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
Federal officials launch Title IX probe into Md. schools over trans athletes
Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick Counties named in probe
On June 23, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it is launching a Title IX investigation into three Maryland school districts and the Maryland State Department of Education for failing to enforce sex-based protections guaranteed by federal law.
The districts include Montgomery County Public Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools, and Frederick County Public Schools.
According to the department, these districts require schools to allow boys to compete in girls’ athletics, to use girls-only locker rooms, restrooms, and overnight accommodations alongside female athletes.
According to Bethesda Today, Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Liliana Lopez said “MCPS remains committed to providing safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environments for all students and to complying with applicable federal and Maryland laws and regulations. As the matter is now under review by the Office for Civil Rights, we have no further comment at this time.”
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey states that allowing students access to sex-separated programs and facilities based on gender identity is “deeply troubling.”
“54 years after Title IX was signed into law, the Trump administration remains steadfast to enforce its promise to protect women and girls. We will fully investigate these allegations and take appropriate action to ensure compliance with federal law,” Richey said in a statement.
According to the press release from the Department of Education, the violation falls under a Trump-Vance administration rewrite of Title IX, which aligned the sex-based protections “with biological reality, not ideological fantasy.”
This comes after the NCAA released a statement in February stating that people assigned male at birth cannot participate in women’s sports teams. The NCAA stated, “The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and students assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is also currently deliberating on a case regarding transgender athletes in youth sports and their ability to play on teams that align with their gender identity, with the decision expected in the coming days.
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Congratulations to Paul Marengo who has been appointed the new executive director of the Equality Chamber of Commerce.
The Equality Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to advancing economic opportunities, business growth, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, professionals, and allies. Through networking, education, and community engagement, the Chamber works to create a thriving and inclusive business environment for all.
On behalf of the Chamber, Edmund Morris said, “We are thrilled to welcome Paul Marengo as executive director. His passion, vision, and dedication to fostering inclusive business environments make him the ideal leader to guide the Chamber into its next phase of growth and success.”
Marengo has been a nonprofit fundraising executive for more than 30 years. He is the founder and CEO of Promethean Fundraising, a grassroots consulting firm that provides assistance, tools, and empowers emerging nonprofits to become competitive fundraisers. His clients have included The Chamber, Ragtag Film Society, and The Cherry Fund. He has served as a grant reviewer for the Maryland State Arts Commission, Virginia Commission for the Arts, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
District of Columbia
Nearly 6,000 turn out for Pride Night Out at the Nationals
Gay Men’s Chorus sings National Anthem
“Just shy of” 6,000 people purchased tickets for the Wednesday, June 24, 21st annual Pride Night Out at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, which the Nationals said is the longest running LGBTQ Pride event in Major League Baseball, according to a Nationals spokesperson.
The event was organized with the Nationals by Team D.C., the local LGBTQ sports group that organizes similar Pride Nights for other professional D.C. area sports teams.
“It was a good time had by all as the Nationals celebrated the LGBTQ+ community during the Nationals 21st Pride Night Out, presented by Team D.C.” the Nationals said in a statement.
Nationals spokesperson Erica George said the overall game attendance was 27,200.
Similar to recent past years, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington sung the National Anthem at the start of the game, drawing loud cheers from people throughout the stadium.
The Nationals lost the game to the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 5-4. Although most of the LGBTQ attendees of the event, held in the right-field mezzanine section of the stadium, were cheering for the Nationals, a sizeable number also cheered for the Phillies.
Miguel Ayala, one of Team D.C.’s lead organizers, said he noticed fans displaying Pride flags and recognized LGBTQ people in all parts of the stadium, indicating significantly more LGBTQ people and their supporters attended the game beyond the close to 6,000 or more who purchased the specific Pride Night Out tickets.
“It was a great excitement last night,” he told the Washington Blade on the day following the event. “I saw a lot of big crowds of our people, I saw everybody I can think of in the community. And it was really great to see the turnout.”
Also, like in previous years, Team D.C. along with the Nationals helped to organize a pre-game show on the large concourse platform area next to the stadium seating area involving a drag show led by local drag performer Shi-Queeta Lee.
“During pregame ceremonies, the Nationals Pride employee resource group was recognized on the field,” the statement released by the Nationals says. “Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a physician and public health leader who has had a profound impact on the LGBTQ+ community and those living with or vulnerable to HIV, threw out the ceremonial first pitch as the guest of Team D.C.,” the statement says.
It adds that Team D.C.’s scholarship recipient Spencer Doll made the ceremonial call to “Play Ball.”
As if all that were not enough, a Nationals employee who entertains during the Nationals pre-game shows on the field dressed as a giant eagle named “Screech” wearing an eagle’s head mask appeared in the seating area where the Pride Night Out crowd was seated and mingled with the LGBTQ fans, many of whom posed for photos with Screech.
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