District of Columbia
Activists fight to protect LGBTQ services in D.C. budget
LGBT Budget Coalition leading effort
As temperatures rise in Washington, so does the pressure on the D.C. government to pass a budget for the 2026 financial year.
The Washington Blade followed up with Heidi Ellis, coordinator of the DC LGBT Budget Coalition, to discuss progress made — and the steps still needed — to ensure Washington’s LGBTQ community remains a priority for the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office.
Asked about the current state of the budget, Ellis was clear: the dust hasn’t settled. The process is still unfolding. Still, she shared that the overall city budget has been cut.
“There was a large cut in the mayor’s budget for Financial Year 2026 — over a million dollars,” Ellis said. “We took a hit of over $6 million in this in the city due to the federal funding cuts.”
According to Ellis, the cuts are due in large part to declining local tax revenue and a Republican-controlled federal government that has shown little support for LGBTQ-specific funding.
“The biggest challenge is the city is in a different place financially,” Ellis said. “The city’s CFO has now had two years plus in a row of forecasts of lower revenue for the city in general, and then we had congressional interference when they cut a billion dollars out of our budget — that still has not been resolved on the federal level. That happened during the continuing resolution on the Hill to pass like their spending bill, which has not been resolved. The mayor had to essentially cut a billion dollars out of the FY 25 budget to make it balanced. That was huge, and then the city is looking at lower revenue over the next couple of years.”
Although the entire city faces challenges, Ellis said the intersectional needs of LGBTQ residents — especially those who are Black, brown, low-income, or otherwise marginalized — demand specific, equitable funding.
“Whatever issues the city has, whether it be housing instability, food insecurity, safety issues, they are always exacerbated when you think about it through the lens of queer people — specifically Black and brown queer folks and folks that are low to no income,” she said. “So the folks that are living at the margins of our community are always going to feel whatever is happening 10 times more. And this administration has brought in a lot of consternation and fear to the city.”
Still, despite the broader financial setbacks, there have been some “wins.”
Ellis named five of the 12 sitting council members who have stepped up to support the goals outlined by the LGBT Budget Coalition: Council Members Matthew Frumin, Christina Henderson, Brianne Nadeau, Zachary Parker, and Robert C. White, Jr.
Each of these members has offered support through their committee work — addressing areas from healthcare to homelessness.
Parker, the council’s only gay member, helped fight for expanded funding for the youth homelessness continuum. A 2024 study found that 40 percent of unhoused youth in D.C. identify as LGBTQ.
Frumin has advocated for additional funds for transgender workforce programs, the youth homelessness continuum, and the D.C. Department of Human Services, which provides critical support for low-income residents.
Henderson backed the LGBT Budget Coalition’s healthcare and HIV-related goals by pushing for expanded hours at the D.C. Health and Wellness Center.
“She’s actually recommending now that they be open on one week night and then two Saturdays a month,” Ellis said. “That’s a huge win, because that allows for more people to access that care.”
Nadeau championed continued funding for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which provides $1 million annually in grants to LGBTQ organizations. White advocated for sustaining support for trans workforce programs like Project LEAP, which connects gender-diverse residents with job coaches and employers to build long-term economic stability.
“So far I would say we’ve gotten about four out of the seven to eight things we asked for fulfilled,” Ellis explained. “We were able to get a good chunk of that back to restore some services — like permanent supportive housing and extended transitional housing.”
Ellis emphasized that the LGBT Budget Coalition’s success stems in part from community engagement and platforms like the Blade.
“We launched the letter writing campaign back in April that generated thousands of letters that went directly to the mayor and the council. It was literally folks just signing up and saying, ‘We support this,’ and it automatically created letters. It was a major organizing tool.”
“We did an op-ed in the Blade that ran both in the print and in the online version — that got a lot of traction. Our coalition members have been pushing out what the needs are through their social media and have been testifying before the council through the oversight hearings and the budget hearings. And remember — we just had WorldPride. We reminded them [council members], you all are coming out and waving the flag and taking photo ops for our community, you can’t do that in one breath and then take away our funding.”
Still, critical needs remain unmet — particularly around HIV healthcare funding.
