D.C. Council member Gray won’t seek re-election
D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, released a statement on Wednesday, Dec 20, announcing he will not run for re-election in 2024.
Gray, 81, a former one-term D.C. mayor, issued his announcement a little over two years after he had a stroke in December 2021 that has limited his mobility, but he says he will remain fully engaged during the remainder of his current term, which ends in January 2025. “Much work remains to be done, as does the task of ensuring continued progress on many fronts,” Gray said in his statement. “My final year in office will be no different than any other; every day I will put my shoulders to the stone and serve the people who sent me here,” he said. “It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve District of Columbia residents as Ward 7 Councilmember, Council Chair and Mayor,” his statement says. “With determination and by working together, we achieved what we set out to accomplish, overcame great challenges and, most importantly, uplifted people from all walks of life.” LGBTQ activists have said Gray, who emerged as a strong LGBTQ community ally since he was first elected to the Council in 2004, played a lead role as Council Chair in 2009 in helping to pass D.C.’s historic law legalizing same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital.
He continued as a strong supporter of other LGBTQ legislation and policies in subsequent years. Transgender activists have said Gray has also been a strong supporter and ally of the transgender community.
Trans activists note that Gray put in place transgender supportive policies during his term as mayor. Political observers have credited Gray with playing an important role in expanding educational opportunities, health care, and economic development in sections of the city east of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8.
