Local
Liquor board suspends Ziegfeld’s/Secrets license
Activists, customers denounce sex-related charges as unfair, ‘silly’
The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has voted to suspend the liquor license of gay nightclub Ziegfeld’s/Secrets for five days based on allegations that the club permitted its nude dancers to engage in “sexual conduct” prohibited under the city’s liquor law.
The suspension is scheduled for June 16-20, and will result in the closing of the club during that period.
A spokesperson for the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, of which the ABC Board is a part, said the unanimous May 26 suspension vote was also based on charges that Ziegfeld’s/Secrets management failed to put in place sufficient security measures to prevent four separate “altercations” in which patrons became involved in minor scuffles inside the club.
Another charge that ABC Board inspectors saw customers consuming beer 13 minutes after the required 2 a.m. closing time became yet another ground for the suspension, said the spokesperson.
An ABC Board report about the after-hours drinking allegation says the management disputed the allegation.
“We wish to express our sincerest regret to our community, customers and staff,” says a statement the club’s management released Monday.
“We strive to operate under strict compliance with the ABC Board policies and requirements and to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone who enters our establishment,” it says. “However, sometimes things happen that we or anyone is unable to control, and for this — or for some other reason — we have been issued this penalty.”
Cynthia Simms, the ABRA spokesperson, said that Ziegfeld’s/Secrets and the board reached an agreement in which the board did not file as many charges as it could have against the club and the club agreed not to contest the charges at a full hearing.
Simms said the board’s decision includes a $4,000 fine against the club and a 20-day license suspension, with 15 days of the license suspension stayed.
A report prepared by ABC Board Inspector Felicia Dantzler, who filed the sexual conduct charge against the club, says she observed “five to six nude male performers standing on individual pedestals, each performing a sexual act on themselves (masturbation).”
Her report includes a photo she took of one dancer, showing him with his hand gripping his penis. The dark, blurred photo accompanying the report captures the dancer from the shoulders down and does not show his face.
Dantzler’s report says she also saw “patrons, fully clothed, gratifying the performers by rubbing and massaging the performers about the body (not genital area) and the performers did the same to the patrons.”
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets owner Allen Carroll has said the club strictly prohibits any sexual activity by dancers or customers.
The incidents involving the alleged altercations and after-hours drinking took place in February and March of 2009 during the first few weeks after Ziegfeld’s/Secrets reopened at 1824 Half St., S.W. The reopening came three years after the city displaced the club from its home of more than 30 years on O Street, S.E., to allow construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets was the only one of several gay bars and nightclubs displaced by the stadium to find a new location in which to reopen. Strict zoning laws that bar adult entertainment have prevented the other clubs from finding a new home, a development that has prompted some of the customers to criticize city officials for not taking a greater role in helping the clubs relocate.
Two regular customers of Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, who spoke on condition that their names be withheld, said the management and employees made it clear that the club prohibited sexual acts of any kind by the performers and strictly banned improper touching between performers and customers.
The two customers said the incidents in question appeared to have occurred during the first few weeks the club was open, and that large crowds and “some confusion” during the opening weeks may have temporarily distracted staff attention.
“It’s incredibly unfair to blame the club for activity that violates their own rules and which they try to prevent,” said one of the customers.
Veteran D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny agreed with that assessment, noting that he was “outraged” over what he called a “Victorian-era” campaign by the ABC Board to crack down on entertainment performed by and for consenting adults.
“It’s about time we got off the anti-sex crusade here,” he said. “There’s a fundamental question that nobody asks: Were any of the customers offended by any of this? Did any of the customers disapprove? Clearly they didn’t.”
When told that ABRA officials said they are required to enforce existing liquor law restrictions against sexual conduct within licensed establishments, Kameny and other activists called for repealing those laws.
“My main point is we are living in 2010 and not 1910,” Kameny said. “And it’s about time they stop applying the standards of 1910. Queen Victoria has been dead for 108 years. It’s about time they realize that.”
