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
Doc on Blade reporter Chibbaro scores Emmy nomination
‘Lou’s Legacy’ chronicles 50-year career
“Lou’s Legacy: A Reporter’s Life at the Washington Blade” has been nominated for a Capital Emmy in the “Documentary – Historical” category by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
“Our members include all of the video content producers who serve our local audiences in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia—from the Atlantic to the Appalachians, from Bristol to Baltimore,” said Capitol Emmys President Adam Longo in a press release.
Broadcast last June by WETA PBS in Washington, D.C. and MPT in Maryland, the documentary was directed and produced by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Patrick Sammon in association with the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. Additional nominees who worked on the film include producer Julianne Donofrio and editor Amir Jaffer.
“Lou’s Legacy” tells the story of two D.C. icons — legendary Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. and beloved drag performer Donnell Robinson, known to generations of Washington audiences as “Ella Fitzgerald.” Through Chibbaro’s nearly five-decade career at the Blade and Ella’s return to the stage after a three-year hiatus following COVID, the 29-minute documentary explores the history of Washington’s LGBTQ community and today’s rising backlash against LGBTQ rights, including laws targeting drag performers.
“We’re honored that Lou’s Legacy has been recognized alongside such an impressive group of historical documentaries,” said Sammon. “This nomination is especially meaningful because the film preserves and celebrates the stories of people who helped shape queer history in Washington, DC — often without recognition from mainstream institutions. We’re deeply grateful to the Mattachine Society, Lou Chibbaro Jr., Donnell Robinson, WETA PBS, and everyone who helped bring this project to life.”
“Lou’s Legacy” premiered on WETA PBS in June 2025 during Pride month. The documentary also broadcast on Maryland Public Television and is streaming nationally on PBS.org. WETA will rebroadcast “Lou’s Legacy” several times during Pride month, including June 15 th at 9 p.m. Winners of the Capital Emmy Awards will be announced at the Capital Emmy Gala on June 20 at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel.
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride set for Memorial Day Weekend
Dozens of events to reflect theme of ‘New Black Renaissance’
D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Black Pride celebration is scheduled to take place May 22-25 as it has since its founding 35 years ago on Memorial Day Weekend with several dozen events in locations across the city.
Like recent years, most of the official events are scheduled to take place at the Westin D.C. Downtown Hotel, including the Opening Reception on Friday, May 22, when Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was scheduled to be among the performers.
“This high-energy reception brings together community leaders, creatives, tastemakers, and visitors from across the globe for a night rooted in connection, joy, and celebration,” according to a statement on the Black Pride website.
Also, like past years, the second day of official Black Pride events set for Saturday, May 23, will include a dozen workshop sessions on a wide range of issues and topics. The workshop sessions will take place at the Westin Hotel.
On that same day, Black Trans Pride is scheduled to take place at the hotel from 1- 6 p.m., according to the official schedule of events.
“The goal is and always has been to make sure we have events for everybody, regardless of their financial situation, regardless of their agenda,” said Kenya Hutton, president and CEO of the Center For Black Equity, the D.C. LGBTQ group that organizes D.C. Black Pride.
Hutton said this year for the first time there will be a D.C. Black Pride Fun Run. The Black Pride website says the 5k run will take place Saturday, May 23, from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. starting at the Frederick Douglass Bride near the D.C. Navy Yard.
He said another first will be a film screening of the documentary film “Not Your Average Girl,” about the life of trans woman, author, and advocate Hope Giselle, scheduled for May 22 at the nearby Eaton Hotel.
Also, like in past years, this year’s Black Pride will feature a Rainbow Row organization and vendor expo at the Westin from 5-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday that includes information tables set up by organizations and vendors.
The annual Pride In The Park event will take place Monday, May 25, from 12-7 p.m. at Fort Dupont Park located at 3600 F St., S.E. And the seventh annual “Brunch & Babes” drag event was scheduled for Sunday, May 24, at Hook Hall nightclub at 3400 Georgia Ave., N.W.
Among the other events taking place at other locations is a Sunday, May 24 “G-Spot Day Party” organized by local gay activist Geno Dunnington to be held at Bravo Bravo nightclub at 1001 Connecticut Ave., N.W. from 3-9 p.m. Dunnington told the Washington Blade the event will include the playing of house music, which he says played a role in local D.C. Black LGBTQ culture and in the first Black Pride celebration in 1991. The Black Pride website includes a write up of how that came about.
“From 1976 until1990, the ClubHouse in Washington, D.C. was a remarkable nightclub founded by Black members of D.C.’s LGBTQ community, widely known for its signature event – the Children’s Hour,” the write-up says. “This event was a true celebration and took place annually during Memorial Day weekend,” it says.
