LGBTQ+ advocates are building a political pipeline, one D.C. neighborhood at a time

The LGBTQ+ political organization has launched Queering ANCs, a digital program designed to recruit, train and support LGBTQ+ people and allies seeking seats on the District’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. The group describes it as the country’s most ambitious effort to build an LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline through hyperlocal government. Its 2023 analysis , based on 2020 and 2021 federal health survey data, estimated that 14.3 percent of adults in D.C. — about 81,400 people — identify as LGBTQ+. The power of neighborhood governmentD.C. has 46 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions divided into 345 single-member districts. Building power beyond one electionFor Capital Stonewall Democrats, the goal extends beyond achieving proportional representation on neighborhood commissions.