Gay activist Tom DePriest, a retired attorney for the federal government and a Ziegfeld’s/Secrets customer, said he strongly objected to the ABC Board’s apparent assumption that customers and dancers of clubs offering nude entertainment “need protecting” by the ABC Board.
“It’s part of some sort of sex-phobic moral code enforcement that is determined by people who don’t enjoy these clubs,” he said. “If adults want to get together and have nude entertainment, then why is it anybody else’s business, especially people who aren’t there for that?”
Three of the reports by ABRA inspectors outline incidents they observed at Ziegfeld’s/Secrets during their visits there in February and March of 2009. The case reports became the basis of the ABC Board’s charges against the club, according to Simms.
The first incident occurred Feb. 15, 2009, two days after the club opened in its newly renovated warehouse building on Half Street, S.W.
According to the ABC Board report for that incident, a male customer was punched in the nose by another male customer as he walked out of the men’s restroom in what the victim and witnesses said was an unprovoked assault. The report says the attacker, who appeared intoxicated, later told police he punched the victim because the victim resembled a person who had bullied him while he was in elementary school.
Paramedics who responded to the scene treated the victim, who declined an offer of transportation to a hospital, the report says.
The assailant was arrested on a charge of simple assault, and the ABC Board charged Ziegfeld’s/Secrets with harboring a “physical altercation” that involved “misuse of licensed premises,” although the report quotes the victim as saying there was “no way” the club could have prevented a spontaneous assault like that from happening.
One day later, on Feb. 16, 2009, another assault occurred when two women who met in the club that night and became “intimate” with each other got into a fight, with one grabbing the other in a headlock and shoving her head into a wall, according to the report for that incident. Police who were stationed outside the club arrested both women after the club’s staff broke up the fight, the report says. Neither of the women was seriously injured.
That incident happened minutes before ABC Board Inspector Susan Mitchell said she observed two customers drinking beer at 2:13 a.m., following the required 2 a.m. closing time after which consumption of alcohol is prohibited, according to the board’s report of the incident.
Another incident cited by the board occurred March 6, 2009, when a customer described as intoxicated attempted to grab the penis of one of the dancers performing on a platform, according to an ABC Board report. The report says the dancer swatted the man’s hand away several times before the customer succeeded in touching the dancer’s penis. The dancer immediately alerted management, and a bartender and the manager escorted the customer out of the bar, the report says.
While being escorted out of the club, the customer shoved the bartender and later shoved him again outside the club. D.C. Police Lt. Brett Parson, the former head of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, was standing nearby and arrested the customer on a charge of simple assault, the report says.
The ABC Board, at the recommendation of Inspector Susan Mitchell, charged Ziegfeld’s/Secrets with two counts of “physical altercation” on its premises in connection with the incident.
Another ABC Board report says the “sexual conduct” incidents occurred Nov. 19, 2009. The report says two inspectors, including Danzler, visited the club that night “to investigate a complaint regarding employees engaged in sexual acts.”
The report does not disclose who made the complaint.
“In some situations, individuals that file a complaint with ABRA regarding an establishment request to be anonymous,” said Simms. “Since there is no mention of a name in the case report, I can assume that this is what happened.”
Simms said she inquired about the photo of the dancer in the case report and confirmed that Danzler took it with her cell phone.
The statement issued by Ziegfeld’s/Secrets doesn’t discuss the individual charges filed against the club.
“We’ve served our gay community for over 40 years without infractions with the ABC Board,” it says. “We were forced out of business for three years due to the city invoking eminent domain to take possession of our former home to make way for the construction of the Washington Nationals Stadium.
“After our three-year fight to reopen, which included a difficult search for a new building, we have been subjected to the utmost scrutiny from the ABC Board. Now we have been forced to close for the above stated period of time.”
The statement says that the situation is not a “punishment,” but instead an “injustice.”
Rick Rosendall, a local gay activist, called the ABC Board investigation and enforcement against the club a waste of tax dollars.
“If we have money to pay a single person to spend a single hour in those kinds of places looking for things to be shocked about, then we should abolish all of those jobs because this is completely silly from beginning to end,” he said.
