District of Columbia
Vote in D.C.’s ‘LGBTQ precincts’ divided between Bowser, White
Bonds loses in 10 of 13 precincts with high concentration of queer voters
Voters in 13 of the city’s 144 electoral precincts that LGBTQ activists have long said include a high concentration of LGBTQ residents and voters divided their vote between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Councilmember Robert White, her lead rival, in the city’s June 21 Democratic primary.
In the D.C. Board of Elections final but unofficial vote tally for the primary, which it released on July 3, Bowser beat Robert White (D-At-Large) in seven of the 13 so-called LGBTQ precincts. Robert White won in six of the precincts. The two mayoral candidates won or lost in the 13 precincts mostly by a close margin of less than 5 percent.
The other two Democratic mayoral candidates, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and former attorney and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner James Butler, received less than 10 percent of the vote in each of the 13 precincts in question.
The precincts include the neighborhoods of Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Shaw, Capitol Hill, Anacostia, and the Southwest Waterfront.
In the race for the D.C. Council Chair, incumbent Phil Mendelson and his only Democratic opponent, attorney and community activist Erin Palmer, each won six of the 13 LGBTQ precincts. The two finished in a tie vote in Precinct 90, which is part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, with each receiving 294 votes or 49.75 percent of the vote in that precinct, according to the Board of Elections final returns.
In the At-Large Council race, incumbent Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, did not fare as well as Bowser and Mendelson in the LGBTQ precincts. Bonds won in just three of the 13 precincts – those in Logan Circle, Shaw, and Anacostia.
Among her three opponents in the four-candidate race in the primary, attorney Nate Fleming won six of the precincts and ANC Commissioner Lisa Gore won in four of the LGBTQ precincts.
The fourth candidate running for the at-large seat, former DC Council staffer and former Howard University community relations official Dexter Williams, received less than 10 percent of the vote in each of the 13 precincts and lost in all of them.
The candidates challenging Bonds for the at-large Council seat – as well as all the Democratic candidates running for mayor and the Council Chair seat – expressed strong support for LGBTQ rights. Bonds’s poor showing in the LGBTQ precincts suggests that at least some LGBTQ voters may have voted for Fleming and Gore instead of Bonds based on other issues.
Bonds won the primary with 35.85 percent of the vote, with Gore receiving 28.08 percent of the vote and Fleming receiving 27.73 percent, according to the Board of Elections final vote count.
In the race for mayor, Bowser won the primary with 49.01 percent of the citywide vote. Robert White received 40.5 percent, Trayon White received 8.79 percent, and Butler received 1.38 percent.
In the Council chair race, Mendelson, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, won the citywide vote with 53.16 percent compared to challenger Palmer, who received 46.44 percent.
Four of the 13 precincts considered to have a high concentration of LGBTQ residents and voters are in Ward 1. They include Precincts 24 and 25 in Adams Morgan and Precincts 23 and 36 in Columbia Heights.
The final vote count for those four precincts show that incumbent Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) beat her gay opponent in the Ward 1 race, former D.C. police officer Salah Czapary, in each of the four precincts. Nadeau won in three of the four precincts by a margin greater than 10 percent of the vote.
In a development that surprised some in the LGBTQ community, Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest local LGBTQ political organization, endorsed Nadeau over Czapary in the Ward 1 Council race. Czapary received the endorsement of the national LGBTQ Victory Fund as well as from the Washington Post and former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams.
Activists following the race have said LGBTQ voters who backed Nadeau were clearly basing their vote on issues other than LGBTQ rights, for which Nadeau and a third candidate in the race, community activist Sabel Harris, have expressed support.
Nadeau won the Ward 1 primary with 48.46 percent of the vote. Czapary received 30.94 percent, with Harris receiving 20.36 percent.
In the Ward 5 D.C. Council contest, gay D.C. Board of Education member Zachary Parker won the primary in a seven-candidate race, placing him in a strong position to win the November general election and become the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council since 2015. The Blade couldn’t immediately identify precincts in Ward 5 that may have significant numbers of LGBTQ voters.
