Political observers, together with LGBTQ activists, consider LGBTQ voters in Ward 8, like most if not all voters within the ward, are divided over which of the 4 candidates to assist within the July 15 particular election to fill the ward’s vacant D.C. Council seat.
Every of the 4 candidates, all of whom are Democrats, together with ousted Ward 8 council member Trayon White, who’s working to recapture his seat, have expressed assist for LGBTQ associated points.
The particular election was known as earlier this 12 months after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to expel White following his indictment and arrest by the FBI on a federal bribery cost in August 2024.
He has pleaded not responsible to the cost and underneath D.C. regulation he can legally run for and regain his council seat till the time he’s convicted of the cost. His trial is scheduled to start in January 2026.
The three candidates difficult White — Sheila Bunn, Mike Austin, and Salim Adofo — are longtime Ward 8 neighborhood advocates who’ve been concerned in native authorities affairs for a few years and, in accordance with LGBTQ activists who know them, have been supportive of LGBTQ rights.
White additionally has a document of supporting LGBTQ points whereas serving on the council since 2017. Following his indictment, he gained re-election by a large margin within the November 2024 normal election towards a lesser-known Republican opponent.
Political observers say White’s indictment on a bribery cost is more likely to alienate a few of his previous supporters, however they are saying he stays well-liked within the ward, and with three candidates dividing the opposition vote he might win the election with lower than 50 % of the divided vote depend.
Two of the candidates, Bunn and Adofo, responded to a request by the Washington Blade despatched to every of the 4 candidates asking for a press release summarizing their positions on LGBTQ associated points. Of their respective statements Bunn and Adofo expressed robust assist on a variety of LGBTQ points.
“In my almost 30 years of public service, I’ve persistently supported the rights and labored to enhance the standard of life for the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood,” Bunn mentioned in her assertion. She famous that a lot of her work on behalf of LGBTQ rights befell when she served as chief of workers for D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and as a senior workers member for former D.C. Mayor Vincent Grey.
In his assertion, Adofo mentioned he advocated for a variety of LGBTQ points, together with housing packages for homeless LGBTQ youth and supportive employment coaching packages for transgender residents.
“On the coronary heart of our platform is a steadfast dedication to uplifting LGBTQ+ communities, guaranteeing that coverage is formed not only for them, however with them,” his assertion says. Adofo’s positions in assist of LGBTQ rights are additionally posted on his marketing campaign web site.
GLAA D.C, previously often known as the Homosexual and Lesbian Activists of Washington, launched its rankings of three of the 4 candidates on June 22, primarily based on its current coverage of basing its rankings totally on non-LGBTQ particular points. The group charges candidates on a scale of -10, the bottom doable score, to +10, its highest score.
It assigned a score of +7.5 for Bunn, +6.5 for Austin, and +4.5 for Adofo. In a press release accompanying its rankings, GLAA mentioned every of the three have a document of assist on LGBTQ points, however they misplaced score factors for not supporting non-LGBTQ associated points deemed essential by GLAA.
GLAA mentioned it didn’t difficulty a score for White primarily based on its coverage of not score candidates who’re faraway from workplace or resign attributable to allegations of ethics violations.
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest native LGBTQ political group, selected to not make an endorsement within the Ward 8 particular election.
“We thought that that is greatest as a result of it is a particular election and in these unfamiliar instances, we determined to not take a stand,” Howard Garrett, the group’s president, instructed the Blade.
Ward 8 homosexual Democratic activist Phil Pannell is supporting Adofo, he instructed the Blade, on grounds of Adofo’s robust assist on LGBTQ points and Adofo’s function as the one candidate within the Ward 8 particular election who supported Initiative 83, the poll measure handed by D.C. voters in November 2024 calling for a ranked alternative voting system and open D.C. primaries. A lawsuit difficult the initiative filed by the D.C. Democratic Social gathering has delayed its implementation.
One other longtime Ward 8 homosexual Democratic activist, David Meadows, is supporting Bunn. Meadows cites Bunn’s assist for LGBTQ rights and her positions on different points he helps as his motive for backing her candidacy.