“Anybody that doesn’t want to see these strippers, whatever they might be doing, is perfectly free not to go to these clubs and in which case there’s no chance that it will fall under their eyes.”
Among the members of the seven-person ABC Board that voted for the club’s license suspension was gay member Mike Silverstein, who is a member of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
The full text of the Ziegfeld’s/Secrets statement follows:
ZIEGFELD’S & SECRETS
We wish to express our sincerest regret to our community, customers, and staff.
Due to circumstances imposed upon us by the District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Ziegfeld’s & Secrets will be closed June 16 – June 22.
We’ve served our gay community for over 40 years without infractions with the ABC Board. We were forced out of business for three years due to the city invoking eminent domain to take possession of our former home to make way for the construction of the Washington Nationals Stadium.
After our three-year fight to reopen, which included a difficult search for a new building, we have been subjected to the utmost scrutiny from the ABC Board. Now we have been forced to close for the above stated period of time.
We strive to operate under strict compliance with the ABC Board policies and requirements and to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone who enters our establishment. However, sometimes things happen that we or anyone is unable to control, and for this – or for some other reason – we have been issued this penalty.
PUNISHMENT – NOT
INJUSTICE – YESRespectfully,
The Management of Ziegfeld’s & Secrets
District of Columbia
D.C. Council approves expanded grant funding for Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Measure introduced by Zachary Parker faces second vote
The D.C. Council on June 9 gave its first round of approval to an amendment to the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget that calls for increasing the number and size of funding grants that the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs provides for local organizations providing services for the LGBTQ community.
The amendment, titled the “LGBTQ Community Grant Amendment Act of 2026,” was introduced by D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member.
The amendment calls for the LGBTQ Affairs office to issue a $980,000 grant in fiscal year 2027 to a private, nonprofit organization in partnership with the office “for the purpose of supporting programs that promote the welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community.”
The organization would also initiate its own fundraising effort to expand the amount of funds beyond the amount the office would provide, enabling it to provide larger grants to a greater number of local LGBTQ organizations.
Among other things, the amendment says the organization chosen for this new role should have a “proven track record of success in grant making and fundraising” and agree to undergo an annual audit and submit quarterly reports to the office on its use of the funds it receives.
Under its rules for approving legislation, the Council must hold the second vote on the budget bill with the Parker amendment before it is sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature. It must then go to Congress for a congressional review that does not require approval, but could result in a vote to disapprove the measure, an action Congress usually does not take.
In a June 12 statement, the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition called the D.C. Council’s initial approval of the Parker amendment, “a historic measure that establishes the District’s most sustainable model for a vehicle for investing in LGBTQ communities.”
The statement adds, “The legislation arrives at a critical moment, as LGBTQ-serving organizations face unprecedented uncertainty. Growing demand for services is colliding with shrinking resources, federal attacks on LGBTQ programs, and ongoing threats to local funding streams.”
It says the new program that the Parker amendment would create, if it reaches final approval, “creates a durable mechanism to protect and expand investments in the organizations that thousands of District residents rely upon every day.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said he was looking into the mayor’s position on the Parker amendment but didn’t immediately get back with a response.
Virginia
Gay 1920s-era Hollywood star to be honored in Staunton, Va.
Billy Haines became acclaimed designer after anti-gay policies ended his acting career
A project is underway in Staunton, Va., to honor William ‘Billy’ Haines, who was born and raised in Staunton before becoming an out gay 1920s and early 1930s-era Hollywood movie star whose acting career ended around 1934 when he refused demands that he conceal his sexual orientation and end his relationship with his male partner.
Haines left the movie business around that time to start what became a highly successful interior design and furniture business in Los Angeles that he led until his death in 1972 at age 72, and which remains in business today, according to the Arcadia Project, a Staunton-based nonprofit initiative.
In a statement released last month, Arcadia Project announced it is working to revitalize a long-vacant movie theater in downtown Staunton that it plans to rename after Haines. It says a fundraising campaign is under way to support efforts to reopen the theater and the larger building in which it is housed as a “dynamic mixed-use cultural center.”
