the executive director of Refuge America, a nonprofit that aims to limit the time LGBTQ refugees like himself spend in detention centers by organizing Americans sponsors to secure housing and other needs before their arrival. Prior to founding the organization, he was the director of the RDJ shelter, New York City’s only full-time refuge for asylum-seekers and refugees.
Okporo noted that integrating into life in America can be especially challenging for LGBTQ refugees, many of whom come from countries where they had to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity. This often makes it difficult for them to open up and seek the services they need.
“They are thinking within the hierarchy of needs. ‘Can I tell the service provider that I’m gay?’ Then, ‘Can I tell them I’m HIV positive?’ Then, ‘Can I tell them that I need testosterone hormones?’” Okporo said.
He explained that the immigrant communities refugees might seek out for support might not be accepting of LGBTQ people. At the same time, however, the LGBTQ community in the U.S. “is very white-centric, especially in the coastal areas,” he said, contributing to a broader sense of isolation for some LGBTQ immigrants.
Through his work at the RDJ shelter and Refuge America, Okporo has been helping LGBTQ immigrants integrate into U.S. society. However, he noted that the scale of these organizations’ efforts is limited due to the fact that the “political narrative in America frowns upon immigration.”
“The narrative on immigrants is very toxic,” he said. “We have a presidential candidate who is anti-immigrant, and even the mayor of New York City is using ‘migrants versus New Yorkers.’”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on federal corruption charges last week, called for the rollback of some of the city’s “sanctuary” policies that protect migrants accused of crimes from being turned over to federal authorities, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, in February.
Okporo is running to represent District 7, which includes the Manhattan neighborhoods of Washington Heights and West Harlem — where the RDJ shelter is located — in the 2025 New York City Council elections. He aims to make housing more affordable and address the needs of New York City’s significant immigrant population in the council.
“They say representation is one of the best ways to lift up issues. We don’t have anyone in city hall right now who has an understanding of what it is to come to America and build a life in New York City. I hope to bring that diversity and perspective to city council,” he said.
In the section of the book he read from at the Amica Center’s celebration, he reflects on feeling “utterly alone in America,” when he first arrived.
But eight years later, following protests by advocacy groups against the detention center where Okporo was held, the facility is poised to close. And Okporo has found his community in New York City, sharing dinner with fellow gay immigrants and playing soccer with others on Sunday mornings.
“As a foreigner who came to America, I was able to build a life here, and people see me, people support me — people want me to succeed. That gives me a sense of like, there is a reason to continually go on,” he said. “And that is what I try to do with my work, to show others that they too, should go on.”
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride theme, performers announced at ‘Speakeasy’
Durand Bernarr to headline 2026 programming
The Center for Black Equity held its 2026 DC Black Pride Theme Reveal event at Union Stage on Monday. The evening, a “Speakeasy Happy Hour,” was hosted by Anthony Oakes and featured performances by Lolita Leopard and Keith Angelo. The Center for Black Equity organizes DC Black Pride.
Kenya Hutton, Center for Black Equity president and CEO, spoke following the performances by Leopard and Angelo. Hutton announced this year’s theme for DC Black Pride: “New Black Renaissance.”
Performers for 2026 DC Black Pride were announced to be Bang Garcon, Be Steadwell, Jay Columbus, Bennu Byrd, Rue Pratt and Akeem Woods.
Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was announced as the headliner for the 2026 festivities. Bernerr gave brief remarks through a video played on the screen at the stage.
DC Black Pride is scheduled for May 22-25. For more information on DC Black Pride, visit dcblackpride.org.
In an official statement released at the reveal event Capital Pride Alliance described its just announced 2026 Pride theme of “Exist, Resist, Have the Audacity” as a “bold declaration affirming the presence, resilience, and courage of LGBTQ+ people around the world.”
The statement adds, “Grounded in the undeniable truth that our existence is not up for debate, this year’s theme calls on the community to live loudly and proudly, stand firm against injustice and erasure, and embody the collective strength that has always defined the LGBTQ+ community.”
In a reference to the impact of the hostile political climate, the statement says, “In a time when LGBTQ+ rights and history continue to face challenges, especially in our Nation’s Capital, where policy and public discourse shape the future of our country, together, we must ensure that our voices are visible, heard, and unapologetically centered.”
The statement also quotes Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President Ryan Bos’s message at the Reveal event: “This year’s theme is both a declaration and a demand,” Bos said. “Exist, Resist, Have Audacity! reflects the resilience of our community and our responsibility to protect the progress we’ve made. As we look toward our nation’s 250th anniversary, we affirm that LGBTQ+ people have always been and always will be part of the United States’s history, and we will continue shaping its future with strength and resolve,” he concluded.
