Strong turnout for D.C. LGBTQ Town Hall

Representatives of more than a dozen local and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations were among the 83 people who turned out for an Oct. 21 Town Hall Discussion for D.C.’s LGBTQ Community.

The event, which was organized by the local LGBTQ event planning organization Team Rayceen Productions, was held in a conference room in the building at 899 North Capitol St., N.E., where D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs is located.

Much of the discussion at the event focused on topics related to the organizers’ subtitle for the town hall event, “Protest, Liberation & Pride: Preparing for An Uncertain Future.”

Among the six panelists led by Team Rayceen leader Rayceen Pendarvis who led the discussion at the event was Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which arranged for the meeting location.

The other panelists included June Crenshaw, deputy director of  D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance, which played the lead role in organizing WorldPride 2025 in D.C.; Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth in D.C.; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; and Patrick Algyer, executive director of Equality Chamber, a group  that represents local LGBTQ-owned and supportive businesses.
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“Last night we channeled the spirit of many trailblazers and movement leaders who came before us,” Toledo told the Blade in providing his thoughts on the town hall event. “It served as a reminder that by working together, we can overcome today’s challenges,” he said, adding, “Organizing is how we confront today’s attacks, economic uncertainty, and rising queer youth homelessness.”

Read more in the Washington Blade here.