In the mayor’s race, Bowser and Robert White each won and lost one of the two LGBTQ precincts in Dupont Circle and Logan Circle by close margins. Bowser beat Robert White in Dupont Circle Precinct 14 by a margin of 50.26 percent to 45.42 percent. But Robert White won in the adjacent Dupont Circle Precinct 15 by a margin of 49.0 percent to 48.17 percent over Bowser.
The mayor won the Logan Circle Precinct 16 by a vote of 54.29 percent compared to Robert White, who received 41.12 percent. In the Logan Circle Precinct 17, Robert White beat Bowser by a margin of 48.29 percent to 46.33 percent.
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count
Board of Elections
DC MAYOR
James Butler 1,753 1.38%
Muriel Bowser 62,391 49.01%
Trayon White 11,193 8.79%
Robert White 51,557 40.5%
Write-In 406 0.32%
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count
Precincts with High Concentration of LGBTQ voters
Board of Elections
DC MAYOR
Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle
James Butler 21 2.16%
*Muriel Bowser 488 50.26%
Trayon White 16 1.65%
Robert White 441 45.42%
Write-In 5 0.51%
Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle
James Butler 16 1.33%
Muriel Bowser 579 48.17%
Trayon White 17 1.41%
*Robert White 589 49.0%
Write-In 2 0.17%
Precinct 16 – Logan Circle
James Butler 21 1.55%
*Muriel Bowser 734 54.29%
Trayon White 34 2.51%
Robert White 556 41.12%
Write-In 7 0.23%
Precinct 17 – Logan Circle
James Butler 32 2.24%
Muriel Bowser 663 46.33%
Trayon White 43 3.0%
*Robert White 691 48.29%
Write-In 2 0.14%
Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan
James Butler 14 1.2%
Muriel Bowser 541 46.48%
Trayon White 9 0.77%
*Robert White 594 51.03%
Write-In 6 0.52%
Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan
James Butler 20 1.1%
Muriel Bowser 883 48.49%
Trayon White 19 1.94%
*Robert White 895 49.15%
Write-In 4 0.23%
Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights
James Butler 20 1.87%
Muriel Bowser 455 42.6%
Trayon White 49 4.59%
*Robert White 541 50.66%
Write-In 3 0.58%
Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights
James Butler 18 1.32%
Muriel Bowser 508 37.27%
Trayon White 102 7.48%
*Robert White 731 53.63%
Write-In 5 0.39%
Precinct 129 – Shaw
James Butler 43 1.67%
*Muriel Bowser 1,300 50.37%
Trayon White 148 5.73%
Robert White 1,081 41.88%
Write-In 9 0.35%
Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill
James Butler 12 0.98%
*Muriel Bowser 677 55.22%
Trayon White 14 1.14%
Robert White 521 42.5%
Write-In 2 0.16%
Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill
James Butler 7 1.14%
*Muriel Bowser 349 56.75%
Trayon White 11 1.79%
Robert White 246 40.0%
Write-In 3 0.51%
Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront
James Butler 13 0.84%
*Muriel Bowser 778 50.23%
Trayon White 128 8.26%
Robert White 628 40.54%
Write-In 2 0.13%
Precinct 112 – Anacostia
James Butler 18 3.59%
*Muriel Bowser 277 45.35%
Trayon White 107 21.36%
Robert White 148 29.54%
Write-In 1 0.2%
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count
Board of Elections
DC COUNCIL CHAIR
Erin Palmer 56,671 46.44%
*Phil Mendelson 64,877 53.16%
Write-In 406 0.32%
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count
Precincts With High Concentration of LGBTQ Voters
Board of Elections
DC COUNCIL CHAIR
Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle
*Erin Palmer 492 52.34%
Phil Mendelson 446 47.45%
Write-In 2 0.21%
Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle
*Erin Palmer 627 53.5%
