Local
Latino LGBT community center to open in D.C.
Casa Ruby to provide services, welcoming ‘home’ in Columbia Heights
Casa Ruby will be a touchstone for the local Latino LGBT community.
A Latino LGBT community services center called Casa Ruby is scheduled to open its doors in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood on June 6, according to transgender activist Ruby Corado, the new center’s founder and director.
Corado said the center will operate in a 750-square-foot office space on the lower floor of a converted townhouse at 2822 Georgia Ave., N.W. She said the rented office comes with additional outdoor patio space in the rear of the building, which is located a few blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro station.
“It’s going to be an LGBT center with a primary focus on Latinos, which is the population that I have been working with,” said Corado, a native Spanish speaker. “But it’s open to everybody.”
Corado said the city’s existing LGBT Community Center on the 1300 block of U Street, N.W., has been welcoming to the LGBT Latino community. But similar to most other LGBT groups in the D.C. metropolitan area, Corado said the existing center lacks Spanish speaking staff or volunteers. She said a sizable number of LGBT Latinos in the area aren’t fluent in English.
“Right now there is nothing for the Latino LGBT community that is run by LGBT Latinos,” Corado said.
According to Corado, each of the new center’s five-member volunteer staff will be fluent in English and Spanish.
David Mariner, executive director of the LGBT Community Center on U Street, said the Latino GLBT History Project rents office space at the center and other LGBT Latino groups have used the center’s space for various activities.
He said the center doesn’t have the resources at the present time to hire a Spanish speaking staff person.
“I love Ruby and look forward to working with her,” Mariner said.
Among other things, Corado said she envisions Casa Ruby as a one-stop community service center for Latino LGBT people that will provide support and referrals to other service providers on such matters as immigration issues, substance abuse, domestic violence, counseling, employment services and HIV/AIDS education and prevention.
The exterior of Casa Ruby, which Corado says will be named for her because she wants it to feel like a home. (Courtesy photo)
Corado said she decided to use her name for the center’s title to create an atmosphere of support and comfort and a place where people can socialize as well as seek services.
“I want this to this to sort of be a home,” she said. “I want them to feel this is their place. If they don’t have anything out there for their needs like a place to stay I want them to come and I will help them find that.”
Corado said she used her own personal funds to secure the lease and finance the start-up of the center. She said she established Casa Ruby as a project of Latinos En Accion, an LGBT organization she helped to found several years ago as a non-profit corporation with a 501 C (3) tax-exempt status.
Under the structure of the new center, supporters can make tax deductable donations, she said.
She said she has been speaking with D.C. government officials, including officials with the Office of Latino Affairs, over the possibility of obtaining city grants for various services.
Supporters of the center have already donated interior design services and furniture, computers and a flat-screen TV.
She said Casa Ruby will host a grand opening reception at the center starting at noon on June 6. She is hopeful that Mayor Vincent Gray will be among the notables attending the opening ceremony.
“I’m using my life savings to sustain this project for the next year,” said Corado. “I’m doing it because I believe there is a need for it and we can make a difference for the community we’re all a part of.”
(Courtesy photo)
She added, “I want to repeat that although the primary focus is with Latinos, it’s for everybody. That’s why I call it Casa Ruby because many people know me. And I want people to know that it’s a home for everybody.”
Mariner said the D.C. Center’s effort to seek a larger space in the city’s Reeves Municipal Building less than a block from its current office moved ahead last week when it submitted its formal bid for the new space.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” he said.
The center’s bid is part of an official invitation by the city for potential tenants to offer a level of rent they are willing to pay for vacant office space at the Reeves Building. Mariner said the invitation, or request for proposal (RFP), was open to both non-profit organizations like the center or commercial businesses such as retail stores or restaurants. He said the center’s bid stresses that the center would provide an important community service that most businesses don’t offer and the city should give special consideration to granting the center a lease in the building.
The center is being forced to leave its current space in 2013, when the building in which it’s located will be razed to make way for a new hotel.
Maryland’s legislative caucuses outlined their legislative priorities heading into the final weeks of the 2026 General Assembly during a joint press conference on March 24.
The press conference was titled “We are Maryland,” where a representative for each of the legislative caucuses outlined priorities.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) of the LGBTQ+ Caucus opened the press conference with a statement on the unity of Maryland’s caucus.
“Together we can show our state and our community a different world, one where we mutually support one another and through that support uplift every Marylander,” he said.
In a press conference on March 5, the LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined its top legislative priorities. Fair highlighted two of those bills again during the “We are Maryland” press conference.
The first of the two highlighted pieces of legislation was Senate Bill 626 and House Bill 1589.
The bills would simplify the process of updating an individual’s birth certificate and align the Department of Health and DMV systems to reflect those changes. The bill is being led by state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County).
