2026 Democratic Primary 8th Congressional District Candidates Respond to Equality Arlington Questionnaire

Equality Arlington sent the 5 candidates running in the 2026 Democratic Primary for the 8th Congressional District a questionnaire about their stances on the needs of the LGBTQ+ community and related policy issues. We received responses from 4 of the candidates. Equality Arlington will not be endorsing any candidate this cycle but we think it is important that the community is aware of the candidates’ responses and take these into account when casting your vote. Thank you to the candidates for letting us know how you intend to serve the LGBTQ+ community of Arlington if you are elected to represent us in the U.S. Housing of Representatives. The candidate responses can be found below and the PDF with all responses in the link below.

Early voting is from Thursday, June 18th through Saturday, August 1st. Election Day is Tuesday, August 4th (polls open 6am-7pm). For more information about voting, please go to Elections – Arlington County VA Voting and Elections (arlingtonva.gov).

Question 1 – Do you support passage of the Equality Act which would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity? Would you co-sponsor the bill?

Donald S. Beyer Jr. - Yes, I am a cosponsor of the Equality Act, have voted for its passage in the House twice, and it would be a priority for me that Democrats move it immediately next Congress.

Lorena Thorne Bruner - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Michael Christian Duffin - I pledge to be the biggest champion of LGBTQ+ rights in Congress. At the Department of State, I worked with LGBTQ+ communities around the world to protect them against violent extremism. When the LGBTQ+ community in Orlando was targeted a decade ago, I formed a multi-year partnership with the City of Orlando to create exchanges with counterparts around the world. As a candidate for Congress, one of my first interviews was with PinkNews. I also wrote an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel on September 10th of last year arguing against Trump administration cuts to violence prevention, which disproportionately impacts the LGBTQ+ community. To ensure I am an effective ally, I completed the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's candidate training seminar in December.

Yes, and yes — I would co-sponsor the Equality Act on day one.

No one in this country should face discrimination in housing, employment, education, or public accommodations because of who they are or who they love. The Equality Act simply extends the civil rights protections that already exist for race, religion, and national origin to LGBTQ+ Americans. It is long overdue.

Adam M. Dunigan - Yes. I would indeed. Staunch ally, no hesitation for supporting or sponsoring.

Mo Seifeldein - The Equality Act is foundational civil rights legislation - the floor, not the ceiling, for federal anti-discrimination protections. With nearly half of US states lacking comprehensive LGBTQ+ protections, and this administration—backed by a rogue Supreme Court—rolling back civil rights, we cannot afford to delay passing this legislation. I don't just support the Equality Act—I've already passed similar legislation. In 2019, I drafted, introduced, and passed an ordinance adding sex and gender identity to Alexandria's Human Rights Act, codifying protections in housing, employment, public accommodations, healthcare, education, and city contracts. I did that before the Supreme Court even weighed in on trans protections. As your Congressmember, I will co-sponsor and fight to pass the Equality Act. And I will push to expand it to include core Voting Rights Act protections the Supreme Court has dismantled. I'm the son of Sudanese refugees, a Muslim, a Black man, and someone who has lived without health insurance, faced housing insecurity, and still carries student debt. I'm running to ensure every single one of us is recognized and included in America's future.

Question 2 – The Trump administration has rolled back protections for individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and healthcare. What will you do as a member of Congress to reinstate or expand protections for LGBTQ+ people across the country?

Donald S. Beyer Jr. - These are the exact problems that the Equality Act was designed to solve. It’s why we can’t rely on a benevolent administration to issue rulemaking to protect the LGBTQ+ Community. We must codify it.

I will also be introducing legislation that will insulate the Merit Systems Protection Board from political tampering like we saw from this Trump Administration so that federal employees will always have an avenue for successful redress from unlawful firings.

Lorena Thorne Bruner - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Michael Christian Duffin - The Trump administration's assault on LGBTQ+ rights didn't happen in isolation — it's part of a systematic effort to roll back civil rights protections across the board, from voting rights to reproductive freedom to protections for immigrants and people with disabilities. Defending LGBTQ+ Americans means fighting that entire agenda, not just one piece of it.