The statement notes that Haines left Staunton at age 14 and resided in Hopewell, Va., and Greenwich Village in New York City until 1922, when he was “discovered” by a talent scout and sent to Hollywood.
“Between 1922 and 1934, Haines appeared in 54 movies during his meteoric and highly successful career,” the Arcadia Project statement continues, noting he transitioned from silent movies to talkies and was fully open about being gay. “But when Hollywood’s moral crackdown of the 1930s demanded that he end his relationship with his longtime partner Jimmie Shields, Haines refused,” it says.
“For LGBTQ people – then and now – Haines’s choice resonates deeply. Rather than deny who he was, he reinvented himself as an interior designer to the stars,” according to the statement.
It says he helped invent the so-called Hollywood Regency style home and designed homes for Hollywood legends such as Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard, George Cukor, and Jack Warner as well as for political figures like Ronald Reagan when he was governor of California.
“As there is no monument, marker or public recognition for Haines in his hometown of Staunton, Va., Arcadia Project, in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ community in Staunton seeks to commemorate him inside a new cultural center,” the statement says.
It quotes Arcadia Project Executive Director Pamela Mason Wagner as saying, “Naming the movie theater in Haines’ honor is more than an act of historical recognition – it is a powerful statement about visibility, belonging, and whose stories are valued in our community.”
The statement says project leaders hope to open the cultural center in early 2027, with a fundraising campaign seeking to raise $250,000 to renovate the theater.
“If the full goal is not reached, a smaller space within the building will be named for Haines, scaled to the amount of funds raised,” it says. “We truly hope friends and admirers of Billy Haines everywhere will want to participate.”
Donations for the project can be made through this site: www.thearcadiaproject.org
District of Columbia
Your queer D.C. voting guide
June 16 primary nears; Lewis George, McDuffie lead in polling for mayor
LGBTQ voters in the nation’s capital are choosing among a long list of LGBTQ supportive candidates running for mayor, D.C. City Council, and the position of D.C. Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives in the city’s June 16 primary election.
LGBTQ activists who have spoken to the Washington Blade appear to be divided in their support for the two leading Democratic candidates for mayor – D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) and former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large) in a seven-candidate race.
Among the other five Democratic mayoral candidates is Rini Sampath, a cyber security consultant who told the Blade she identifies as queer.
“We’re living in an extremely diverse community, an extremely unique community,” she told the Blade. “And being able to self-label, self-identify as queer is something that I just want to take pride in.”
But a poll conducted by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s School of Policy and Government released on June 5 shows Sampath receiving just 3 percent in a sample of likely voters in the D.C. Democratic primary.
The poll, conducted from May 27-June 1, shows Lewis George leading in the mayoral primary with 36 percent compared to McDuffie, who had 25 percent. However, 25 percent of those polled were undecided in the mayoral race, according to the Post, indicating at least some of the undecided voters could go to McDuffie.
“Undecided voters are concentrated among groups that lean toward McDuffie, including moderates, Black voters and those ages 65 and older,” the Post story reporting on the poll states.
Another factor making it more difficult to predict the election outcome is the start in this year’s D.C. primary of ranked choice voting, which enables voters to select as many as five candidates on their ballot as their first through fifth choice depending on how many candidates are running for a specific office, including the office of mayor.
The ranked choice process takes effect if no candidate receives at least 50 percent of the vote in a race with three or more candidates and serves as an instant run-off using voters’ second-choice or third or more choice votes until one candidate receives 50 percent of the vote.
In what appears to support the belief of many local political observers that Lewis George and McDuffie are the two leading mayoral candidates, the poll shows the remaining candidates receiving less than 5 percent.
They include former D.C. Council member Vincent Orange with 4 percent, local real estate manager and developer Gary Goodweather with 3 percent, and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security contractor Hope Solomon and real estate broker and Ward 1 community activist Ernest Johnson each receiving 1 percent.
Goodweather, a political newcomer, has attended LGBTQ events in his mayoral campaign and has expressed strong support on LGBTQ issues.
