Chapter 13B. Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs.

§ 2–1381. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term:

(1) “Advisory Committee” means the Advisory Committee to the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs.

(1A) “Fund” means the LGBTQ Homeless Youth Training Grant Fund established in § 2-1384.

(2) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning” or “LGBTQ” means individuals who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender or are questioning or exploring their sexuality or sexual identity, or are concerned about applying a social label to themselves related to their sexuality or sexual identity and who are residents of the District of Columbia.

(2A) "LGBTQ Community Business" means a for-profit business that:

(A) Is authorized to do business in the District;

(B) Either maintains at least one physical facility in the District that is regularly open to the public or is a publication that dedicates a majority of its coverage to news and issues in the District;

(D) Holds itself out to the public as catering to LGBTQ customers or communities, including through advertising or regular events; except, that a business that declines to advertise widely its practice of catering to LGBTQ customers or communities to protect the privacy and safety of its clientele, but can demonstrate that it willingly cultivates LGBTQ individuals as customers through other means, such as word of mouth, may satisfy this criterion.

(3) “Office” means the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs established in § 2-1382.

(Apr. 4, 2006, D.C. Law 16-89, § 2, 53 DCR 1084; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 122(a), 53 DCR 6794; May 3, 2014, D.C. Law 20-100, § 3(a), 61 DCR 1873; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 1022(a), 62 DCR 10905; Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 1142(a), 68 DCR 010163.)

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (1), validated a previously made technical correction.

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-100 added (1A).

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1142(a) of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1022(a) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

§ 2–1382. Establishment of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs; Advisory Committee.

(a) There is established the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs ("Office").

(b) The Mayor shall appoint a Director of the Office with the advice and consent of the Council, pursuant to § 1-523.01(a), and shall fix the compensation of the Director pursuant to subchapter X-A of Chapter 6 of Title 1; except, that this subsection shall not apply to a Director of the Office appointed by the Mayor prior to September 18, 2024.

(c) The Director is authorized to hire staff in the Career Service, consistent with budgetary authorization, as he or she deems necessary to perform the functions of the Office. The Director may engage qualified volunteers in accordance with District law.

(d) The Director shall have authority to delegate to other employees of the Office any of the Director's duties and powers.

(e) The Mayor shall establish an Advisory Committee, consisting of not more than 25 public members who shall be representative of the diversity of people and ideas within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community. The Advisory Committee shall include, at a minimum, representation from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community organizations representing health, social service, religious, and human rights issues, and its members shall be representative of the diversity in the community with regard to socioeconomic status, religion, race, ethnicity, gender identification, age, and families. The Advisory Committee shall advise the Director and the Mayor on issues relating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community and on issues relating to the mission of the Office.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Mayor from utilizing existing resources of the Executive Office of the Mayor to provide central administrative support to the Office, including use of office space and equipment, procurement, human resources, and agency fiscal operations.

(Apr. 4, 2006, D.C. Law 16-89, § 3, 53 DCR 1084; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 1022(b), 62 DCR 10905; July 15, 2024, D.C. Act 25-506, § 1092(a), 71 DCR 8406; Sept. 18, 2024, D.C. Law 25-217, § 1092(a), 71 DCR 9990.)

Section References

This section is referenced in § 2-1381.

Effect of Amendments

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 substituted “Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs” for “Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs” throughout the section; and substituted “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community” for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community” throughout the section.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1092(a) of Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2024 (D.C. Act 25-506, July 15, 2024, 71 DCR 8406).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1022(b) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

Editor's Notes

Sections 2, 3, and 4(b) of D.C. Law 25-176 required the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs ("Office") to research and produce a report on Black LGBTQIA+ history in the District; established an Advisory Committee to provide guidance and feedback on the development of the report; and provided that expenses incurred by the Advisory Committee as a whole, or by an individual member when the expenses are duly authorized by the Office, shall be reimbursed pursuant D.C. Code § 1-611.08(d).

§ 2–1383. Powers and duties of the Office.

(a) Repealed.

