Queering ANCs

About

Local power, within reach.

Queering ANCs helps queer and trans Washingtonians, and the neighbors who love them, run for the most local office in DC and win. It's a program of Capital Stonewall Democrats, launched in July 2026.

Why we built this

DC's Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are the closest thing to a town hall for your block, and they're the most winnable seats in the city. Last cycle, the vast majority of ANC races went uncontested, and dozens drew no candidate at all. The barrier was never winning. It's the belief that "someone like me" belongs in that room, the how-to, the paperwork and the deadline, and the fear of being visible. Queering ANCs exists to dissolve every one of those.

Our mission

To recruit, train, equip, and stand beside LGBTQ+ and allied DC residents running for Advisory Neighborhood Commission, so the people who live in our neighborhoods are the people shaping their future.

The most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline in the country: one city, 345 neighborhood seats, and every tool, lesson, and hand a first-time queer candidate needs — free, bilingual, and built to be copied. We're not waiting for representation to trickle down. We're building the bench from the block up — and setting the model for how candidate-support organizations can do this everywhere. See the evidence →

Our vision

LGBTQ+ rights are under attack. Our answer is older than any attack: we look out for each other, and we build together. This is how we fight back — not just marching past the buildings where decisions get made, but taking seats inside them. Block by block. Neighbor by neighbor. This is what building power looks like.

A DC where queer and trans people hold real, everyday power in the rooms where decisions actually get made: a visible, growing bench of neighbors in local office, and a pipeline that carries them onward. A place where running feels attainable, human, and safe, not reserved for insiders.

Our theory of change

  1. Start where the barrier is lowest. ANC seats take just 25 signatures and no filing fee, and most go uncontested. It's the most winnable entry into elected office in DC.
  2. Remove the real barriers, not the imaginary ones. What actually stops good people is belief ("am I even allowed? do I belong?"), know-how, the petition-and-filing scramble, isolation, and safety. So we provide plain-language learning, a personal plan that carries you to the deadline, mentors and a cohort, and privacy and safety by design.
  3. Make it flexible and supportive. Learn at your own pace, log your goals, hold yourself accountable, and get a gentle nudge when you stall. It's a place to learn, grow, and support others, built around the whole person.
  4. Turn candidates into commissioners, and commissioners into a bench. Every person who runs makes the next one more possible. Winners bring lived experience into decisions about housing, safety, nightlife, and city services, and become the mentors and the pipeline for higher office.
  5. Prove it, and open it. We measure our impact honestly and open-source the whole toolkit, so the model grows beyond one cycle and one city.

The result: more queer and trans neighbors on the ballot and in office, stronger and safer neighborhoods, and a durable progressive bench that starts on your block.

Who it's for

  • Queer and trans Washingtonians who've never pictured themselves as "a politician," especially first-timers.
  • Allies and neighbors who want queer and trans leadership in local office.
  • People too often left out of the process: noncitizen residents, young people, renters, and folks balancing full-time work.
  • Incumbents running for re-election, and people who'd rather help someone else win.

If you care about your block, there's a place for you here, whether you run, help someone run, or grow into it next cycle.

How it works

Flexible, supportive, and built around you. A readiness check to find your seat, self-paced lessons in English and Spanish, a living plan that logs your goals and walks you to the filing deadline, mentors and a cohort for accountability and company, and tools for signatures, outreach, and your message. Private by default: you decide how visible you are, every step of the way.

Who leads it

Stevie McCarty (he/him), President of Capital Stonewall Democrats, leads Queering ANCs. Stevie brought his love for public service and his commitment to training the next generation of progressive leaders home to his own queer community, and built Queering ANCs as a place to learn, grow, and lift each other into local leadership.

He is the youngest member of the board of Democratic Municipal Officials, the largest national Democratic committee supporting candidates and elected Democrats for local office. He was recently elected Ward 2 Committeeman for the DC Democratic Party. He also serves as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and Chair of ANC 2G, representing the Shaw and Mount Vernon Square neighborhoods.

Powered by Capital Stonewall Democrats

Queering ANCs is a program of Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has been building queer political power since 1976. CSD identifies, recruits, and trains Democratic candidates for office, advocates for LGBTQ+ positive policies with local and national elected officials and partners, and runs voter engagement and turnout programs like the LGBTQ+ Ballot Builder (outvotedc.org).

With gratitude

This work is stronger thanks to our organizational partners, and to the people who lent their time, wisdom, and support: Cesar Toledo, Rini Sampath, Vida Rangel, Erin Palmer, Jeremy Sherman, Miguel Trindade Deramo, and Travis K. Ballie.

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