Local
Latino LGBT community center celebrates first anniversary
Casa Ruby opened in Columbia Heights in June 2012
Ruby Corado, founder of Latino LGBT community center Casa Ruby. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray was among those who gathered at Casa Ruby in Northwest Washington on Thursday to celebrate the first anniversary of the Latino LGBT community center.
Casa Ruby, which opened in a three-story brownstone at 2822 Georgia Ave., N.W., in Colombia Heights last June, offers a variety of social services and other programs to LGBT Latinos in D.C. area in both Spanish and English. These include job placement programs, referrals to immigration lawyers, HIV testing and a food pantry.
Casa Ruby CEO Ruby Corado told the Washington Blade her organization has provided services to more than 700 people since it opened its doors.
“It’s been an amazing year,” she said, noting the center is a multicultural space that is open to everyone. “It’s been like a dream come true and I feel accomplished because this past year, what I had in mind did happen.”
Casa Ruby has expanded into the third floor of the brownstone to accommodate the clients it now serves.
Corado said the center’s operating budget is currently $5,500 a month, with $4,500 a month in rent and another $1,000 in expenses for utilities and printing supplies. Corado contributes $2,000 – or more than a third of Casa Ruby’s monthly operating budget – each month from her personal savings.
She said a handful of major donors have contributed between $500 and $1,000. A benefit that took place at Black Cat Backstage on 14th Street in Northwest D.C. on June 3 raised $427, but the vast majority of contributions to Casa Ruby come from what Corado described as around 200 “community donors” who donate $10 or $20.
Gray announced during a Blade town hall last Friday at the John A. Wilson Building that LGBT organizations that provide community services could become eligible to receive grants for as much as $100,000 under a new city program.
Corado said she hopes to receive city grants and other funding, but she stressed her most pressing concern is paying Casa Ruby’s rent.
She paid the organization’s landlord $4,000 last week, but she still owes him $7,000.
“The only thing I worry about is the rent,” Corado said.
Client: Life “has changed completely”
Camila Munayki Quiroz had just begun her transition when Casa Ruby opened in June 2012. The D.C. resident who is originally from Perú had been an undocumented immigrant for eight years after her student visa expired, but the lawyer with whom Corado connected her won her immigration case.
“Now I have legal documents in this country, which has opened many opportunities for me,” Quiroz said. “My life has changed completely.”
D.C. resident Marquette, who did not give his last name, has attended job training classes and received an HIV test at Casa Ruby since he became a client two months ago. He told the Blade he feels the organization provides him and others “a lot of opportunities.”
“I’m really trying to do something with my life right now,” Marquette said. “This space is helping me.”
A gay man was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Saamel and Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate Sanchez-McCray, 42, was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray shot to death inside a home in Petersburg.
Sanchez-McCray’s brother, Jamal Mitchell Diamond, in a public statement the Washington Blade received from Equality Virginia and GLAAD, said Sanchez-McCray was not transgender as initial reports indicated.
“Our family has always embraced the fullness of who he was. He used the names Saamel, Shyyell, and Mable interchangeably, and we honor all of them. There is no division within our family regarding how he is being represented — only a shared commitment to preserving his truth with love and respect,” said Diamond.
“He was also deeply committed to community work through Nationz Foundation, where he worked and completed multiple state-certified programs to support marginalized communities,” added Diamond. “That work meant a great deal to him.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
Markwayne Mullin confirmed as next DHS secretary
Gay man murdered in Va.
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
