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District of Columbia

D.C. Council poised for first out gay member since 2015

Parker favored to win in Ward 5; Bowser, Mendelson expected to prevail

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Zachary Parker is expected to easily win the Ward 5 Council seat.

In a city whose voters, including LGBTQ voters, are overwhelmingly Democratic, D.C. Democratic elected officials – including Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson – are considered the odds-on favorites to win reelection in the city’s Nov. 8 election.

Among the non-incumbent Democrats expected to win is gay Ward 5 D.C. Council candidate Zachary Parker, who most political observers say will become the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council since 2015, when then gay Council members David Catania (I-At-Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) left the Council.

Parker is an elected member of the nonpartisan D.C. State Board of Education. He won the Ward 5 Democratic primary on June 21 in a hotly contested, seven-candidate race, beating, among others, former Ward 5 Council member Vincent Orange. He is considered the strong favorite against his lesser-known Republican opponent, Clarence Lee, in the Nov. 8 general election.

Two other out gay candidates are also on the Nov. 8 D.C. election ballot, but they are considered far less likely to win than Parker. Both are running as Libertarian Party candidates. Bruce Majors is running for the D.C. congressional delegate seat held by longtime incumbent and LGBTQ rights supporter Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who is considered the strong favorite to win reelection. Also running for the congressional delegate seat is Statehood Green Party candidate Natalie Stracuzzi.

The other out gay Libertarian, Adrian Salsgiver, is running for the Ward 3 D.C. Council seat against Democratic nominee Matthew Frumin and Republican David Krucoff. The Ward 3 seat became open when incumbent Democrat Mary Cheh announced she would not run for reelection. Both Frumin and Krucoff have expressed support for LGBTQ rights.  

Bowser, who has a long record of support on LGBTQ issues, is similarly considered the strong favorite to finish ahead of her general election challengers, who include Republican Stacia Hall, Independent Rodney Red Grant, and Libertarian Party candidate Dennis Sobin.

Council Chair Mendelson, also a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, is considered the favorite to win against his challengers – Republican Nate Darenge and Statehood Green Party candidate Darryl Moch. 

In a development that surprised some political observers, the Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, endorsed D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At-Large) against Bowser and Democratic challenger Erin Palmer against Mendelson in the June 21 Democratic primary.

A short time after the primary, when Bowser and Mendelson emerged as the clear winners, Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsed Bowser, Mendelson, and the Democratic nominees in all of the other races.

Among the other races is the contest for two at-large D.C. Council seats, which has emerged as the only race in which the outcome is considered uncertain in the Nov. 8 D.C. general election. And some political observers believe the LGBTQ vote could be the decisive factor in determining the two winners in that race.

Under the city’s Home Rule Charter approved by Congress in the early 1970s, two of the city’s four at-large Council members must belong to a non-majority political party or be an independent.

Longtime LGBTQ rights supporter Anita Bonds holds the Democratic seat up for election this year. The other seat is held by independent incumbent Elisa Silverman, who has also been a strong supporter on LGBTQ issues. Six others are competing for the two seats, with voters having the option of voting for two of the eight contenders.

They include Democrat-turned-independent Kenyan McDuffie, who currently holds the Ward 5 D.C. Council seat; Republican Giuseppe Niosi, who, along with his wife and child, rode in D.C.’s Capital Pride Parade in June; Statehood Green Party candidate David Schwartzman; and independent candidates Graham McLaughlin, Fred Hill, and Karim Marshall. McDuffie has a record of support for LGBTQ rights on the Council and the others have each expressed support for LGBTQ rights.

McLaughlin, a former corporate manager and small business advocate, has said he has worked with LGBTQ organizations, including the Trevor Project, in his role as an advocate for homeless youth.

The Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed Bonds for reelection but decided not to make an endorsement for the non-Democrat seat, saying to do so would be backing someone running against Democrat Bonds.

In addition to the Ward 3 and Ward 5 Council races, D.C. Council seats in Wards 1 and 6 are up for election on Nov. 8. In the Ward 1 race, incumbent Democrat Brianne Nadeau, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, is considered the strong favorite over Statehood Green Party challenger Chris Otten.

Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsed Nadeau in both the Nov. 8 general election and in the June primary when out gay Democrat and former D.C. police officer Salah Czapary challenged her.

LGBTQ activists who supported Czapary said the LGBTQ voters who backed Nadeau over Czapary based their decision clearly on non-LGBTQ issues – just as most LGBTQ voters are expected to continue to do on Nov. 8 in a city where all candidates with any chance of winning support LGBT rights.

In the case of the Nadeau-Czapary rivalry, Nadeau is considered to be among the progressive-left faction of the Democratic Party, with Czapary falling into the moderate Democratic faction. With the Democratic Party dominating D.C. politics, the liberal left versus moderate factions appears to be the dividing line in D.C. Democratic primaries.

The remaining Council seat up for election this year is in Ward 6, where incumbent Democrat Charles Allen, yet another longtime LGBTQ rights supporter, is running unopposed on Nov. 8.

In the sometimes-overlooked race for the position of U.S. Representative to Congress, which is widely referred to as D.C.’s “shadow” U.S. House seat, incumbent Democrat Oye Owolewa is considered the favorite over Statehood Green Party challenger Joyce Robinson-Paul. Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed Owolewa, who has expressed support for LGBTQ rights.

The shadow House position, which has no congressional powers, was created in an amendment to the D.C. home rule charter as a position to lobby Congress for D.C. statehood and D.C. congressional voting rights.

In the race for D.C. Attorney General, Democrat Brian Schwalb, who won the Democratic primary in June, is running unopposed in the Nov. 8 general election. He, too, has expressed support for LGBTQ rights issues.

Longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Earl Fowlkes, who serves as executive director of the D.C.-based national LGBTQ advocacy group Center for Black Equity, is among those who have said D.C.’s LGBTQ residents sometimes don’t appreciate the supportive political climate of the local D.C. government.

“One of the incredible things that’s happened in D.C. in the last 27 years I’ve been here is the fact that LGBTQ+ issues have been brought to the forefront and there is a universal agreement among almost anyone running for any position or office that they have to be strong in supporting LGBTQ+ issues,” Fowlkes told the Blade.

“This is one of the great places in the world to live in,” he said. “And thanks to our political system and the people who run for office who understand and have their finger on the pulse of the community, LGBTQ people are considered equal citizens in the District,” Fowlkes said. “And there’s a lot of places in this country not far from here who can’t say that.”

In races that traditionally have been nonpartisan, seats on the D.C. State Board of Education are up for election on Nov. 8 for Wards 1, 3, 5, and 6. The Capital Stonewall Democrats has not taken a position on Board of Education candidates.

And the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), which rates candidates for mayor, D.C. Council, and Attorney General, does not issue ratings for school board candidates, nor does it rate candidates for congressional delegate or the shadow House seat.

Founded in 1971, GLAA is a nonpartisan, all volunteer LGBTQ advocacy group that bills itself as the nation’s oldest, continuously operating LGBTQ organization. It has been rating local D.C. candidates since the 1970s on a rating scale of -10 to +10, which is the highest possible rating score showing strong support for LGBTQ equality.

But in the past year it has received criticism from some local LGBTQ activists for basing its ratings on mostly non-LGBTQ specific issues that critics say represent a progressive left viewpoint.

Among the issues the group asks all candidates to take a position on in a required 10-question questionnaire it sends to candidates are decriminalization of sex work, reallocating funds from the police budget for violence prevention programs, support for affordable housing programs for low-income residents, and support for removing criminal penalties for illegal drug possession for personal use.

Other questions in the GLAA questionnaire ask candidates about whether LGBTQ people should have access to a housing voucher program, increasing funding for the Office of Human Rights, which enforces nondiscrimination laws pertaining to LGBTQ people, and whether the city’s tipped minimum wage law should be repealed.

The tipped wage law is the subject of an initiative on the Nov. 8 D.C. election ballot called Initiative 82, which calls for repealing the lower minimum wage for tipped workers and raising it to the full D.C. minimum wage.

GLAA President Tyrone Hanley has said important so-called non-LGBTQ issues such as affordable housing impact LGBTQ people just as they impact all others, and it’s important to ask candidates running for public office to take a stand on those issues.