(b) The Office shall:

(1) Serve as an advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community in the District of Columbia;

(2) Assist community organizations in developing and submitting grant applications;

(3) Provide information and technical assistance with respect to programs and services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community to the Mayor, the Council, other District of Columbia agencies and departments, and the community;

(4) File an annual report on the operation of the Office with the Mayor and the Council;

(5) Identify areas of need for service or improvement of services and bring them to the attention of the Mayor, with suggestions for satisfying such needs, including conducting or funding research and demonstration projects to test the suggestions;

(6) Assure necessary control, evaluation, audit, and reporting on programs funded through the Office;

(7) Accept volunteer services and funds from the public and private sectors to supplement the budget in carrying out the planning duties and responsibilities of the Office;

(8) Meet with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinators within each department and agency of the District government as a group, at least once a month to coordinate activities within the government involving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community;

(9) Meet with each department and agency director to establish a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinator;

(10) Work with the Department of Health’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinator to ensure that the Department’s annual report on the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning health in the District of Columbia is comprehensive and receives an appropriate response;

(11) Issue grants to organizations that provide services to LGBTQ residents of the District of Columbia or in furtherance of the mission of the Office or the purposes of this chapter;

(11A) Coordinate grantmaking activities to support WorldPride 2025, pursuant to section 2092 of the WorldPride Grants Administration Act of 2024, passed on 2nd reading on June 25, 2024 (Enrolled version of Bill 25-784);

(12) Implement the grant program created by § 2-1384; and

(13) No later than July 31, 2022, in coordination with the Advisory Committee and after consultation with the LGBTQ community, submit to the Council a report on the state of LGBTQ Community Businesses that shall include:

(A) An evaluation of the state of the LGBTQ Community Business economy and how that economy has changed over time;

(B) The economic and social value of the LGBTQ Community Business economy to the District as a whole;

(D) Recommendations for maintaining vibrant and diverse LGBTQ Community Businesses; and

(E) Recommendations for ensuring that LGBTQ Community Businesses remain open and welcoming to all members of the LGBTQ community.

(Apr. 4, 2006, D.C. Law 16-89, § 4, 53 DCR 1084; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 122(b), 53 DCR 6794; May 3, 2014, D.C. Law 20-100, § 3(b), 61 DCR 1873; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 1022(c), 62 DCR 10905; Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 1142(b), 68 DCR 010163; Sept. 18, 2024, D.C. Law 25-217, § 1092(b), 71 DCR 9990.)

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (b)(9), validated a previously made technical correction.

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-100 substituted “sufficient full-time employees to perform the Office’s duties, with a minimum of 2 full-time employees” for “2 full-time employees” in (a)(2); and added (b)(11) and (b)(12) and made related changes.

The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 substituted “full time” for “full-time” in (a)(1); substituted “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community” for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community” in (b)(1); substituted “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community” for “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community” in (b)(3); rewrote (b)(8); substituted “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning services coordinator” for “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Program Coordinator” in (b)(9); and rewrote (b)(10).

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1092(b) of Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2024 (D.C. Act 25-506, July 15, 2024, 71 DCR 8406).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1142(b) of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1022(c) of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

§ 2–1384. LGBTQ Homeless Youth Training Grant Fund.

(a) There is established as a special fund the LGBTQ Homeless Youth Training Grant Fund (“Fund”) which shall be administered by the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(b) The Fund shall consist of the revenue from the following sources:

(1) Appropriated funds; and

(2) Funds transferred to the Department of Human Services from other District agencies for the purpose of providing services to homeless LGBTQ youth.

(1) The Fund shall be continually available to the Office for the purpose of providing grants to fund trainings on cultural competency for providing services to LGBTQ homeless youth for providers throughout the District. Each grant shall be a 2-year grant.

(2) The Office shall establish criteria for eligibility to receive a grant; provided, that the cultural competency training conducted through this grant:

(A) Is conducted by community organizations based in the District with demonstrated ability and expertise in this field;

(B) Follows best practices in this field regarding content and delivery;

(D) Includes evidence-based family acceptance interventions that shall be youth and family driven, culturally diverse, and tailored to meet the different needs of families from different cultural backgrounds and religions;

(E) Includes suicide awareness and prevention training; and

(F) Is subject to a biannual evaluation.

(d)(1) The money deposited into the Fund, and any interest earned, shall not revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated into the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

§ 2–1385. Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs Fund.

(a) There is established as a special fund the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the Office in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(b) All fees collected pursuant to § 50-1501.02n(b)(1) shall be deposited into the Fund.

(c) Money in the Fund shall be used by the Office to support programs that promote the welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community.

(d)(1) The money deposited into the Fund but not expended in a fiscal year shall not revert to the unassigned fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

(e) The Mayor shall report annually to the Council on the revenues and activities of the Fund.