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Catholic University LGBTQ student group remains unrecognized

CUAllies formed in 2009

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Catholic University (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The only on-campus queer student organization at the Catholic University of America, CUAllies, is still fighting for official recognition. 

Despite operating “underground,” the club’s roughly 10 members meet regularly to talk about issues facing LGBTQ college students, to create friendships and to connect LGBTQ students and allies with one another. Since the formation of CUAllies in 2009, the administration at Catholic University, most notably President John Garvey, has denied the club official recognition multiple times. 

“Just the act of having the university recognize us would be a huge step because it would make people feel way more welcome,” said CUAllies President Ash Samuels. “The nature of having a club that operates under the radar makes you feel like they have to operate under the radar and so just being recognized would make people feel a lot more welcome.” 

Additionally, without recognition CUAllies does not have access to the same resources as official student organizations. For example, they cannot rent rooms on campus for meetings, receive funding for events, and are prohibited from advertising club meetings or events on fliers on campus. According to Samuels, the club uses space at the Center for Cultural Engagement, where Director Javier Bustamante allows the club to meet and advertise events. 

According to Samuels, CUAllies has been advised by the Dean’s Office to wait until next year to reapply when a new university president will replace Garvey. Until then, Samuels said the group still plans to hold meetings in-person, and he hopes to bring in speakers to talk to members about mental health and issues facing LGBTQ college students. 

The last attempt by CUAllies to gain recognition was in March 2021, when the Catholic University’s Student Government Association passed a resolution after hours of public comment from students to support a resolution for the club to request official status. The request, however, was denied by Garvey. 

“It was an interesting SGA meeting,” said Samuels. “A lot of people came to public comment and spoke their minds. There was a lot of homophobia.” 

Catholic University is one of the 180 campuses deemed unsafe for LGBTQ youth on Campus Pride’s “Worst List.” Campus Pride, an organization that advocates for safe and inclusive college campuses for LGBTQ students, stated on their website that “Catholic University of America has qualified for the Worst Life because it has an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.” 

In addition to repeatedly depriving LGBTQ students of the right to have an official student club, the university has also displayed its homophobic ideology by filing an amicus brief in the 2019 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County. In the brief, the university argued that the campuses should be allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  

“This campus has repeatedly proven that they do not support LGBTQ rights, LGBTQ equality,” said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer. 

A 2021 survey by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, an organization that promotes equity for LGBTQ college students at Christian colleges, said that students at Christian colleges are 15 times more likely to report that their gender or sexual identity has prevented them from being accepted by others on campus compared to LGBTQ students at non-Christian colleges. 

The pandemic has increased this sense of isolation, as students were forced to attend classes online and did not have access to the same social networks that were once offered in person on many campuses. Although mental health struggles have increased overall for college students overall throughout the pandemic, research has shown that LGBTQ individuals were more likely to have struggled with depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts than people identifying as straight. 

Attending a university that already has limited resources for its LGBTQ student population, combined with the isolating effects of the pandemic, makes the Catholic University increasingly worrisome for LGBTQ students from a mental health perspective. 

“It is a pretty awful environment from the standpoint of mental health if your campus did not have inclusion or had limited inclusion for LGBTQ policies, programs, or practices before the pandemic, the pandemic has only worsened that because of the isolation that these students feel,” said Windmeyer. 

Samuels said that CUAllies has served as an important place for students at the Catholic University to meet other queer students, with many members making their first contact with other LGBTQ students through the club. However, Samuels said that operating remotely during the pandemic made it difficult to feel the same level of connection, despite the fact that the group was still meeting routinely over Zoom. 

“The feeling of isolation is amplified for LGBTQ students, especially on this campus,” said Samuels. “You might not have friends who you are out to or you might not have friends at all. If you don’t have [club meetings] in person in order to make those connections, and you are already isolated, it makes it a lot harder.” 

Despite not having an officially recognized LGBTQ student organization, the Catholic University offers groups orientated towards LGBTQ students through its Counseling Center and Campus Ministry. 

The Counseling Center runs a weekly therapy group called MOSAIC, which “provides an environment where LGBT-identified and straight students can come together to learn about available resources, discuss various topics related to personal wellness, and build a supportive network with other students,” according to the Counseling Center’s webpage

Samuels, who is an active participant in MOSAIC, said that both the therapy group and the Counseling Center are “very LGBTQ+ friendly.” Samuels said he routinely encourages members of CUAllies to get connected with the Counseling Center during club meetings. 