With that as a backdrop, the Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest LGBTQ political group, has endorsed Lewis George for mayor and GLAA DC, formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, awarded Lewis George its highest candidate rating score of +10.
GLAA said it did not issue a rating for McDuffie because his campaign did not return a GLAA candidate questionnaire on which it bases its ratings. A spokesperson for the McDuffie campaign said campaign workers later discovered the questionnaire landed in the spam folder of their email account and McDuffie would have returned it had he received it.
At GLAA’s invitation, McDuffie completed the questionnaire and GLAA has posted it with its full responses to a list of 10 questions on the GLAA website along with the questionnaire responses from other candidates, including Lewis George. Like Lewis George, McDuffie expressed strong support for a wide range of LGBTQ issues in his responses, but GLAA said it could not issue a rating for him due to the missed deadline for submitting the questionnaire.
According to GLAA, just two other mayoral candidates returned the questionnaire and received a rating. Sampath received a +6.5 rating, and Johnson received a rating of +4.5. Under the GLAA rating system, a -10 is the lowest possible rating, with a +10 being the highest.
D.C. Board of Elections records show that no Republican candidate is running for mayor and one Statehood Green Party candidate – Robert L. Gross – is running unopposed on the primary ballot for voters registered as Statehood Green Party members. GLAA’s website shows Gross did not receive a rating under the group’s policy of not rating candidates that do not return the questionnaire.
The Statehood Green Party and its candidates for local D.C. offices have historically been supportive of LGBTQ rights.
LGBTQ activists who are backing Lewis George or McDuffie appear to be gravitating to the two based on their political leadings separate from LGBTQ issues, just like voters in general. Lewis George, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, is popular among progressive voters.
McDuffie, who is seen as a more moderate candidate like current D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, is being supported by LGBTQ activists who hold those views, some of whom currently work in the Bowser administration.
Among Lewis George’s LGBTQ supporters are longtime Ward 8 community leader Phillip Pannell and former Capital Stonewall Democrats President Howard Garrett. Among the LGBTQ McDuffie backers are longtime D.C. Democratic activists John Fanning and David Meadows.
“The rights of LGBTQ residents in our country are under attack,” Pannell told the Blade. “We need a mayor of our nation’s capital who will be a progressive voice and force in standing up for our rights and advancing the quality of life for our community,” he said. “That is one of the reasons I enthusiastically support Janeese Lewis George for mayor.”
Fanning, a member of the staff of D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said he has observed McDuffie’s work on the Council firsthand. “He has been out and upfront on many of our issues and he has been an ally to our community,” Fanning said. “And I feel more comfortable with his judgements when it comes to city policy,” Fanning said, adding, “And I sense he has more of a pulse on how to grow our economy.”
In the race for D.C. Delegate to the U.S. House, five Democrats are competing in the June 16 primary, including D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Robert White (D-At-Large). Pinto and White have been outspoken supporters of the LGBTQ community. Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed White.
Also running as Democrats for the congressional seat are community activists Kinney Zalesne, Trent Holbrook, and Greg Jaczko, who have expressed support for LGBTQ issues at candidate forums. Denise Rosado is running unopposed for the congressional seat as a Republican, and Kymone Freeman is running unopposed as a Statehood Green Party candidate in the primary.
Under D.C.’s “closed” primary system voters can only vote for a candidate for a specific political party if they are registered members of that party in the primary. In the general election in November, voters can vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
GLAA has said it does not issue candidate ratings for the D.C. Delegate position, which has been held for many years by Democratic incumbent Eleanor Holmes Norton, who announced earlier this year that she is retiring and not running for re-election. Norton has been a longtime outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), also a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, is running unopposed for re-election in the Democratic primary, He received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +6.5 rating from GLAA.
Nine Democrats are running for the At-Large D.C. Council seat currently held by Bonds, who is also retiring and not running for re-election. Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed local pharmacist, community activist, and LGBTQ ally Oye Owolewa, who received a +9 rating from GLAA.