Phil Mendelson 543 46.33%
Write-In 2 0.17%
Precinct 16 – Logan Circle
Erin Palmer 580 44.68%
*Phil Mendelson 715 55.08%
Write-In 3 0.23%
Precinct 17 – Logan Circle
*Erin Palmer 739 54.02%
Phil Mendelson 628 45.91%
Write-In 1 0.07%
Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan
*Erin Palmer 593 53.09%
Phil Mendelson 522 46.73%
Write-In 2 0.18%
Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan
Erin Palmer 866 48.93%
*Phil Mendelson 900 50.85%
Write-In 4 0.23%
Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights
*Erin Palmer 546 53.46%
Phil Mendelson 474 46.2%
Write-In 6 0.58%
Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights
*Erin Palmer 746 58.37%
Phil Mendelson 527 41.24%
Write-In 5 0.39%
Precinct 129 – Shaw
Erin Palmer 1,144 46.62%
*Phil Mendelson 1,299 52.93%
Write-In 11 0.45%
Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill
Erin Palmer 556 46.8%
*Phil Mendelson 629 52.95%
Write-In 3 0.25%
Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill
Erin Palmer 294 49.75%
Phil Mendelson 294 49.75%
Write-In 3 0.51%
Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront
Erin Palmer 674 45.66%
*Phil Mendelson 796 53.93%
Write-In 6 0.41%
Precinct 112 – Anacostia
Erin Palmer 168 35.52%
*Phil Mendelson 303 64.06%
Write-In 2 0.42%
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Citywide Vote Count
Board of Elections
DC COUNCIL AT-LARGE
Lisa Gore 33,225 28.08%
Nate Fleming 32,815 27.73%
*Anita Bonds 42,421 35.85%
Dexter Williams 9,356 7.91%
Write-In 504 0.43%
DC Democratic Primary
June 21, 2022
Final Pre-Certified Precinct Vote Count
Precincts With High Concentration of LGBTQ Voters
Board of Elections
DC COUNCIL AT-Large
Precinct 14 – Dupont Circle
Lisa Gore 309 34.14%
*Nate Fleming 311 34.36%
Anita Bonds 207 22.87%
Dexter Williams 72 7.96%
Write-In 6 0.21%
Precinct 15 – Dupont Circle
*Lisa Gore 421 38.34%
Nate Fleming 355 32.33%
Anita Bond 222 20.22%
Dexter Williams 97 8.83%
Precinct 16 – Logan Circle
Lisa Gore 371 29.87%
*Nate Fleming 437 35.19%
Anita Bonds 350 28.18%
Dexter Williams 82 6.6%
Write-In 2 0.16%
Precinct 17 – Logan Circle
*Lisa Gore 413 30.87%
Nate Fleming 401 29. 97%
Anita Bonds 420 31.39%
Dexter Williams 101 7.55%
Write-In 3 0.22$
Precinct 24 – Adams Morgan
*Lisa Gore 384 36.4%
Nate Fleming 330 31.28%
Anita Bonds 261 24.74%
Dexter Williams 80 7.58%
Write-In 0 0%
Precinct 25 – Adams Morgan
Lisa Gore 571 34.19%
*Nate Fleming 595 35.63%
Anita Bonds 362 21.68%
Dexter Williams 132 7.9%
Write-In 10 0.6%
Precinct 23 – Columbia Heights
*Lisa Gore 336 34.46%
Nate Fleming 273 28.0%
Anita Bonds 278 28.51%
Dexter Williams 85 8.72%
Write-In 3 0.31%
Precinct 36 – Columbia Heights
*Lisa Gore 418 33.76%
Nate Fleming 318 25.69%
Anita Bonds 386 31.18%
Dexter Williams 112 9.05%
Write-In 4 0.32%
Precinct 129 – Shaw
Lisa Gore 662 28.03%
Nate Fleming 695 29.42%
*Anita Bonds 800 33.87%
Dexter Williams 195 8.26%
Write-In 10 0.42%
Precinct 89 – Capitol Hill
Lisa Gore 336 29.87%
*Nate Fleming 460 40.89%
Anita Bonds 254 22.58%
Dexter Williams 68 6.04%
Write-In 7 0.62%
Precinct 90 – Capitol Hill
Lisa Gore 164 29.55%
*Nate Fleming 206 37.12%
Anita Bonds 153 27.57%
Dexter Williams 30 5.41%
Write-In 2 0.36%
Precinct 127 – Southwest Waterfront
Lisa Gore 323 22.62%
Nate Fleming 394 27.59%
*Anita Bonds 594 41.6%
Dexter Williams 115 8.05%
Write-In 2 0.14%
Precinct 112 – Anacostia
Lisa Gore 74 15.95%
Nate Fleming 103 22.2%
*Anita Bonds 249 53.66%
Dexter Williams 37 7.97%
Write-In 1 0.22%
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.