According to Samuels, therapists at the Counseling Center have told him that they often get students who identify as LGBTQ, but are hesitant to join CUAllies because they are perceived as being “too liberal or not Catholic enough” despite the organization not having any political or religious affiliation and being welcoming to people of all backgrounds. 

Additionally, Catholic University’s Campus Ministry offers a faith group called ‘Beyond the Labels’ which defines itself as a ministry for LGBTQ students “to support each other in their Catholic Christian life by forming holistic friendships,” according to Campus Ministry’s website

The group was formed last fall by Father Jude DeAngelo, director of Campus Ministry. 

“Because we are a Catholic school I think there is a population of students who are trying to integrate their faith with all the different labels that they have either chosen or that people put on them,” said DeAngelo to the Washington Blade. “I just want to have a place where students can come and they can be themselves and they can talk about their faith and their struggles to be Catholic Christians.” 

On “Beyond the Labels,” Samuels said, “I think [DeAngelo] has the right intentions, but it still has that risk that people could turn it into a negative thing or misconstrued his words.” 

Samuels said that leadership at CUAllies has expressed their concerns to the Counseling Center that “Beyond the Labels” could be potentially harmful towards LGBTQ students. Samuels said that he encourages people who are in need to seek out the Counseling Center first. 

DeAngelo did not offer a comment to the Blade on whether he believed CUAllies should be officially recognized by the university, however, according to Samuels, DeAngelo has been an advocate for CUAllies to be officially recognized by the university. 

Windmeyer said what the Catholic University has done with its ministry has been replicated at other campuses with harmful policies against LGBTQ students as a push to better their public image. 

He said that these colleges try to, “create a narrative that shows that [they] are compassionate, that [they] recognize, underneath our ministry, our LGBTQ group, but [they] are not going to recognize them as student organizations, they have to do it through the ministry. That in itself is just telling me that they are just doing enough to pacify their students, they do not see Catholicism as giving LGBTQ people the human dignity and worth that they deserve.” 

Windmeyer noted that other Catholic Universities, such as the University of Notre Dame — which has an official LGBTQ student organization —  have made improvements throughout the years to be more inclusive of their LGBTQ student population. 

The Catholic Church’s stance on LGBTQ-related issues has improved as well. Last year Pope Francis stated that he endorsed civil unions. However, despite these advancements, activists in conversation with the Blade have remarked church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity remain largely unchanged. 

Samuels said that he hopes that the LGBTQ faith group run by DeAngelo will be a step to help the university advocate for CUAllies to become recognized. DeAngelo expressed that he is interested in getting more members of CUAllies involved with “Beyond the Labels,” specifically, he said wants to create joint day-retreat programs with the club.

In the past, “Beyond the Labels” partnered with CUAllies on a day retreat focused on forgiveness. Samuels, who was not a member of CUAllies during the forgiveness retreat, said that he would be more interested in partnering on a team-building retreat instead of focusing on forgiveness because many of CUAllies members are not Catholic. 

“I am hopeful that it will lead him to be a larger advocate for us to be a club in the future, but I do also worry that they will just say ‘oh look we already have this program we don’t need you guys,’” said Samuels. 

Catholic University did not return the Blade’s request for comment for this story.

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District of Columbia

Ruby Corado sentencing postponed for third time

Attorneys say former Casa Ruby director has ‘significant medical issues’

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Ruby Corado has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

A federal judge on April 8 approved a request by defense attorneys to postpone the sentencing of Ruby Corado, the founder and executive director of the now closed D.C. LGBTQ community services organization Casa Ruby on a charge of wire fraud, from April 29 to July 29. 

Court records show that Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved a motion filed by Corado’s two defense attorneys on that same day calling for the sentencing postponement on grounds of health issues.

“Ms. Corado has significant medical issues,” the April 8 motion states. “She has an important medical appointment related to one of her diagnoses scheduled in June 2025 and will need time to recover from that appointment,” it says.

The motion gives no further details on Colorado’s medical issues. A.J. Kramer, director of the D.C. Office of the Federal Public Defender, whose attorneys are representing Corado, said the office has a policy of never disclosing specific medical related information regarding its clients.

Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. did not object to the defense motion seeking the third sentencing postponement. 

The records show that an earlier postponement of the sentencing, from March 28 to April 29, was initiated by the judge due to a scheduling conflict. The first postponement from Jan. 10 to March 28 came at the request of Corado’s attorneys, court records show.

