Local
Rat problem, rent hike delay Center’s move
Lease negotiations near completion; move-in to Reeves building expected in June
Center leadership is eager to complete the move into the Reeves building, despite hiccups in the process. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Michael Sessa, president of the D.C. LGBT Community Center, said the center knew the city’s decision in December to allow it to rent space in a desirable city building at 14th and U Streets, N.W. came with an “as is” provision.
Under the provision, the center is responsible for paying the full cost of any renovation work needed to get the first floor, store front space ready for the center and its mostly volunteer staff to move into the Reeves Center, an eight-story office and retail building.
But Sessa told the Blade last week that the extent of the renovation work needed is far greater than initially expected and would cost as much as $75,000.
“We had an inspection and found that a rat problem has been so bad that the entire place needs to be gutted,” he said.
“We have to have a demolition team come in and rip the floor up and rip down everything in the ceiling and the walls because the rats were living there for how many years – leaving rotted floors, urine and feces – the whole deal,” according to Sessa.
The discovery of the need for more renovation work came shortly after officials with the city’s Department of General Services [DGS] handed the center a proposed lease calling for $1,500 in rent over and above the $4,000 per month rent initially proposed for the 2,468 square foot space.
When Mayor Vincent Gray announced on December 11 that the city had accepted the D.C. Center’s bid to rent the Reeves Center space, center officials noted that the $4,000 per month rent was significantly less than the market value for rent in that area.
Sessa and center executive director David Mariner noted that the below market rent was part of a city program that seeks to bring non-profit community groups to the bustling business and residential area as a means of enhancing the neighborhood and community.
However, Sessa said that the additional $1,500 would create a burden on the center’s budget and finances. It was not part of the city’s request for proposals, or RFP, inviting bids from businesses or organization seeking to rent the space, Sessa said.
Sessa said he has been negotiating with DGS officials for more than two months over details in the lease, including the $1,500, which DGS says covers a share of building maintenance costs such as janitorial services.
During that time, the space has remained untouched because no work can begin until the lease is signed, Sessa said.
“It’s just been a lot of back and forth,” he said. “And now we’re at the last point. I have someone doing a legal review of the lease, and then we’re ready to go.”
Darrell Pressley, a spokesperson for DGS Director Brian J. Hanlon, told the Blade he expected negotiations over the lease to be completed within a week or two.
“The process in terms of the negotiations is still at play,” he said.
Sessa, meanwhile, said the center also discovered that the “as is” clause requires it to remove abandoned restaurant equipment left behind years ago by Ben’s Chili Bowl that once used the space. Among the equipment left behind is an enormous walk-in refrigerator that can’t fit through the doors.
“We have to get someone to come in and disassemble it inside the room and carry it out piece by piece,” he said.
Despite these hassles, Sessa said the center is looking forward to moving into the new space, which is double the size of its current space one block away at 1318 U Street, N.W. The building in which the current storefront space is located is slated to be demolished to make way for a new office building.
The renovation work needed for the space is far greater than initially expected and would cost as much as $75,000. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
“Maybe in a couple of weeks we’ll announce a ‘ground breaking,’ he said, to kick-off the renovation work at the Reeves Center.
“Just so we get the community excited, we’re going to release the plans, the drawings to show people what the new space is like,” he said. “We’re going to put them online. You can meet the architect, meet the designer,” he said in discussing the planned ‘ground breaking’ event.
He said that if all goes according to plans, the center will hold a grand opening event in June in which Mayor Gray will be invited to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
As for the rats, Sessa said they are still living in the long abandoned space at the Reeves building into which the center plans to move. Holes in the floor leading to the building’s garage are believed to be their portal of entry.
“They keep saying the construction will solve it by sealing the holes,” Sessa said. “Well, yes, it will solve it. But unfortunately, we can’t save anything in that space, not a single thing – floor tiles, ceiling tiles, everything’s got to come up.”
District of Columbia
Sentencing for Ruby Corado postponed for second time
Former Casa Ruby director pleaded guilty to wire fraud
The sentencing in D.C. federal court for Ruby Corado, the founder and executive director of the now-defunct LGBTQ community services organization Casa Ruby on a charge of wire fraud, has been postponed for the second time, from March 28 to April 29.
A spokesperson for U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden, who is presiding over the case, said it was the judge who postponed the sentencing due to a scheduling conflict. The earlier postponement, from Jan. 10 to March 28, came at the request of Corado’s attorney and was not opposed by prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C.
Corado pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024, to a single charge of wire fraud as part of a plea bargain deal offered by prosecutors. The charge to which she pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for D.C. says she allegedly diverted at least $150,000 “in taxpayer backed emergency COVID relief funds to private offshore bank accounts for her personal use,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Under the federal wire fraud law, for which Corado is being prosecuted, she could be subjected to a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and restitution requiring her to repay the funds she allegedly stole.
Court observers, however, have said that due to Corado’s decision to waive her right to a trial and plead guilty to the lesser charge, prosecutors will likely ask the judge to hand down a lesser sentence than the maximum sentence.
