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Slain Washington, D.C., cabinet member Wanda Alston was mourned today in a crowded church that overflowed not only with local officials but also with hundreds of gay, lesbian and transgendered citizens and other activists who connected with Alston through her years of advocacy and political organizing.

Women in church hats and men in business suits sat among dreadlocked, same-sex couples who clung to each other as they sobbed in the church in the capital's Northwest. Alston's elderly mother, several siblings and other family members sat in one of the front pews. In another, her partner Stacey Long was comforted by friends.

Williams (D), who three years ago named Alston his liaison to the District's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, described her as a shepherd of the disenfranchised -- someone who could reach out to people struggling with racism, drug addiction or discrimination because of their sexual orientation and make them feel a part of a greater political movement.

"It was a ministry . . . bringing them into the flock, and bringing them toward a destination," Williams said. "That was Wanda. That was her shepherdship."

Alston was stabbed to death last Wednesday, allegedly by a neighbor who knocked on her door in search of money to buy crack cocaine. She was a few weeks shy of her 46th birthday.

Alston's career in political organizing began some 15 years ago, after she overcame a cocaine addition and began working as a volunteer for the National Organization for Women. She became executive assistant to Patricia Ireland, who headed the women's organization.

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