The second piece of legislation is Senate Bill 950 and House Bill 1209, which would update and modernize laws and regulations around so-called conversion therapy. The bills have failed to pass either chamber thus far. They are being led by state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) and state Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County).
(The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a Colorado law that bans so-called conversion therapy for minors. Maryland is among the U.S. jurisdictions that prohibit the widely discredited practice for anyone under 18.)
Martinez and Lam have introduced bills in their respective chambers that would expand PrEP access in Maryland. Martinez did not attend the press conference, and Fair did not mention it when he spoke.
State Del. N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) represented the Black Caucus during the press conference. State Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel County) spoke on behalf of the Women’s Caucus, State Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Montgomery County) represented the Latino Caucus, and State Del. Lily Qi (D-Montgomery County) represented the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus. State Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery County) represented the Jewish Caucus, and state Del. Sean Stinnett (D-Baltimore County) represented the Muslim Caucus during the press conference.
Solomon ended the press conference by explaining the importance of all the caucuses coming out together.
“We are stronger when we’re together, and many of these issues that we have talked about, again, impact all of us,” said Solomon.
District of Columbia
Blade contributor, husband exchange vows in D.C.
Yariel Valdés and Kevin Vega held ceremony at Jefferson Memorial on March 23
Washington Blade contributor Yariel Valdés and his husband, Kevin Vega, exchanged vows at the Jefferson Memorial on March 23.
The couple married in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 24, 2025. The Jefferson Memorial ceremony — which Blade International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Samy Nemir Olivares officiated — coincided with the third anniversary of Yariel and Kevin’s first date.
Yariel in 2019 asked for asylum in the U.S. because of the persecution he suffered as a journalist in his native Cuba. He spent nearly a year in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody before his release on March 4, 2020.
Yariel wrote a series of articles about his time in ICE custody that the Blade published. The series was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2022.
Yariel and Kevin live in South Florida.
District of Columbia
‘Out for McDuffie’ event held at D.C. gay bar
Mayoral candidate cites record of longtime support for LGBTQ rights
More than 100 people filled the upstairs room of the D.C. gay bar Number 9 on Thursday night, March 26, to listen to D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie at an event promoted as an “Out for McDuffie” meet and greet session.
Several local LGBTQ activists who attended the event said they support McDuffie, a former D.C. Council member, in his run for mayor while others said they had not yet decided whom to vote for in the June 16 D.C. Democratic primary election.
As of March 27, eight other Democrats were competing against McDuffy in the June 16 primary, including D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), considered McDuffie’s lead opponent. Lewis George also has a record of strong support on LGBTQ issues.
Most political observers consider McDuffie and Lewis George the two lead candidates in the race, with the others having far less name recognition.
The two lead organizers of the Out for McDuffie event were LGBTQ rights advocates Courtney Snowden, a former D.C. deputy mayor in the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Cesar Toledo, a local LGBTQ youth housing services advocate.
“I’m a candidate for mayor of Washington, D.C. and I’m running for mayor because I love this city,” McDuffie told the gathering after being introduced by Snowden. “And now more than ever we need leadership to take us to the future,” he said, adding that he and his administration would “stand up and fight” against President Donald Trump’s efforts to intervene in local D.C. affairs.
“Our strength is in the 700,000 beautifully diverse residents of Washington, D.C.” he told the gathering. “And as Courtney said, I didn’t just show up and run for mayor and then start saying that I’m going to be an ally for the queer community, for the LGBTQ+ community,” he said, “I’ve lived my entire professional life fighting for justice and fighting for fairness.”
Following his speech, McDuffie told the Washington Blade, “We’re going to fight to protect our LGBTQ+ community every single day. That’s what I’ve spent my career doing, making sure we have a beautifully diverse and inclusive city.”
He remained at Number 9, located at 1435 P St., N.W., for nearly an hour after he spoke, chatting with attendees.
Trans activists gather on National Mall for Transgender Day of Visibility
The cost of speaking one’s mind
Senegalese president signs bill that further criminalizes homosexuality
Md. lawmakers reaffirm legislative priorities
Supreme Court rules against Colo. law banning conversion therapy for minors
Lorato ke Lorato: marriage equality, democracy, and the unfinished work of justice in Botswana
Celebrate cherry blossoms the drag way
Japanese Supreme Court to consider marriage equality
The outrage economy is not the LGBTQ community
Anti-trans visa ruling echoes Nazi regime destroying trans documents
-
Botswana4 days agoLorato ke Lorato: marriage equality, democracy, and the unfinished work of justice in Botswana
-
Out & About4 days ago
Celebrate cherry blossoms the drag way
-
Japan4 days ago
Japanese Supreme Court to consider marriage equality
-
Opinions4 days ago
The outrage economy is not the LGBTQ community