District of Columbia
Capital Pride board member resigns, alleges failure to address ‘sexual misconduct’
In startling letter, Taylor Chandler says board’s inaction protected ‘sexual predator’
Taylor Lianne Chandler, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors since 2019 who most recently served as the board’s secretary, submitted a letter of resignation on Feb. 24 that alleges the board has failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization.
The Washington Blade received a copy of Chandler’s resignation letter one day after she submitted it from an anonymous source. Chandler, who identifies as transgender and intersex, said in an interview that she did not send the letter to the Blade, but she suspected someone associated with Capital Pride, which organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, “wants it out in the open.”
“It is with a heavy heart, but with absolute clarity, that I submit my resignation from the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors effective immediately,” Chandler states in her letter. “I have devoted nearly ten years of my life to this organization,” she wrote, pointing to her initial involvement as a volunteer and later as a producer of events as chair of the organization’s Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee.
“Capital Pride once meant something profound to me – a space of safety, visibility, and community for people who have often been denied all three,” her letter continues. “That is no longer the organization I am part of today.”
“I, along with other board members, brought forward credible concerns regarding sexual misconduct – a pattern of behavior spanning years – to the attention of this board,” Chandler states in the letter. “What followed was not accountability. What followed was retaliation. Rather than addressing the substance of what was reported, officers and fellow board members chose to chastise those of us who came forward.”
The letter adds, “This board has made its priorities clear through its actions: protecting a sexual predator matters more than protecting the people who had the courage to come forward. … I have been targeted, bullied, and made to feel like an outsider for doing what any person of integrity would do – telling the truth.”
In response to a request from the Blade for comment, Anna Jinkerson, who serves as chair of the Capital Pride board, sent the Blade a statement praising Taylor Chandler’s efforts as a Capital Pride volunteer and board member but did not specifically address the issue of alleged sexual misconduct.
“We’re also aware that her resignation letter has been shared with the media and has listed concerns,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said.
“As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “We’re doing this because the community’s experience with CPA must always be safe, affirming, empowering, and inclusive,” she added.
In an interview with the Blade, Chandler said she was not the target of the alleged sexual harassment.
She said a Capital Pride investigation identified one individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior over a period of time. But she said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that applies to all board members and she cannot disclose the name of the person implicated in alleged sexual misconduct or those who came forward to complain about it.
“It was one individual, but there was a pattern and a history,” Chandler said, noting that was the extent of what she can disclose.
“And I’ll say this,” she added. “In my opinion, with gay culture sometimes the touchy feely-ness that goes on seems to be like just part of the culture, not necessarily the same as a sexual assault or whatever. But at the same time, if someone does not want those advances and they’re saying no and trying to push you away and trying to avoid you, then it makes it that way regardless of the culture.”
When asked about when the allegations of sexual harassment first surfaced, Chandler said, “In the past year is when the allegation came forward from one individual. But in the course of this all happening, other individuals came forward and talked about instances – several which showed a pattern.”
Chandler’s resignation comes about five months after Capital Pride Alliance announced in a statement released in October 2025 that its then board president, Ashley Smith, resigned from his position on Oct. 18 after Capital Pride became aware of a “claim” regarding Smith. The statement said the group retained an independent firm to investigate the matter, but it released no further details since that time. Smith has declined to comment on the matter.
When asked by the Blade if the Smith resignation could be linked in some way to allegations of sexual misconduct, Chandler said, “I can’t make a comment one way or the other on that.”
Chandler’s resignation and allegations come after Capital Pride Alliance has been credited with playing the lead role in organizing the World Pride celebration hosted by D.C. in which dozens of LGBTQ-related Pride events were held from May through June of 2025.
The letter of resignation also came just days before Capital Pride Alliance’s annual “Reveal” event scheduled for Feb. 26 at the Hamilton Hotel in which the theme for D.C.’s June 2026 LGBTQ Pride events was to be announced along with other Pride plans.
13 HIV/AIDS activists arrested on Capitol Hill
PHOTOS: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade
An undeclared war of distraction by the felon
Talarico beats Crockett in Texas primary
35 years after ‘Truth or Dare,’ Slam is still dancing
Out actor Kevin Cahoon on starring role in ‘Chez Joey’
PHOTOS: Pride Reveal
Love or fear flying you’ll devour ‘Why Fly’
Arlington LGBTQ bar Freddie’s celebrates 25th anniversary
