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District of Columbia

Recall efforts targeting two D.C. Council members fail

Activists disagree over extent of support for plan targeting Allen, Nadeau

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2 years ago

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Brianne Nadeau is one of two Council members targeted with a recall effort. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The D.C. Board of Elections confirmed this week that the campaign to recall D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) failed to obtain the required 6,427 petition signatures needed to place the Allen recall on the November election ballot in time for an Aug. 12 deadline.

And the chairperson of the campaign to recall Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Diana Alvarez, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday in a telephone interview that she and her campaign team do not believe they will be able to collect the required number of 5,448 petition signatures in time for their Oct. 1 deadline.

“We unfortunately have not collected the number of signatures we hoped for, and at this point I don’t think we will be able to collect all of them,” she said. “So, it’s been a challenge, you know, especially with everyone having their own personal lives going on. Many of us are small business owners.”

Under the D.C. election law, organizers of recall campaigns are given 180 days from the time they officially file papers for the recall  to obtain the required number of signatures.

News that the effort to recall Allen had failed and that the effort to recall Nadeau was on its way to failing drew attention to a sharp disagreement among LGBTQ activists over the extent of support for or opposition to the two recall campaigns within the D.C. LGBTQ community.

Many of the city’s LGBTQ Democratic Party activists, led by the Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest local LGBTQ political group, have argued that the LGBTQ community overwhelmingly opposed the two recall campaigns in part on grounds that Allen and Nadeau have been longtime strong supporters of the LGBTQ community and have championed LGBTQ supportive legislation before the D.C. Council.

But LGBTQ community supporters of the recall campaigns, including Ward 1 gay Democratic activist and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jamie Sycamore, have argued that the “rank-and-file” members of the LGBTQ community support the recall efforts for the same reason as their straight counterparts. Sycamore and other LGBTQ recall backers say they blame Nadeau and Allen for the alarming rise in violent crime in the city in 2023 due to their support for policies to defund the police department and put in place lenient sentencing rules for those convicted of committing violent crimes, including carjackings and armed robberies.

Sycamore said he officially withdrew as a member of the Nadeau recall campaign in June after becoming convinced that the other leaders of the campaign failed to do the “legwork” needed to gather the required number of petition signatures. But he told the Blade this week that he still supports the recall of Nadeau and Allen on grounds that their actions on the Council have led to a public safety crisis in the city that impacts LGBTQ residents as well as everyone else.

David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its attached lesbian bar League Her Own, said he too supports the recall of Nadeau because of what he calls her “refusal” to properly address crime in Ward 1 where his bars are located.

“I think every LGBT person I know is supporting it,” he said of the Nadeau recall campaign. “The crime is terrible and people aren’t going out as much because of the crime,” which he said is hurting businesses in Ward 1, including nightlife businesses like his.

Michael Haresign, president of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, disputes Sycamore’s argument, saying he believes the large majority of LGBTQ D.C. residents agree with Nadeau and Allen and their supporters that the two lawmakers should not be blamed for the rise in crime. Both Allen and Nadeau have argued that public safety is their highest priority, and they have pushed for legislation to curtail crime by, among other things, addressing the root cause of crime such as mental health issues and substance abuse to prevent crime before it happens.

Haresign points out that Capital Stonewall Democrats urged its members and others in the LGBTQ community not to sign the petitions being circulated for the two recall campaigns. He noted the organization endorsed Allen and Nadeau in their most recent primary election campaigns in 2022 because of their strong support for the LGBTQ community.

He also points out that he believes members of the LGBTQ community, like their straight allies, think a recall effort is appropriate for ethical violations by elected officials such as violating a law but is not appropriate for a disagreement over public policy issues.

In noting that the recall efforts have failed, Haresign added, “I think it shows there really wasn’t that much of a push for any recall efforts from the community. It was sort of a few people with bones to pick with the Council members who were pushing these recalls forward. But the community at large wasn’t really lining up to sign the petitions.”

Among those who disagree with Haresign is Andrew Minik, president of the D.C. chapter of the national LGBTQ GOP group Log Cabin Republicans.

“I absolutely support both of the recall efforts,” Minik told the Blade at the start of the recall campaigns in March. “In our D.C. Chapter of Log Cabin, we have members in all eight wards of D.C.,” he said. “You do not need to go very far to ask any of our members if he or she has been a victim of crime themselves or just knowing someone who has,” according to Minik. “People like Charles Allen and Brianne Nadeau are uniquely responsible for the conditions that have allowed crime to spiral out of control here.” 

D.C. gay Democratic activists John Klenert of Ward 2 and David Meadows of Ward 8 said many in the LGBTQ community have joined or given financial support to the official Allen and Nadeau campaigns opposing the recall efforts.