The D.C. Board of Elections web site exhibits that the board mailed ballots for the particular election to all Ward 8 registered voters. The web site exhibits that as of July 7, 2,483 voters despatched again their ballots by mail or positioned them in drop bins situated all through the ward.
Early in-person voting at a number of polling locations was scheduled to start July 11, the web site says, previous to the official election date of July 15 in any respect polling locations all through the ward.
Salim Adofo assertion on LGBTQ points:
Our marketing campaign is rooted within the perception that everybody deserves to stay with dignity, safety, and alternative. We’re dedicated to constructing a safer, more healthy, and extra equitable District for all — the place each voice is heard and each neighborhood is empowered. On the coronary heart of our platform is a steadfast dedication to uplifting LGBTQ+ communities, guaranteeing that coverage is formed not only for them, however with them. We acknowledge that the battle for fairness is interconnected, and we prioritize motion within the areas that the majority deeply impression our residents’ each day lives. As [a] council member, I’ll advocate for healthcare for all, increase funding for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration (HAHSTA) packages to deal with disparities in well being outcomes.
• Develop entry to care by exempting digital-only telehealth companies from the Certificates of Want (CON) course of and rising funding by means of the Division of Behavioral Well being (DBH).
• Construct a culturally competent workforce by eradicating licensure obstacles and increasing the pipeline of LGBTQ+ psychological well being suppliers.
• Employment and financial fairness: maintain workforce improvement efforts like Venture LEAP, a profitable funding in financial empowerment for TGD residents.
• Foster public-private partnerships by requiring D.C. HR to work with labor unions and native employers to host trans-affirming job festivals.
• Fund community-led coaching by supporting packages developed by TGD organizations, modeled after California’s Transgender Financial Empowerment Initiative.
• Housing with dignity: each LGBTQ+ resident deserves secure, affirming, and everlasting housing. Finish youth homelessness with a community-centered strategic plan targeted on increasing everlasting housing and wraparound companies.
• Assist inclusive housing by persevering with funding for LGBTQ+ housing vouchers and senior housing initiatives.
• Security and neighborhood assist: create protected shelters by investing $2 million in a 20-bed LGBTQIA2S+ shelter for survivors of intimate accomplice violence and sexual assault.
• Empower neighborhood organizations with no-cost capacity-building assist and streamlined entry to D.C. grants for LGBTQ+-serving CBOs.
Sheila Bunn assertion on LGBTQ points:
In my almost 30 years of public service, I’ve persistently supported the rights and labored to enhance the standard of life for the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood.
As chief of workers to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, I helped stop Congress from overturning the District’s 2009 marriage equality invoice and labored on eradicating congressional riders from the District’s finances that prohibited the expenditure of regionally raised funds for our needle-exchange program, which has been pivotal in HIV/AIDS prevention.
As a part of Mayor Vincent C. Grey’s senior workers, I assisted in launching the District’s transgender employment initiative underneath the Venture Empowerment Program, rising coaching and job alternatives for transgender residents. We additionally employed a member of the transgender cohort within the Mayor’s Workplace of Neighborhood Affairs after their tenure, demonstrating our dedication to this system. I facilitated efforts to finish medical health insurance discrimination primarily based on gender identification with DISB’s 2013 bulletin, guaranteeing protection for companies like mastectomies and hormone alternative remedy. Moreover, I helped to coordinate Mayor Grey’s first LGBTQIA+ Youth City Corridor to deal with the considerations of LGBTQIA+ youth and took part in cultural competency coaching to higher assist the District’s vital LGBTQIA+ inhabitants.
At present, I’m a member of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, actively participating in Satisfaction occasions and supporting LGBTQIA+ causes just like the DC LGBTQ+ Neighborhood Middle, a one-stop store for companies and packages with important social service companions. By way of direct outreach to organizations serving the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, I intention to know and characterize their points successfully. I stay up for collaborating with GLAA, Capital Stonewall Democrats, and different allied organizations to form laws and insurance policies that profit our LGBTQIA+ residents and all District residents.