As a member of Congress, I will fight to reinstate every protection this administration has stripped away and go further. That means co-sponsoring and actively pushing for passage of the Equality Act, which would finally enshrine federal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, healthcare, and public accommodations. It means defending the Affordable Care Act's non-discrimination provisions that this administration gutted. It means opposing any executive action or agency rule that treats LGBTQ+ Americans as second-class citizens — and using every legislative tool available to reverse them.

But legislation alone isn't enough. I'll push for robust enforcement of existing civil rights laws, oppose judicial nominees who would undermine LGBTQ+ protections, and use my seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee — if I'm fortunate enough to serve there — to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights globally, as I did throughout my career at the State Department.

Adam M. Dunigan - Reinstatement/remuneration for any federal workers or military service members who saw their careers ruined because of cruel policies under Trump. Reversion of passport gender/birth sex matching nonsense, reinstatement of ACA gender policies gutted during the downfall. I hate what this administration has done to the community in general, but specifically on LGBTQ issues. I was an active duty Marine, in Afghanistan, when they repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I remember feeling proud that we were finally catching up to the 21st century. How far we’ve fallen.

Mo Seifeldein - Beyond co-sponsoring and passing the Equality Act, I will take immediate action to reinstate and expand LGBTQ+ protections:

Impeach Trump. He is the greatest threat to our democracy and has systematically attacked immigrants, people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ communities. I will co-sponsor and support articles of impeachment.

Reform the Supreme Court. I support expanding the Court and establishing term limits to ensure it reflects the Constitution and the will of the American people, not the agenda of a rogue administration.

Pass Medicare for All. Healthcare is a human right. My plan will codify Roe v. Wade, guarantee access to birth control and gender-affirming care, protect IVF, and end the Hyde Amendment.

Restore enforcement. I will fight to restore the EEOC's full budget so it can investigate discrimination complaints and enforce civil rights laws. I will also push to reinstate the two NLRB members Trump fired without cause.

Question 3 – The Trump administration has fired and forced out of work thousands of federal employees in the DC metro area. Thousands of federal consultants and contractors have lost their jobs as their contracts have been terminated. The administration has also discharged all openly transgender service members from the military. Thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals have lost their livelihoods and are struggling to find impactful and financially stable work. What will you do as a member of Congress to support LGBTQ+ individuals looking to serve their country?

Donald S. Beyer Jr. - In addition to the Equality Act, and MSPB bill that will I shortly introduce, I have also led two other initiatives, the PREP and the REHIRE Act to help unfairly removed feds. The PREP Act would reform probationary periods for new and promoted feds to ensure that probationary periods can’t be weaponized again to fire qualified federal employees. And the REHIRE Act would place a hiring preference for unlawfully RIF’d feds. I have also specifically joined efforts to push back on anti-LGBTQ riders on the Defense Authorization bills to push back on these attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals in the military. Losing capable qualified service members because of this discrimination is beyond terrible and a disservice to our country.

Lorena Thorne Bruner - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Michael Christian Duffin - I am one of those federal employees. After 12 years serving this country at the State Department, I left in September 2025 — part of a mass exodus of experienced public servants driven out by an administration that treated the federal workforce as an enemy rather than an asset. I know firsthand what it means to lose not just a job, but a sense of purpose and mission. And I know that for LGBTQ+ federal employees, contractors, and service members, the loss has been compounded by the message this administration sent with every firing and every policy rollback: that you are not welcome, that your service doesn't count, that your country doesn't want you.

That is a lie, and I will spend every day in Congress saying so.

Here is what I will fight for: first, reinstating federal employees and contractors wrongfully terminated and ensuring full back pay and benefits for those who were pushed out illegally. Second, repealing the executive order banning transgender service members — people who volunteered to serve this country deserve to serve, full stop. Third, restoring and strengthening the federal workforce's civil rights protections, including protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal employment and contracting.

Beyond reinstatement, I'll push for legislation that makes it harder for any future administration to weaponize the federal hiring and firing process against vulnerable communities. The civil service exists to serve the American people — not to be purged based on who you love or who you are.

I believe it's essential for my staff to reflect the diversity of our community and plan to have multiple representatives of the LGBTQ+ community on staff.

Adam M. Dunigan - Same as above: Give them their jobs back, with backpay if possible and upgrade discharges en masse to correct this historical injustice. Make sure that any American who wants to serve their country gets the dignity and respect from their government that they are owed.