District of Columbia
Mary’s House founder, CEO retires
Dr. Imani Woody played leading role in opening DC’s first home for LGBTQ seniors
The board of directors for Mary’s House for Older Adults, DC’s first official home dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors, announced on July 7 that its founding president and CEO, Dr. Imani Woody, has retired.
Woody, who holds a PhD in Human Services, is credited with playing a leading role over many years in arranging both city and private funding needed to construct and operate the Mary’s House three-story building located at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E., in the city’s Fort Dupont neighborhood.
The house, which opened in March 2025, with a grand opening ceremony held in May 2025, includes 15 single-occupancy residential units and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
“It is with profound gratitude and hearts full of celebration that the board of directors of Mary’s House for Older Adults, DC (MHFOA) announces the retirement of our visionary founder, Dr. Imani Woody, from her role as president and CEO,” the Mary’s House board says in a statement.
“Dr. Woody’s journey with Mary’s House began with her vision and a kitchen table gathering of women with a bold, urgent, and loving vision: to create safe, affirming, affordable housing for LGBTQ/SGL older adults in Washington, DC,” the statement says.
It adds, “What started as a dream has grown into DC’s first affordable LGBTQ+/SGL affirming communal living space for adults 60 and over, a 15-room community residence at 401 Anacostia Road in Southeast Washington.”
The statement says Woody will continue to serve on Mary’s House board.
“The board will be sharing information about the leadership transition process in the coming weeks,” the statement continues. “We are committed to honoring Dr. Woody’s legacy by ensuring Mary’s House continues to thrive and grow in faithful service to LGBTQ/SGL elders experiencing housing insecurity and isolation.”
District of Columbia
SMYAL receives $25,000 award for ‘courageous acts’
D.C. group provides support services for LGBTQ youth
The D.C.-based organization SMYAL, which provides services for LGBTQ youth in the D.C. metro area, including housing for homeless LGBTQ youth, announced on June 30 that it received a $25,000 award for its “courageous acts” in support of the community it serves.
The award was a monetary grant from The Courage Project, which describes itself as a “national initiative investing in acts of courage and compassion that strengthens our communities and democracy.”
A statement on its website says it was launched in May 2025 and is funded and backed by leading national foundations in the U.S.
“At SMYAL, we are deeply grateful to receive support from The Courage Project and are inspired by their bold investment in LGBTQ+ youth at such a critical moment,” SMYAL CEO Erin Whelan said in a statement. “For queer and trans young people, simply showing up as themselves each day requires immense courage, and that courage is strengthened when organizations like The Courage Project stand behind them loudly, proudly, and without hesitation,” Whelan said.
In its statement announcing the award SMYAL says The Courage Project will recognize SMYAL and other awardees and their work on July 3 at the Washington National Cathedral as part of a special interfaith service marking the U.S. 250th anniversary.
“The Courage Project is a bold initiative honoring everyday acts of bravery – the quiet, often unseen acts of heroism that reflect the best of the American spirit and strengthen democracy at the community level,” the project states on its website.
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