“I oppose these recall efforts,” Meadows said. “The recall people raise some good issues, but you have to weigh the good over the bad,” he said, adding that Allen’s and Nadeau’s positive actions far outweigh the crime-related allegations made by supporters of the recalls, which Allen and Nadeau have said are mostly mischaracterizations of their actual positions and actions.  

On Aug. 12, the day the Board of Elections announced the Allen recall campaign had failed to obtain the required number of petition signatures from registered voters in Ward 6, the campaign announced that although it obtained 5,500 signatures instead of the required number of 6,427, it was asking the election board to place the recall measure on the ballot anyway.

In a statement, the campaign said the reason it wasn’t able to obtain the needed signatures was because the Board of Elections violated a D.C. law that requires the board to provide a mobile app to help gather signatures in addition to gathering signatures on paper petitions. Board of Elections Executive Director Monica Holman Evans said the mobile petition app was discontinued in 2022 when a third-party vendor stopped providing it, according to a report by the Washington Post

But Evans told the Post that use of the app would not have made a difference in the Allen recall campaign’s ability to gather signatures because petition circulators would have had to approach each potential signer of the petition while holding an iPad instead of a paper petition, with the two taking the same amount of time.

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District of Columbia

U.S. Attorney’s Office fails to reinstate hate crime charge in anti-gay assault

Published

1 day ago

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April 29, 2026

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(Photo by chalabala/Bigstock)

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., which prosecutes criminal cases in the District, has decided not to reinstate a hate crime designation filed by D.C. police against a man arrested in February for allegedly assaulting a gay man while using “homophobic slurs.”

After prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office initially dropped the hate crime designation filed by police shortly after the alleged attacker was arrested on Feb. 7, a spokesperson for the office told the Washington Blade the case was still under investigation, and additional charges could be filed.

“We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them,” a statement released by the office in February said. 

But D.C. Superior Court records show the case against defendant Dean Edmundson, 26, of Germantown, Md., who is now charged with Simple Assault without a hate crime designation, is scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 18.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office this week did not immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking why it chose not to reinstate the hate crime designation.

An affidavit in support of the arrest filed in court by D.C. police appears to support the charge of a hate crime designation. It says the incident occurred around 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the intersection of 14th and Q Streets, N.W., which is near two D.C. gay bars.

“The victim stated that they refused to High-Five Defendant Edmundson, which, upon that happening, Defendant Edmundson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim bald, ugly, and gay,” the arrest affidavit states.

“The victim stated that upon being called that, Defendant Edmundson pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push,” the affidavit says, adding, “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay.”     

Under D.C.’s Bias Related Crimes Act of 1989, penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice and hate against individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity disability, and homelessness can be enhanced by a judge upon conviction by one and a half times greater than the penalty of the underlying crime. 

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District of Columbia

Community mourns passing of D.C. trans rights advocate SaVanna Wanzer

Acclaimed activist credited with founding D.C. Trans Pride

Published

5 days ago

on

April 25, 2026

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SaVanna Wanzer (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Three D.C.-based LGBTQ advocacy organizations released statements on April 24 announcing that highly acclaimed D.C. transgender rights advocate SaVanna Wanzer has passed away. 

A family member told the Blade that Wanzer died on Friday, April 24 of natural causes. She was 63.

Among other things, the advocacy groups noted that Wanzer is credited with being the lead founder of the D.C. Trans Pride and D.C. Black Trans Pride celebrations and events.

 “As a trailblazing transgender activist, educator, and founder of D.C. Trans Pride, D.C. Black Trans Pride, and May Is All About Trans, SaVanna created and led transformative transgender programming during D.C. Black Pride that ensured trans voices, stories, leadership, and lived experiences were centered, celebrated, and protected,” according to the statement from the Center for Black Equity, an LGBTQ organization.

“Her work was not just about representation, it was about liberation, community, and making sure Black Trans lives were honored in rooms, stages, policies, and movements that too often overlooked them,” the statement says.

In its own statement, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, called Wanzer an icon of D.C.’s Black trans community and longtime leader in many LGBTQ organizations. 

“SaVanna Wanzer was a D.C. legend,” Tori Cooper, HRC’s Director of Strategic Outreach and Training, said in the statement. “She advocated for many years for the trans community and for people living with HIV, and served with many organizations, including D.C. Black Pride, Capital Pride, and NMAC [National Minority AIDS Council],” the statement adds.

“I can say firsthand that SaVanna will not just be missed for her work, but for her sisterly wisdom and her sense of humor,” Cooper said in the HRC statement.

In its own statement, Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, called Wanzer a “trailblazer” in her role as founder of Capital Trans Pride, D.C. Black Trans Pride, and the May Is All About Trans events. It says she served on the Capital Pride Board of Directors 

“SaVanna was not just an advocate and community organizer but also a knowledge holder and elder voice in our movement,” the statement adds

In an undated statement on its website released before Wanzer’s passing, the D.C. group Food and Friends, which provides home-delivered meals to people in need, including people with HIV and cancer, says Wanzer had been one of its clients in the past. It says she had been living with heart problems since she was 16 and learned she had HIV in 1985 when she went to donate blood while working at the time for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It also says she had diabetes, which was under control.

