Local
Casa Ruby grant for trans people with HIV extended
30 clients faced losing access to services
Casa Ruby founder Ruby Corado expressed concern about the status of a D.C. DOH grant for HIV prevention-related services. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The possibility that as many as 30 transgender women with HIV would lose access to life-sustaining services provided by the D.C. group Casa Ruby on March 1 was averted this week when the D.C. Department of Health extended funding for a Casa Ruby case management program.
DOH spokesperson Jasmine Gossett said DOH was unable to renew a grant that funded the Casa Ruby program for the past three years because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which provided the funds for the grant, changed its eligibility requirement for the grant.
According to Gossett, HHS discontinued funding for non-medical case management services that Casa Ruby has been providing and limited its grant funds to only medical case management services, which involve work by physicians, nurses and other trained medical professionals.
As a stop gap measure, Gossett said DOH this week awarded Casa Ruby a “transition grant” that will use D.C. funds to enable Casa Ruby to continue its case management services to transgender clients with HIV until at least June of this year.
“The transition grant will run through June and then after that we’ll be working to identify other funding so there should never be a lapse,” Gossett told the Washington Blade. “We value the work that she does so there was never a time when we would let this lapse,” Gossett said, referring to Casa Ruby founder and executive director Ruby Corado.
Corado said she was pleased over the news that funding for the trans case management program would be continued but said she was concerned about the status of another D.C. DOH grant for HIV prevention-related services targeting LGBT youth. Corado said DOH officials told her in October, when that grant was scheduled to expire, that they would renew the grant, saying they were pleased with the work Casa Ruby was doing.
But in what appears to be a misunderstanding, Corado said she interpreted a verbal commitment to renew the grant to give her the go-ahead to continue performing the services, which included paying the salary for two employees conducting the work. On Tuesday, Corado said, a DOH official told her Casa Ruby could not be reimbursed for the services it carried out from October to this month because the grant had not been officially approved and the paperwork completed until this week.
“They said we never gave you a written grant,” Corado said. “I kept the staff and continued with the project.”
DOH spokesperson Gossett told the Blade on Wednesday that DOH is not legally authorized to release funds for a grant that has not been officially completed and approved. She said that legal requirement applies to all grant recipients, not just Casa Ruby.
“They were never told to go ahead with this before the paperwork was completed,” Gossett said.
Maryland
Evan Glass is leaning on his record. Is that enough for Montgomery County’s top job?
Gay county executive candidate pushing for equitable pay, safer streets, and cleaner environment
By TALIA RICHMAN | During a meet-and-greet at Poolesville Memorial United Methodist Church, Evan Glass got his loudest applause of the night with a plan he acknowledged was decidedly unsexy.
“Day one, I’ll hire a director of permitting services,” the county executive candidate said.
Doing so, he added, is a step toward easing the regulatory burdens that can stifle small businesses in Montgomery County.
The only problem? At least one of his fiercest competitors is making a similar pledge.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
D.C. bar, LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
‘Ahead of the Curve’ documentary screening, ‘Queeroke’ among events
2026 Lesbian Visibility Week North America will take place from April 20-26.
This year marks the third annual Lesbian Visibility Week, run by the Curve Foundation. A host of events take place from April 20-26.
This year’s theme is Health and Wellness. For the Curve Foundation, the term “lesbian” serves as an umbrella term for a host of identities, including lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, and anyone else connected to the lesbian community.
The week kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on April 19. It will take place in New York, but will be livestreamed for the public.
“Queeroke” is one of the events being held around the country. It will take place at various participating bars on April 23.
As You Are, an LGBTQ bar in Capitol Hill, is one of eight locations across the U.S. participating. Their event is free and 21+.
On April 24, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold a screening of “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the founder of Curve, Franco Stevens. The event is free with an RSVP.
April 25, is Queer Women in Sports Day. And on April 26, several monuments in New York will be illuminated.
Virtual events ranging from health to sports will be made available to the public. Details will be released closer to the start of Lesbian Visibility Week. Featured events can be found on the official website.
Some ways for individuals to get involved are to use #LVW26 and tag the official Lesbian Visibility Week account on social media posts. People are encouraged to display their lesbian flags, and businesses can hand out pins and decorate. They can also reach out to local lawmakers to encourage them to issue an official Lesbian Visibility Week.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
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