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 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 released by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Prosecutors have said funds that Corado allegedly diverted for her own use were intended to be used by Casa Ruby in support of its various programs, including housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth and support for LGBTQ immigrants.

The U.S. Attorney’s statement also notes that in 2022, when “financial irregularities at Casa Ruby became public,” Corado sold her home in Prince George’s County, Md. and “fled to El Salvador.” It was at that time that Casa Ruby ceased its operations.

Court records show that FBI agents arrested Corado on March 5, 2024, at a hotel in Laurel, Md., shortly after she returned to the U.S. 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 arrest by the FBI.

Under the federal wire fraud law Corado could be sentenced to a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement. However, court observers have said that due to Corado’s decision to waive her right to a trial and plead guilty, prosecutors will likely ask the judge to hand down a lesser sentence than the maximum sentence.  

The statement by prosecutors points out that Corado’s decision to plead guilty to the one charge came after she had been charged in a criminal complaint filed on March 1, 2024, with bank fraud, wire fraud, laundering of monetary instruments, monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds, and failure to file a report of foreign bank accounts. 

All those charges except for the wire fraud charge were dropped at the time of her guilty plea.

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District of Columbia

A room with Pride: D.C.’s LGBTQ history finds a new home at the Eaton

New suites highlight city’s queer community

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(Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

Blocks away from where Frank Kameny once organized the first pickets for gay rights in Washington, a new hotel suite invites guests to relax, recharge, and revel in the LGBTQ history of the city with the capital’s first-ever Pride-themed room at the Eaton Hotel.

From the walls covered in Washington Blade archival photos from the past 50 years, to a vinyl library that spans decades and genres of music celebrated by LGBTQ fans, and little affirmations written on the mirrors, it becomes clear as soon as you open the door that this room is one of a kind.

The Blade sat down with Nina Ligon, the director of culture for the Eaton, in the suite to discuss why the boutique hotel has chosen to debut a Pride-themed room and how their unique mission-driven hospitality is at the center of it all.

Starting with how the relationship between the Blade and Eaton came to be, Ligon explained that the collaboration with D.C.’s principal LGBTQ newspaper has been around longer than she has been with the hotel.

“The Blade has always been present,” Ligon said. “It’s one of the entities here in the city that’s just always been around. When I came into my position here at Eaton, Sheldon Scott — our original director of culture who helped open the hotel — already had a relationship with Stephen [Rutgers] and other members of the Washington Blade. Through that we have been able to establish a really strong relationship in the city.”

That relationship flourished after the boutique hotel, which sees itself as more than a hotel — but a cultural hub for those wishing to explore Washington — was nominated for the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards, given out and published by the Blade.

(Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

“Beginning in 2022 we were first voted for best LGBTQ hotel in the city by the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards,” she said. “In 2023 we fell off, but that’s all right. We did get Editor’s Choice in 2024, and we’re gonna make a comeback.”

That comeback, Ligon hopes, is aided by the addition of the new Capital Pride-themed hotel suite, which used feedback from LGBTQ hotel staff to determine what went in the room.

“It’s community. We have a really great team here at Eaton, so we were able to put together a committee with anyone who wanted to be involved and have some say. And that’s not just the pride suite specifically, but World Pride in general — in our pride efforts, 365, right throughout the year. A lot of these,” she said, pointing to the walls covered in framed photos taken from the Blade archive, “are ideas that came up during those early meetings just a few months ago. There were discussions of inflatable chairs and disco balls, and I was for it. I’m here to support their creative vision. And you know, we have to involve the corporate folks, and they’re a little more traditional than some of us. But the team really came together with some of the pieces and the timeline wall art that we’re working on.”

Ligon continued, explaining that special attention was given to ensure diverse LGBTQ experiences are represented in the room. From the pictures of LGBTQ icons like Marsha P. Johnson and RuPaul, to the music on their sound system (including Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” and Troye Sivan’s “Bloom”), and the quotes on the walls, their goal was to uplift the whole LGBTQ community rather than one particular identity.

“My colleague, Eduardo [Romero], who’s been just a beam of light in my life, brought this to my attention. As a Black woman, I was reading through the Blade’s archive links and was sifting through some of those and he was like, ‘Okay, yeah, these look good, but there’s some people who are missing.’ Capital Pride has been traditionally cis, white male led. He helped me, as a Black woman, to step back and say. ‘Say, oh, wait, there’s more that we can be representing here. There are more people we could be representing.’ And so I reached out to DC Black Pride to see what image imagery they may have had and what input they had. And we were able to come up with a little something.”