“When the ClubHouse closed in 1990, many feared the Memorial Day tradition would be lost,” the write-up continues. “However, three men – Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, and Ernest Hopkins – envisioned creating an event that would continue the tradition of the Children’s Hour while also bringing awareness to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in their community.”
The write-up adds, “Their vision and hard work gave life to the first Black Gay and Lesbian Pride event on May 25, 1991, on the grounds of Banneker Field,” which is located near Howard University. “This first event drew 800 people, who were centered around the theme of ‘Let’s All Come Together.’”
It says organizers expanded the scope of the Black Pride events over the next several years as it evolved and prompted Black Pride events in other cities and the formation of the International Federation of Black Prides, which later became the Center for Black Equity.
“D.C. Black Pride was the catalyst for what is now regarded as the Black Pride Movement,” the writeup says. “Since its birth, more than 50 other Black Pride celebrations now take place throughout the world, many using D.C. Black Pride as its model.”
It adds, “Today, more than 500,000 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of African descent and their allies come to Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the beauty of a shared community and raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS in the name and spirit of Black Pride.”
Hutton said D.C. Black Pride has grown to a point where organizers cannot keep track of all the unofficial events taking place.
“There are a number of events that are not even on our website,” he said. “They’re parties. People are having cookouts. There are all kinds of things that are happening over the weekend, that are official listed events, partner events, and non-partner events.”
Hutton said that while D.C. Black Pride’s support from corporate and business sponsors has remained stable, Black Pride organizations in other cities have been hit hard by the growing reluctance by businesses to sponsor LGBTQ related events and LGBTQ organizations brought about by the Trump administration’s opposition to so-called diversity, equity and inclusion or “DEI” programs.
He said several Black Pride groups have had to curtail their annual celebrations’ scope, with some facing the prospect of cancelling their celebrations due to a sharp decrease in funds from business donors. D.C. Black Pride has also faced the impact of anti-DEI pressure from the Trump administration, according to Hutton, from businesses that have asked not to be publicly identified as sponsors.
“The administration has put pressure on some of our traditional sponsors, and we have some sponsors this year who have told us don’t put our ad, don’t put our logo, don’t put anything out” to publicly identify them as sponsors, Hutton said. “They still want to support us but can’t announce they are financially supporting us in any kind of way,” he said.
As she has in recent past years, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser this year issued an official mayoral proclamation declaring May 22-25, 2026 as “DC BLACK PRIDE WEEKEND.”
A list of the official 2026 D.C. Black Pride and partner events and their locations can be accessed at dcblackpride.org.
District of Columbia
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
Whitman-Walker joins nationwide recognition of efforts to develop vaccine
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, will join health care advocates from across the country to support efforts to develop an HIV vaccine on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18.
“HIV Awareness Day, observed annually on May 18, was established to recognize and thank the volunteers, scientists, health professionals, and community members working toward a safe and effective prevention HIV vaccine,” Whitman-Walker said in a statement.
“Led by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the day is also an opportunity to educate communities about the critical importance of preventive HIV vaccine research,” the statement says.
It adds, “The reality is that any new vaccine discovery must be built community by community, institution by institution, and then it must reach everyone – especially the communities who have carried the heaviest burden of this epidemic.”
On its own website, the National Institutes of Health says HIV Vaccine Awareness Day also highlights its longstanding efforts, coordinated by its Office of AIDS Research, to support researchers’ efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.
“Researchers are making promising headway in efforts to develop a safe, effective HIV vaccine,” it says in a statement on its website.
A Whitman-Walker spokesperson said Whitman-Walker was not holding a specific event to observe HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, but it will recognize the day as a way of encouragement for its ongoing work to address the AIDS epidemic and support for vaccine research.
“Today, no one has to die from HIV,” said Whitman-Walker’s Health System division’s CEO, Dr. Heather Aaron in the Whitman-Walker statement. “We have the treatments, the technology, and the research to change outcomes, and yet people in our community are still dying from HIV//AIDS,” she said in the statement.
“That is unacceptable, and it is exactly why our work continues,” she added. “Here in D.C. with more focus on Southeast D.C., the Whitman-Walker Health System remains committed to making a difference through cutting-edge research, policy advocacy, and philanthropy, because fair access to life-saving treatment is not a privilege. It is a right.”
Iran war causes condom shortage in India
U.S. attorney nominee confirmed despite anti-LGBTQ history, no trial experience
Vt. lawmaker equates transgender identity with bestiality
Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates 45 years at annual gala
BREAKING NEWS: Barney Frank dies at 86
Disillusioned about democracy? Think of it as a community garden
Honey, have we been priced out of gay paradise?
IDAHOBiT a reminder we all must stand up against transphobia
PHOTOS: Blade Summer Kickoff Party