Mo Seifeldein - I recently resigned as an attorney from the U.S. Department of Labor in protest of Trump's attacks on federal workers and his policies that endanger working Americans. I know affordability is the biggest challenge facing VA-08 residents, who face some of the highest housing and childcare costs in the country. And DOGE's targeting of the 73,000 federal workers in this district, along with transgender service members, only worsens this crisis.

My plan starts with affordability: Medicare for All, a public mortgage option, a ban on algorithmic rent-fixing, and a crackdown on grocery store price gouging. No one should have to choose between rent, groceries, gas, or healthcare, especially after losing their job.

I will defend federal workers from retaliation, fund hiring, and protect collective bargaining rights so LGBTQ+ individuals, and all Americans, can serve their country without fear.

Question 4 – Last year, the Trump administration weaponized Title IX against transgender and nonbinary students. The administration tried to force Arlington Public Schools to discriminate against transgender and nonbinary students or risk losing federal funding. This legal battle is ongoing. What will you do as a member of Congress to protect transgender and nonbinary students from discrimination?

Donald S. Beyer Jr. - The Equality Act, which I consponsor, addresses this by including sexual orientation and gender identity as things you can’t discriminate for in education or federal funding.

But I will also add that we learned that this administration has pursued a number of ways to withhold and weaponize funding and that we need stronger mechanisms to limit this violation of the will of Congress for petty and dangerous partisan games. I will soon have legislation that modifies the Impoundment Control Act to allow for civil suits, so that affected parties have an easier pathway for redress, as well as a mechanism to allow Members of Congress to force a vote on the House bringing its own civil suit to enforce its Constitutional power of the purse.

Lorena Thorne Bruner - Candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Michael Christian Duffin - Let me be clear about what happened here: the Trump administration took a civil rights law designed to protect students from discrimination and tried to turn it into a weapon to discriminate against some of the most vulnerable students in our schools. That is not a policy disagreement — it is a moral failure.

Arlington Public Schools did the right thing. They stood up for their students, refused to comply with an unlawful directive, and have been fighting this battle in court while the administration held federal funding over their heads like a threat. As their member of Congress, I will stand with them — not just in words, but in action.

Here is what I will do: I will introduce or co-sponsor legislation that explicitly protects transgender and nonbinary students under Title IX, closing any ambiguity this administration has tried to exploit. I will fight any appropriations rider or executive action that strips federal funding from schools that refuse to discriminate. I will use oversight and investigative tools available to members of Congress to expose and challenge the administration's misuse of civil rights law. And I will be a loud, consistent voice in Washington for the principle that every student — regardless of gender identity — deserves to come to school feeling safe, seen, and supported.

These are children. They are our neighbors' kids. They are Arlington kids. No child should have to wonder whether their government sees them as worthy of protection. Mine will.

I also want to be direct about something: Democrats — including Representative Don Beyer — have not been vocal enough in defending transgender rights, and that silence has a cost. As a counterterrorism expert, I have publicly rebuked the Trump administration's National Counterterrorism Strategy for its maligning of the transgender community in connection with acts of targeted violence in this country. That rhetoric is reckless, dangerous, and beneath the office of the presidency. I have used my platform to push back on it, and I will continue to do so from the floor of Congress.

Adam M. Dunigan - Hand in glove coordination with Richmond to make sure public schools in this state are budgetarily independent from the whims and ideological agendas of the federal government, especially while it’s in the hands of the current gang of lunatics. Closing of tax loopholes for AI companies in VA would provide ample substitute for Arlington public schools, and if we can endure til 2028 and get some sanity back in the white house, I will support any and all measures to reestablish the federal government as a good faith partner in education at all levels, and for all students.

Mo Seifeldein - In Congress, I will use every tool available to protect transgender and nonbinary students from discrimination:

Leverage the bully pulpit. I will publicly back Arlington Public Schools and the County Board against Trump's intimidation, ensuring they know they have a partner in Congress who will not let them cave to discrimination.

Wield the power of the purse. I will fight to ensure federal funding decisions, including for schools, do not move forward without proper consideration of civil rights impacts.

Bring legal action. I will support and push for legal challenges against the president and the Department of Education for violating the Constitution and civil rights laws.

Fund the fight. I will secure federal grants for community-based organizations advocating for transgender and nonbinary students.

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Click here to view the PDF candidate responses