Local
A somber night for Fenty supporters
Exuberance of early hours gave way to disappointment for mayor’s faithful
The early exuberance at Adrian Fenty’s campaign headquarters on Tuesday night slowly changed to disappointment as election results rolled in showing the D.C. mayor wouldn’t retain his job.
As polls closed at 8 p.m., Fenty supporters were optimistic, despite polls showing that he was several points behind D.C. City Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
Clad in green T-shirts, Fenty campaign workers stood outside the headquarters waiving signs as they shouted “four more years!”
One Fenty supporter inside the building clapped her hands as she sang “Victory is ours … We told Gray … Get thee behind!”
As the night progressed, hip-hop music filled the headquarters as one supporter shouted, “C’mon, ya’ll. There’s a celebration here!” Signs were posted in the building reading “4 More for Fenty” and “Fenty is Fantastic!”
Supporters announced Fenty victories in precincts they said he had won, including precinct 17 in Ward 2, an area with a significant LGBT population that Fenty carried by a margin of 731-334.
One gay Fenty volunteer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity early in the evening, said he was “pretty optimistic” based on “preliminary numbers and general sentiment.”
The volunteer dismissed polls showing that Gray was leading Fenty on the day of the primary and said early voting would help the mayor retain his position.
“We were out there every day helping folks get to the precincts,” the volunteer said.
But the mood became more somber as the night progressed and the headquarters filled with supporters anxiously awaiting returns.
Some waited for hours for the results to become public online as one supporter quipped, “Are the people counting the votes the same people responsible for shoveling the snow last winter?”
As early results began to trickle in from wards across the District, one supporter noted the numbers showed Gray with a 40-point lead over Fenty.
“It’s still early and our strength hasn’t yet come in,” the supporter said with strained optimism.
The impatience over waiting for the results gave way to alarm at one point as one campaign volunteer fell and shattered a glass wall at the campaign headquarters. Supporters looked on with concern as an ambulance and police cars arrived to care for the injured worker.
The mood turned somber as it became clear late in the evening that Fenty lost to Gray. Unofficial election results the next day showed Gray leading with 53 percent of the vote compared to the 46 percent that Fenty claimed.
Christopher Dyer, director of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs, said he’s anticipating the new leadership from Gray in the wake of Fenty’s loss.
“Obviously, the mayor didn’t win, but [I’m] looking forward to being as helpful as I can to Chairman Gray as he assumes leadership of our great city in January,” Dyer said.
Dyer said he doesn’t think the LGBT vote played a major role in the outcome.
“I haven’t looked at all the results, but I think that the … gay vote pretty much mirrored the non-gay vote,” Dyer said.
Still, Dyer said the residents of Ward 2 — a part of the District with a significant LGBT population — were “predominantly Fenty supporters.”
“It’s hard to tell,” Dyer said. “The results would indicate that in LGBT-friendly precincts, Fenty did well, but in precincts where there are LGBT residents east of the river, Gray did well.”
But Dyer maintained it’s time to focus on bringing the city together under the new leadership.
“It would be nice to know what the gay vote is, but I think the real important thing is for the city to come together and be supportive of whomever our leaders are,” Dyer said.
Asked whether he thinks he would take a role in the Gray administration, Dyer replied, “I serve at the pleasure of the mayor and it’s a great pleasure.”
Maryland
Parents sue Anne Arundel schools, allege officials hid child’s gender transition
America First legal Foundation filed lawsuit on July 8
By CODY BOTELER | Two parents, backed by a conservative nonprofit group, are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system’s policies related to transgender children.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, accuses staff at an unidentified county high school of lying to the parents, identified as John Doe and Jane Doe, about their child, identified as Mary Doe.
The Does allege the school “socially transitioned” their child without notice or their consent by using a masculine name and masculine pronouns for Mary Doe.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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.
Baltimore
Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies
66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday
By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.
“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”
The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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