“The HIV funding just continues to close the gap,” Ellis said. “That’s the one that it’s such a big gap that even with the great work of Council Member Henderson is not enough. She even highlighted in her committee report that she’s asking for the Committee of the Whole, which is the whole council, to supplement some of that funding — understanding just how much of a loss we took. The gap is still wide and needs additional funding.”
Beyond HIV-related services, Ellis noted several key areas that still require urgent attention in the final version of the budget. Among them: restoring the D.C. Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which provides housing stability for the city’s most vulnerable; reforming the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act to better support tenant-led housing solutions; and restoring funding for LGBTQ mental health services, which have faced significant cuts in recent years.
The coalition is also pushing for the continued support of LGBTQ+ services administered through the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, including a $450,000 allocation for the Violence Prevention and Response Team initiative. In addition, Ellis emphasized the need for full enforcement of the city’s Language Access Act — and for its expansion to ensure Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, making D.C. services more inclusive for all residents.
Ellis acknowledged the political climate may feel daunting, but pointed to the resilience of the LGBTQ community — both historically and today.
“It’s just a constant reminder that we have been here before,” Ellis said. “We had the Lavender Scare. We had Stonewall. We had the AIDS epidemic. This community has gone through peril, and it continues around me how resilient we are — and actually not just resilient for the sake of being resilient, but that we actually build. We don’t just survive, but we build. I would say that the city has taken a hit, and we’re all trying to figure out how best to move forward and not lose our values.”
She added that while the LGBT Budget Coalition is united in its platform, it does not claim to speak for every LGBTQ person in D.C.
“The coalition is a voice that is united because we wanted to make sure we walk in lockstep, but we do not represent all of the LGBTQ community. We know there’s many factions. We are multifaceted as a community, but we do have a wide range of folks represented in our coalition, and we do our best to advocate with a wider lens and also make sure that we’re thinking about the most marginalized folks in our community. I just wanted to clarify where we enter this process, and I would just say that we’re going to continue to fight. It’s Pride month. It’s crazy that we’re going back to some of these original arguments around humanity, and whether we’re worth this dollar amount, but that’s where we are. But we’re not giving up. So I would just encourage everybody not to give up and get involved where they can get involved.”
When asked how individuals can support the LGBT Budget Coalition’s goals, Ellis had a clear answer: speak up.
“I would just argue for folks to email their council members and call their council members to show up. Just letting them know that you support funding of key services for LGBTQ folks. You don’t have to be part of our coalition to do that. These issues intersect; housing is an issue for all, healthcare is an issue for all. We’re just asking for it to be equitable.”
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.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats elect new leaders
LGBTQ political group set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Longtime Democratic Party activists Stevie McCarty and Brad Howard won election last week as president and vice president for administration for the Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political organization.
In a Feb. 24 announcement, the group said McCarty and Howard, both of whom are elected DC Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, ran in a special Capital Stonewall Democrats election to fill the two leadership positions that became vacant when the officers they replaced resigned.
Outgoing President Howard Garrett, who McCarty has replaced, told the Washington Blade he resigned after taking on a new position as chair of the city’s Ward 1 Democratic Committee. The Capital Stonewall Democrats announcement didn’t say who Howard replaced as vice president for administration.
The group’s website shows its other officers include Elizabeth Mitchell as Vice President for Legislative and Political Affairs, and Monica Nemeth as Treasurer. The officer position of secretary is vacant, the website shows.
“As we look toward 2026, the stakes for D.C. and for LGBTQ+ communities have never been clearer,” the group’s statement announcing McCarty and Howard’s election says. “Our 50th anniversary celebration on March 20 and the launch of our D.C. LGBTQ+ Voter’s Guide mark the beginning of a major year for endorsements, organizing, and coalition building,” the statement says.
McCarty said among the organization’s major endeavors will be holding virtual endorsement forums where candidates running for D.C. mayor and the Council will appear and seek the group’s endorsement.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to Capital Stonewall Democrats. McCarty said the 50th anniversary celebration on March 20, in which D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council are expected to attend, will be held at the PEPCO Gallery meeting center at 702 8th St., N.W.
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