Local
‘Ex-gay’ gospel singer McClurkin to perform at King Memorial
Event organized by D.C. government agency


Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin is scheduled to perform at the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who has said God delivered him from the sin of homosexuality, is scheduled to perform Saturday evening at a concert at the site of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in D.C.
The concert, entitled “Reflections on Peace: From Gandhi to King,” is the first in a series of events scheduled to take place in the nation’s capital over the next two weeks to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights at which King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
An announcement issued on Wednesday by a public relations firm promoting the concert says McClurkin, a Grammy Award winner, was “just added” to the list of performers at the event. The announcement says the concert was being organized by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, a city agency whose members are appointed by the mayor.
Among those receiving the announcement by email was D.C. gay activist and longtime civil rights advocate Phil Pannell, who expressed strong objections to McClurkin’s scheduled appearance at the event.
“The statements he has made are just vile,” said Pannell in referring to McClurkin’s public statements about homosexuality. “This is a District government sanctioned event, and I just find it incredible that they can do something like this.”
A spokesperson for the Commission on the Arts and Humanities couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Doxie McCoy, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, said the office had no immediate comment.
“Since this is the first we are hearing about it, we will look into it,” she told the Blade in an email.
McClurkin’s views on homosexuality made national headlines in October 2007, when he performed at an outdoor gospel concert in South Carolina organized by the presidential campaign of then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
Upon learning of McClurkin’s appearance at the event, gay activists criticized Obama for inviting the fundamentalist minister and singer, saying he had emerged at the time as a leading figure in the “ex-gay” movement.
Mental health experts have said scientific studies show someone’s sexual orientation cannot be changed and attempts to do so usually result in harmful psychological effects on the person attempting to make such a change.
“Don’t tell me that I stand up and I say vile words against the gay community because I don’t,” CNN quoted McClurkin as saying at the 2007 concert. “I don’t speak against homosexuality. I tell you that God delivered me from homosexuality.”

Gay activist Phil Pannell expressed strong objections to Donnie McClurkin’s scheduled appearance at the MLK event. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Pannell has said the message delivered by McClurkin and others who claim to love gay people but hate the sins they commit by being gay have had a devastating impact on gay youth, especially black gay youth who often are raised in religious families.
Wayne Besen, founder and executive director of Truth Wins Out, a national LGBT group that monitors the “ex-gay” movement, said McClurkin has been less vocal in recent years about his views on homosexuality. But Besen said McClurkin has not said anything to indicate his views on the subject have changed.
Gay Democratic activist Jerry Clark, who was appointed by Mayor Vincent Gray to a mayoral committee to help organize D.C.-related events for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, said organizers of the concert did not inform the committee that McClurkin was being considered as a performer.
“I knew nothing about this until tonight,” Clark said on Wednesday. “If I had been consulted I would have said no. It’s a total shock to me.”
Clark said he was aware that the concert was taking place and has great admiration for some of the others scheduled to perform at the event.
Organizers have said that in keeping with Martin Luther King’s following of the non-violent civil disobedience tactics used by freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi of India, the concert would include performances by a diverse array of musicians, including some from South Asia.
Prior to the announcement that McClurkin would be performing, literature promoting the concert described the event as a “free multi-cultural concert experience of sacred classical music, traditional Sri-Lankan and Indian sacred songs, traditional hymns, and African American gospel songs.”
An announcement said the concert would be “headlined by internationally recognized Sri-Lankan concert pianist and music director Soundarie David Rodrigo.”
Maryland
Former College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn disbarred
One-time official serving 30-year prison sentence for child pornography possession, distribution

Patrick Wojahn, the former mayor of College Park who resigned after law enforcement executed a search and seizure warrant and discovered a “very large quantity” of child sexual abuse material on his cellphone, has agreed to be disbarred in Maryland.
Wojahn, 49, a Democrat who served as mayor from 2015 to 2023, later pleaded guilty in Prince George’s County Circuit Court to 140 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography and was sentenced to 30 years in prison — plus five years of probation.
In an order on Friday, Maryland Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader granted a joint petition for disbarment by consent and noted that Wojahn agreed that his actions constituted professional misconduct.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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.
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