An earlier criminal complaint filed against Corado, which has been replaced by the single charge to which she has pleaded guilty, came at the time the FBI arrested her on March 5, 2024, at a hotel in Laurel, Md., shortly after she returned to the U.S. from El Salvador.
At the request of her attorney and against the wishes of prosecutors, another judge at that time agreed to release Corado into custody of her niece in Rockville, Md., under a home detention order. The release order came seven days after Corado had been held in jail at the time of her March 5 arrest.
Virginia
Pride Liberation Project announces additional Va. school board protests
Student-led group challenging Trump-Vance administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies
Following their recent protests at school board meetings in Virginia to challenge the Trump-Vance administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies, a student-led rights group on Wednesday outlined plans to continue their actions.
The Pride Liberation Project released a statement in early March announcing their “March Month of Action” after their first round of protests. The Pride Liberation Project on Wednesday issued another press release that provided additional details.
“Queer students will rally at local school board meetings across Virginia, as they call for education leaders to reject the Trump-Musk’s administration escalating attacks against queer people.” said Conifer Selintung on behalf of the Pride Liberation Project. “Since taking office, the Trump-Musk administration has ignored the real issues facing our schools — like declining reading scores and the mental health crisis — and tried to bully queer students into the closet. Alongside other hateful attacks, they’ve attacked nondiscrimination protections, banned gender-affirming care, and whitewashed history.”
The Pride Liberation Project press release also included a statement from Moth, an LGBTQ student at McLean High School.
“I want to be able to go to school as myself, just like any other student,” said Moth. “To do that, I need my school board to stand up to bullies.”
The Pride Liberation Project has also released a schedule of rallies it plans to hold this month.
The first rally took place at the Prince William County School Board meeting in Manassas on Wednesday. A second event took place at the Roanoke County School Board meeting on Thursday.
Additional rallies are scheduled to take place in Rockingham and York Counties on March 24, Loudoun County on March 25, and Fairfax County on March 27.
District of Columbia
Harvey Fierstein says he was banned from Kennedy Center
Gay icon called out President Donald Trump
Gay icon and film legend Harvey Fierstein, 72, announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday that he was banned from the Kennedy Center as a result of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-LGBTQ measures in the performing space.
Fierstein, who is a longtime fixture of queer storytelling both on screen and on stage, took to social media to criticize Trump for his recent decisions to take control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and to hide — if not erase — LGBTQ art, and sounds the alarm for the future of the United States.
In the picture posted on Instagram, Fierstein alongside LGBTQ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson is walking in the Christopher Street Liberation Day parade in 1979, with the caption beginning with “I have been banned from THE KENNEDY CENTER.”
The multiple Tony Award-winning artist, who may be best known for “Torch Song Trilogy,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and “Kinky Boots,” to name a few, went on to explain his thoughts on Trump’s very public takeover of the national cultural center.
“A few folks have written to ask how I feel about Trump’s takeover of The Kennedy Center. How do you think I feel? The shows I’ve written are now banned from being performed in our premier American theater. Those shows, most of which have been performed there in the past, include, KINKY BOOTS. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, TORCH SONG TRILOGY, HAIRSPRAY, SAFE SEX, CASA VALENTINA, SPOOKHOUSE, A CATERED AFFAIR, THE SISSY DUCKLING, BELLA BELLA and more.”
“I have been in the struggle for our civil rights for more than 50 years only to watch them snatched away by a man who actually couldn’t care less,” the post continued. “He does this stuff only to placate the religious right so they’ll look the other way as he savages our political system for his own glorification. He attacks free speech. He attacks the free press. He attacks America’s allies. His only allegiance is to himself – the golden calf.”
Fierstein then issued a warning for Americans, remarking that removing works that don’t align with Trump’s personal agenda represents a slippery slope that can lead to the erosion of democracy and emergence into fascism.
“My fellow Americans I warn you – this is NOT how it begins. This is how freedom ENDS!”
He finished the post with a call to action for Americans to recognize and confront Trump’s injustice.
“Trump may have declared ‘woke’ as dead in America. We must prove him wrong. WAKE THE HELL UP!!!!!”
The post seemingly also pushes back on the Trump administration’s choice to remove any mention of transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument’s website by including Marsha P. Johnson in his post.
Since its upload on Tuesday, the post has gained more than 14,000 likes and 300 comments supporting Fierstein.
Trump’s reported banning of Fierstein from the Kennedy Center comes amid the president’s drastic overhaul of the cultural venue after calling out “woke” programming on its stages, including a drag show. His actions signal a broader effort to reshape the nation’s artistic landscape to align with his administration’s ideology.
The Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached to confirm Fierstein’s claims. This post will be updated.
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District of Columbia4 days agoHarvey Fierstein says he was banned from Kennedy Center
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National3 days agoKennedy Center official slams Harvey Fierstein’s ban claim as ‘total lie’