Local
Comings & Goings
Barutta assisting flood victims; Rutstein moves to Compass
The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations and thanks to Daniel Barutta who is now in Baton Rouge, La., working as a member of Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) Disaster Services Team as Cadre Staff helping the victims of the historic flooding there.
Davild Barutta
Barutta moved to D.C. to take a job with the Peace Corps as a Placement Officer placing secondary school English teachers all over the world as volunteers. Six years later, he began work with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as an AmeriCorps Program Officer. Barutta says his portfolio of grantees includes state commissions in Washington, California and Idaho and national programs such as the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers and Catholic Charities, USA.
When asked about his current work he said, “In 2008 I became a member of CNCS’ Disaster Services Team as Cadre Staff. When the president declares a national disaster and FEMA is activated, CNCS and FEMA sign a mission assignment agreement that allows us at AmeriCorps to send our wonderful AmeriCorps members who do all sorts of service for people including: mucking and gutting homes, debris removal, setting up of Volunteer Recruitment Centers, staffing food banks, sheltering people, etc. As the Cadre member I deploy to FEMA to coordinate all our members. It’s a pretty big assignment involving 12-hour days and lots of trouble shooting.”
Other deployments have included in 2013 helping Alaska flood victims on the Yukon and in 2015 helping people recover after flooding in South Carolina.
Barutta is from California but D.C. has been his home for the past 22 years. After college he joined the Peace Corps serving three years in Jamaica and West Indies working with youth and their families. He served two years as a VISTA Volunteer with Catholic Charities in San Francisco working with runaways and the homeless. In 1991, he became the first executive director of the first LGBTQ youth center in San Francisco.
Soon after moving to D.C., Barutta joined Dignity Washington. He has been in the choir for 22 years. In 2010 he was elected to the board, becoming president in 2012, a position he held until this past June.
Congratulations also to Mark Rutstein who has brought his team, the Evan and Mark Team to Compass Realty, a company operating with agents coast to coast. Prior to joining Compass, Rutstein worked with Coldwell Banker where he was part of the top-producing sales team in 2015 and into 2016. Over the years, Rutstein has had a couple of careers that included success in the hospitality industry. Many may have first met him through his real estate work or when he worked as the manager of Cobalt.
He went into the real estate business in 2002 and brought with him a passion to help clients achieve financial independence through home ownership. Since that time he has won numerous awards and made many media appearances showcasing his love of the business. He was voted the Best Realtor in D.C. in the Washington Blade’s annual Best of Gay DC contest in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014. His media appearances include HGTV’s “Get it Sold,” Discovery Channel’s “Double Agents,” and multiple local news appearances.
Rutstein was born in Miami and attended the University of Mary Washington. He is an active member of the community volunteering his time with multiple community organizations and events. He is married to Stephen Rutgers, who works as the Washington Blade’s sales and marketing director.
Mark Rutstein
Maryland
Parents sue Anne Arundel schools, allege officials hid child’s gender transition
America First legal Foundation filed lawsuit on July 8
By CODY BOTELER | Two parents, backed by a conservative nonprofit group, are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system’s policies related to transgender children.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, accuses staff at an unidentified county high school of lying to the parents, identified as John Doe and Jane Doe, about their child, identified as Mary Doe.
The Does allege the school “socially transitioned” their child without notice or their consent by using a masculine name and masculine pronouns for Mary Doe.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Campaign launched to elect more LGBTQ candidates to ANC seats
Capital Stonewall Democrats behind Queering ANCs effort
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, announced on July 7 it has launched a campaign to help elect large numbers of LGBTQ candidates to the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
The D.C. local government is believed to be unique among U.S. cities in currently having 46 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions consisting of 345 single-member districts in neighborhoods throughout the city in which unpaid Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are elected for two-year terms.
The commissions are charged with considering a wide range of policies and programs impacting their neighborhoods, including traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and D.C.’s annual budget, according to the ANC website.
Although the ANCs do not have authority to set or reject policies or proposals, such as applications for liquor licenses, city agencies are required to give “great weight” to ANC recommendations, according to the law creating the ANCs.
Kent Boese, a gay former ANC commissioner, currently serves as executive director of the D.C. Office of ANCs.
“We are launching the most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline initiative in the country,” said Stevie McCarty, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, in a July 7 statement that announced the Queering ANCs campaign.
“As an ANC member, I know firsthand how these seats shape our neighborhoods, from housing and public safety to sanitation,” McCarty says in the statement. “I’m proud to lead this effort to ensure more LGBTQ+ Washingtonians see themselves as leaders in their communities,” he said.
The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which was created by LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website that there are currently 38 caucus members consisting of elected LGBTQ ANC commissioners serving in the current 2025-2026 two-year term.
The website shows there are LGBTQ commissioners who are caucus members in each of the city’s eight wards, with six in Ward 1, eight in Ward 2, one in Ward 3, six in Ward 4, five in Ward 5, three in Ward 6, eight in Ward 7, and one in Ward 8.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine how many of them will be running for re-election in D.C.’s general election in November. But McCarty said Capital Stonewall Democrats hopes to recruit many more LGBTQ candidates to run for ANC seats.
The D.C. Board of Elections website shows the deadline for filing 25 required petition signatures to be placed on the ballot is Aug. 5.
A Queering ANCs website launched this week by Capital Stonewall Democrats provides details on how to run for an ANC seat and offers help for those interested in running.
“Think of someone in your building, neighborhood, friend group, community organization, or professional network who cares deeply about D.C. and would make a strong leader,” McCarty says in his statement. “Send them QueeringANCs.org and personally ask them to consider running,” he said.
The website can be accessed at QueeringANCs.org.
Baltimore
Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies
66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday
By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.
“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”
The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex
Who might replace Lindsey Graham? The contenders and their LGBTQ records
PHOTOS: Westminster Pride
Un terremoto también se vive desde el exilio
PHOTOS: Emerald City Pride
Mr. Henry’s celebrates 60 years of proud inclusivity
It’s good to see some justices standing up to Trump
Egyptian authorities refuse to allow gay cruise to dock in country
Queer media dominates 2026 Emmy nominations
