Local
Casa Ruby fundraiser at JR.’s pulls in $17,000
‘Coming together to fight hate’
JR.’s manager David Perruzza organized a fundraiser to benefit Casa Ruby. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A fundraiser on March 23 at the 17th Street, N.W. gay bar JR.’s drew about 150 people and pulled in more than $17,000 for Casa Ruby, the D.C. LGBT community services center.
The fundraiser, organized by JR.’s manager David Perruzza, took place less than two weeks after an attacker smashed the front door to Casa Ruby’s offices on Georgia Avenue, N.W., assaulted a transgender woman, and shouted anti-trans slurs and threats at the center’s clients.
“I know the only way we can stand against hate and intolerance is by coming together and raising our voices,” said Ruby Corado, Casa Ruby’s founder and executive director, while standing amid the overflowing crowd at the JR.’s fundraiser.
“And the people who showed up today are not only contributing their money but they’re also coming together to say to the people out there we’re standing together against violence,” she said.
Perruzza announced in a Go Fund Me campaign he created that the money would help Casa Ruby replace its damaged front door with a stronger, more secure security system that would ideally prevent another attacker from breaking open the door.
He said that through people attending the fundraiser, through purchases in a silent auction held at the bar during the event, and through the Go Fund Me site, a total of $17,902 was raised as of March 23.
D.C. police on March 13 arrested Andrew J. Cook, 20, of Southeast Washington on charges of destruction of property, simple assault, and making threats to do bodily harm in connection with an incident at Casa Ruby’s offices on Georgia Avenue, N.W., one day earlier.
Corado said Cook, who identifies as straight, had been a visitor at Casa Ruby during the past several weeks prior to the incident and suddenly became violent after accusing some of the trans women of “talking about him,” according to a police arrest affidavit.
A D.C. Superior Court judge on March 14 released Cook from jail on his own recognizance pending a hearing scheduled for April 3.
“Since the week of the incident there have been hundreds of people sending us love cards, making calls, emailing and sending messages on Facebook and other social networks, letting us know that we’re not alone,” Corado said. “So I take this moment as the coming together of our LGBT community to fight hate.”
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.
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