Among her many involvements, Wanzer also served as a volunteer for D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, which provides medical services for the LGBTQ community along with other communities. In 2015, Whitman-Walker selected  Wanzer as the first recipient of its Robert Fenner Urquhart Award for her volunteer services at Whitman-Walker for more than 20 years.

The Center for Black Equity appeared to capture the sentiment of those in the LGBTQ community who knew Wanzer in the concluding part of its statement on her passing.  

“Her vision continues to guide us,” it says. “Her courage continues to inspire us. Her impact will continue to live through every person, every Pride, and every space made more possible because she dared to lead,” it says. “Rest in power, SaVanna Wanzer. Your light remains with us.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser posted a remembrance on social media: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of SaVanna Wanzer. SaVanna Wanzer’s impact spans more than three decades in Washington, DC. The founder of DC Trans Pride, DC Black Trans Pride, and May Is All About Trans, she was a fierce advocate and a beloved leader. We are grateful for SaVanna’s commitment to making sure that transgender people—especially Black trans residents—are visible and respected.

“Her legacy lives on in the communities she built and the countless lives she touched. My condolences are with all who loved SaVanna Wanzer.”

The family member said funeral arrangements are expected to be announced early next week. This story will be updated.

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District of Columbia

Second trans member announces plans to resign from Capital Pride board

Zion Peters cites ‘lack of interest in the Black trans community’

Published

7 days ago

on

April 23, 2026

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Zion Peters, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors who identifies as transgender, told the Washington Blade he plans to resign from the board “due to the lack of interest in the trans community, specifically the Black trans community.”

Peters continued, “Nobody has checked on me in the last two months so that shows their level of unprofessionalism towards their board members and the community as a whole.”

If he resigns, Peters would be the second known trans person to resign from the Capital Pride board since February, when longtime trans activist Taylor Lianne Chandler informed the board of her resignation in a detailed letter that was sent to the Blade by an anonymous source.

Chandler, who served as chair of the Capital Pride Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee, stated in her Feb. 24 letter that she resigned from the board out of frustration that the board had failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization. The organization’s and the board’s transgender-related policies were not cited in her letter as a reason for her resignation.

The Blade learned of Peters’s plans to resign from an anonymous source who thought Peters had already resigned along with four other board members identified by the anonymous source. The others, who Capital Pride confirmed this week had resigned, include Anthony Musa, Bob Gilchrist, Kaniya Walker, and Dai Nguyen.

Musa and Gilchrist told the Blade they resigned for personal reasons related to their jobs and that they fully support Capital Pride’s work as an organization that coordinates the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.  

The Blade has been unable to reach Walker and Nguyen to determine their reasons for resigning.

Capital Pride CEO Ryan Bos and Board Chair Anna Jinkerson didn’t respond to a Blade question asking if they knew why Walker or Nguyen resigned.

In response to a request by the Blade for comment on the resignations and the concern raised by Zion Peters about trans-related issues, Bos and Jinkerson sent separate statements elaborating on the organization and the board’s position on various issues.

“We can confirm that the individuals you referenced, except for Zion, no longer serve on the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors,” Jinkerson said in her statement.

She added that following the WorldPride festival hosted by D.C. last May and June that was organized by Capital Pride Alliance, the group anticipated a “significant level of board transition,” with many board members reaching the end of their terms. But she said many board members chose to extend their service or apply for an additional term, showing a “powerful reflection of commitment.”

Without commenting on the specific reasons for the resignations of Peterson, Walker, and Nygun, Jinkerson noted, “As with all volunteer leadership roles, transitions occur for a range of personal and professional reasons, and we appreciate those transitions with both understanding and gratitude.”

In his own statement, Bos addressed Capital Pride’s record on transgender issues. 

“The Capital Pride Alliance is committed to supporting and uplifting the Trans community through our work with the Trans Coalition under the Diversity of Prides Initiative, our partnership with Earline Budd on the LGBTQ+ Burial Fund with a focus on our Trans siblings, our collaboration with the National Trans Visibility March, and our ongoing investment in programming for Transgender Day of Visibility and Transgender Day of Remembrance,” Bos said in his statement.  

 “We also recognize there is always continued work to be done, and we always welcome feedback from our community to ensure our commitment remains unwavering,” he said.

At the time of her resignation in February, Chandler said she could not provide specific details of the instances of sexual misconduct to which she referred in her resignation letter, or who allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct, saying she and all other board members had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement preventing them from disclosing further details.

Board Chair Jinkerson in a statement released at that time said she and the board were aware of Chandler’s concerns but did not specifically address allegations of sexual misconduct.

“When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said. “As we continue to grow as an 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,” she said. 

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