The other Democrats running for the at-large seat who received a rating from GLAA include Lisa Raymond, +7.5; Dwight Davis, +6.5; Dyana Forester, +6; and Fred Hill, +5.5.
Board of Elections ballot records show that Darrell Green is running unopposed for the at-large seat in the Republican Primary and Darryl Moch is running unopposed in the primary as a Statehood Green Party candidate.
In the Ward 1 D.C. Council race, five LGBTQ supportive candidates are competing in the Democratic primary, including two LGBTQ candidates – gay rights activist Miguel Trindade Deramo and bi candidate Aparna Raj. The Ward 1 seat became vacant when incumbent Democrat Brianne Nadeau announced she was not running for re-election.
Capital Stonewall Democrats announced it did not make an endorsement in the Ward 1 race because the endorsement vote by its members was divided and none of the candidates received a required 60 percent of the vote for an endorsement.
GLAA awarded its highest +10 rating to both Deramo and Raj as well as to Ward 1 Democratic candidate Rashida Brown. It assigned a rating of +5.5 to candidate Terry Lynch but did not issue a rating for the fifth Democratic candidate – Jackie Reyes Yanes, who did not return the GLAA questionnaire.
The group didn’t issue ratings for Ward 1 Republican candidate Jett James Jasper or Statehood Green Party candidate Jude Cranniitch, both of whom are running unopposed. GLAA has said it sent out its questionnaire to all candidates listed by the Board of Elections to be placed on the ballot and does not rate those who do not return the questionnaire.
In the Ward 3 D.C. Council race, incumbent Council member Matthew Fruman (D), also an outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, with no GOP or Statehood Green Party candidate running in the primary. Fruman received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement but was not rated by GLAA.
In the Ward 5 Council race, incumbent Zachary Parker, the Council’s only gay member, is being challenged by two Democrats in the primary – community activists Bernita Carmichael and Bridget French. Parker received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +7 rating from GLAA. Carmichael and French did not receive a GLAA rating.
Political observers in the ward believe Parker is the favorite to win the primary as well as the general election in November, when he will be challenged by Republican Jeffrey Kihien-Palza and Statehood Green Party candidate Joyce Robinson-Paul, who are running unopposed in their party primaries on June 16.
In Ward 6, incumbent Council member Charles Allen (D). a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, received the Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsement and a +6.75 rating from GLAA. He is being challenged in the primary by Democrats Gloria Ann Nauden and Michael Murphy. Ward 6 political observers consider Allen the strong favorite to win the primary and the general election, when he will be challenged by Republican Jorge Rice, who is running unopposed in the GOP primary. No Statehood Green Party candidate is running for the Ward 6 Council seat.
Capital Stonewall Democrats did not make an endorsement for the D.C. Council special election for the At-Large Council seat that became vacant when then-independent Council member McDuffie resigned to enable him to run for mayor as a Democrat. Under the city’s Home Rule Charter adopted by Congress, that At-Large seat is restricted to a “non-majority party” candidate, meaning a non-Democrat.
The three candidates running for the seat, all independents, include incumbent Doni Crawford, who was temporarily appointed to the seat earlier this year; former D.C. Council member Elisa Silverman; and Jacque Patterson, president of the D.C. Board of Education. All three have expressed support for LGBTQ issues. GLAA issued a +6.5 rating for Crawford and a +5.75 rating for Silverman.
In the race for D.C. Attorney General, Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed incumbent Brian Schwalb, who is an outspoken LGBTQ rights supporter. He is being challenged in the Democratic primary by D.C. attorney and law firm partner J.P. Szymkowicz, who is a Ward 3 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.
Attorney and local law firm partner Manuel Rivera is running unopposed for the Attorney General office in the Republican primary. No Statehood Green Party candidate is running for the AG post. GLAA issued a rating of +4.5 for Rivera but did not issue ratings for Schwalb or Szymkowicz.