As the tour of the room came to a close, Ligon told the Blade what she hopes people get from staying in this suite.

“When it comes to Pride, Pride is resistance,” she said. “Pride is more than just a party. Pride is an opportunity. It started with people who were fighting for their rights and their mere existence. And so I really want people, whether they come here to party or to take a load off, I really want them to take some time to reflect and see Pride for what it is, and that first being a form of resistance as we chart the course forward into a brighter future for the LGBTQ community and for all. None of us are free until we are all free. And I hope that this will be a reflection of that.”

The Eaton Hotel is at 1201 K St., N.W.

The first issue of the Washington Blade (upper left) as well as two archival Blade images (center) are on display at the Eaton. (Photo courtesy of the Eaton)
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Opinions

We must show up to WorldPride 2025 in D.C.

Boycotts offer symbolic protest, but absence creates silence

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(Screenshot courtesy of WorldPride's website)

As an LGBTQI+ activist from Argentina, a country currently facing deep setbacks under an openly anti-rights government, I understand the frustration and fear many are expressing about attending WorldPride 2025 in the United States. I also understand the symbolic weight of showing up anyway.

Following the announcement by Egale Canada and the African Human Rights Coalition that they are withdrawing support for WorldPride due to the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQI+ stance, concerns have rightly been raised about safety, complicity, and principle. These concerns must not be dismissed. But they must be responded to with a deeper strategic reflection: Visibility, presence, and collective action remain our greatest tools in confronting oppression.

Boycotts may offer symbolic protest, but absence creates silence

WorldPride is not organized by the U.S. government. It is a platform created by and for LGBTQI+ civil society — local activists, grassroots groups, trans-led collectives, BIPOC-led organizations, and everyday people building community despite hostile political environments. Boycotting this space sends a message not only to the Trump administration, but to our own movement: That when things get hard, we retreat.

History teaches us otherwise.

In 1990, amid the AIDS crisis and government neglect, activists did not boycott — they stormed the National Institutes of Health and the FDA. In 2014, when Russia passed its “gay propaganda” law, global solidarity at the Sochi Olympics became a powerful moment of protest and resistance. And in 2020, amidst a pandemic and police violence, Pride went digital but never disappeared.

If we set the precedent that global LGBTQI+ events cannot happen under right-wing or anti-LGBTQI+ governments, we will effectively disqualify a growing list of countries from hosting. That includes not only the U.S. under Trump, but Hungary, Italy, Uganda, Poland — and even my own country, Argentina, under Javier Milei. Yet ILGA World still plans to convene its 2027 conference in Buenos Aires, and rightly so. We must not surrender global platforms to the very governments that wish to erase us.

WorldPride is not a reward for good governance. It’s a tool of resistance

To those who say attending WorldPride in D.C. normalizes Trump’s policies, I say: What greater statement than queer, trans, intersex, and nonbinary people from around the world gathering defiantly in his capital? What more powerful declaration than standing visible where he would rather we vanish?

Safety is paramount, and all governments — including the U.S. — must guarantee the protection of LGBTQI+ participants. But refusing to engage is not the answer. In fact, visibility in hostile spaces has always been a hallmark of our movement’s strength. We showed up at Stonewall. We marched on Washington in 1979. We protested during the AIDS crisis, and we will show up again now — not in spite of adversity, but because of it.

We are in a global moment of rollback. Division is what our opponents want

The rise of anti-gender ideology and trans-exclusionary narratives has created fertile ground for far-right movements worldwide. In this moment, LGBTQI+ solidarity must be global, intersectional, and uncompromising. We cannot afford to fracture our own movement based on geopolitical fault lines.

Egale Canada and the African Human Rights Coalition raised legitimate criticisms — of U.S. foreign policy, immigration barriers, and systemic racism. But those issues must be confronted within WorldPride, not from outside it. We must bring those critiques into plenaries, panels, and the streets of Washington. We must create space for diasporic, racialized, and grassroots-led voices. We must use this moment to hold institutions accountable and shift the power of Pride to those most affected.

Because that is what solidarity looks like — not abandonment, but engagement.

WorldPride 2025 must not be a party disconnected from reality. It must be a protest rooted in our global truths.

Let us not cede this space. Let us make it ours.

Mariano Ruiz is the president of Derechos Humanos y Diversidad Asociación Civil in Argentina. He is also a 2019 Columbia HRAP Alumni.

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