Finally, in the race for the so-called “shadow” D.C. U.S. Senator and D.C. U.S. Representative—offices with no voting or official authority in Congress that were created to lobby Congress on behalf of D.C. issues—Capital Stonewall Democrats did not make an endorsement. In the Democratic primary Paul Strauss is running unopposed for the shadow U.S. Senate seat and Franklin Garcia is running unopposed for the shadow U.S. House seat. Both have been LGBTQ rights supporters.
No Republican or Statehood Green Party candidates are running for either of the two “shadow” positions. GLAA does not issue ratings for the two positions.
Following are short excerpts from the detailed statements four of the seven Democratic mayoral candidates submitted to the Capital Stonewall Democrats or the Washington Blade.
Kenyan McDuffie: “As mayor, every piece of legislation I sign, craft, or endorse should also encompass the interest and input of the LGBTQ community members and advocates…From housing to health care and everything in between… We have a dire crisis regarding the rise in homelessness especially among the youth in our LGBTQ communities. In my administration that simply cannot be the status quo and will not be…I have been a consistent champion for our LGBTQ community and will remain so as mayor of D.C.”
Janeese Lewis George: “As mayor, I will protect our LGBTQ+ neighbors against federal attacks on their identity, including their health care…On the Council I have been a strong supporter of pro-LGBTQ+ bills, including making D.C. a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming health care as well as addressing discrimination and harassment in nightlife and hospitality…And as mayor, I am prepared to move up and win those fights – a fight for D.C. statehood, a fight for our true economy, and a real opportunity to uplift our Black queer and trans youth.”
Gary Goodweather: “A Goodweather administration will defend every D.C. law protecting LGBTQ residents. I will establish a Defend DC office to coordinate the District’s legal and public response to federal overreach, with LGBTQ+ protections explicitly within its mandate…My affordable D.C. plan will produce 50,000 new homes with 36,000 affordable units, and I will ensure LGBTQ+ youth housing programs are funded as a budget priority.”
Rini Sampath: “I am an immigrant, proud queer woman, and a 10-year resident of Washington, D.C…For me, LGBTQ+ voters including transgender and nonbinary residents, are not a separate or symbolic constituency; they are a core part of a broader, multiracial, cross-ward coalition rooted in equity and opportunity.”
Vincent Orange: “I have a long and consistent record of supporting LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion in the District of Columbia, grounded in both policy and personal commitment. As the District’s Democratic Committeeman from 2006 to 2015, I publicly supported marriage equality and voted accordingly … During my time on the D.C. Council, I worked to advance protections for LGBTQ+ residents, including authoring and passing legislation to prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals in the workplace.”
15 LGBTQ candidates running for Democratic State Committee
At least 15 known LGBTQ candidates are running for seats on the D.C. Democratic State Committee in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Under local Democratic Party rules, the State Committee includes a total of 38 members, half of whom must be women and half of whom consist of men. The highest two positions include National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. Other positions include seven At-Large Committee men and seven At-Large Committee women, and two Committee men and two Committee women for reach of the city’s eight wards.
Democratic primary voters can vote for as many as seven At-Large male and At-Large female candidates and for two male and two female candidates in each of the ward committee races.
The known LGBTQ Democratic State Committee candidates are as follows:
National Committeeman
Phillip Pannell, Free DC Slate
David Meadows, Democrats United to Free DC slate
At-Large Committeeman
Jordan Kagelmayer, Free DC slate
Malake Glee, Free DC slate
At-Large Committeewoman
Lia Lake Kuduk, Free DC slate
Sonya Joseph, Free DC slate
Ward 1 Committeewoman
Vita Rangel, Free DC slate
Ward 2 Committeeman
Steven M. McCarty, Free DC slate
John Fanning, Democrats United to Free DC
Ward 3 Committeeman
Kurt Vorndran, Democrats United to Free DC slate
Michaell Haresign, Democrats United to Free DC slate
Ward 4 Committeewoman
Corey Welcher
Ward 7 Committeeman
Jimie Williams, Democrats to Free DC slate
Ward 8 Committeeman
Alejaibra Sloan, Free DC slate
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Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
David Archuleta, Monroe Alise named D.C. Pride parade marshals