The group in October released its numerical ratings along with the responses to its questionnaire for 14 candidates that returned the questionnaire, including Mayor Bowser, who the group assigned a +6 rating. For 10 candidates that did not return the questionnaire, GLAA assigned a “0” rating.

Below is a list of the candidates that GLAA has rated along with their ratings. Also below is a link to the group’s explanation for why it issued its specific rating scores and to the questionnaire responses from the 14 candidates that returned the GLAA questionnaire.

D.C. Mayor
Muriel Bowser (D) – +6
Rhonda Hamilton (I) Write-In candidate — +4
Stacia Hall (R) – 0
Dennis Sobin (Libertarian) – 0
Rodney Red Grant (I) — 0

D.C. Council Chair
Phil Mendelson (D) +6
Nate Derenge (R) – 0
Darry Moch (Statehood Green) – 0

D.C. Council At-Large
Elissa Silverman (I) — +7
Kenyan McDuffie (I) — +6.5
Anita Bonds (D) — +6
David Schwartzman (Statehood Green) +6
Graham McLaughlin (I) — +5
Karim Marshall (I) — +4
Giuseppe Niosi (R) – 0
Fred Hill (I) – 0

D.C. Council Ward 1
Brianne Nadeau (D) — +9.5
Chris Otten (Statehood Green) – 0

D.C. Council Ward 5
Zachary Parker (D) +6.5
Clarence Lee (R) – 0

D.C. Council Ward 6
Charles Allen (D) +8.5

D.C. Attorney General
Brian Schwalb (D) +6

Copies of the candidates’ GLAA questionnaire responses and GLAA’s explanation for why it issued specific ratings for the candidates can be accessed here.

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District of Columbia

$3.7 billion RFK stadium proposal draws support from Team DC

Washington Commanders ‘proud’ to champion LGBTQ community

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The long-suffering RFK Stadium will be razed to make way for a new domed facility that could one day host the Super Bowl. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Miguel Ayala, president of the D.C. LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C., has expressed support for the $3.7 billion deal reached between Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Washington Commanders football team to bring the team back to D.C. in a redeveloped site on the grounds of the city’s long shuttered RFK stadium.

With the deal calling for the city to provide $1 billion in taxpayer funds for infrastructure related costs for the massive redevelopment project — and with the Commanders to provide the remaining $2.7 billion — as of this week the deal did not have majority support on the D.C. Council, which must vote to approve it.

Ayala’s support for the project on behalf of Team D.C. raises the question of whether members of the city’s influential LGBTQ community might play some role in urging the D.C. Council to approve the project.

The proposal comes at a time when the Washington Commanders team includes a message of support for the LGBTQ community on its website. The message follows its hosting last October of its 4th annual LGBTQ Pride Night Out at the Commanders game against the Cleveland Browns.

“The Washington Commanders are proud to champion the LGBTQ+ community and its allies,” the team states on its website. “Through the unifying power of sports, we aim to create a culture where all feel welcome and celebrated.”

In a statement released to the Washington Blade, Ayala points out that the Commanders are among every D.C.-based professional sports team that hosts a Pride Night Out event, which Team DC helps to organize.

“Each year, our events have grown stronger, with vibrant tailgates, on-field celebrations, and powerful moments that shine a spotlight on our community,” Ayala said. “We can’t wait to kick off our first Night Out at the Commanders Stadium in 2030.”

He was referring to plans by the Commanders organization and the D.C. mayor’s office to have the stadium deal approved by the D.C. Council in July, with construction of the new stadium to begin then, and with a planned completion in time for the 2030 professional football season.

Ayala also points out that the RFK stadium grounds currently serve as home to LGBTQ-related sports activity, including the D.C. Gay Flag Football League and the D.C. Front Runners group. He added that the RFK grounds will serve as the playing fields for this year’s WorldPride Capital Cup sports competition, where LGBTQ rugby and soccer teams from around the world will compete.

“This new stadium will be more than just a field – it will be a powerful new addition to the vibrant, diverse, and proud communities we champion every day,” he said in his statement.

At an April 28 news conference, Bowser, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and other city officials provided details of the stadium project, noting that it includes a massive development of the new stadium and the surrounding 180 acres of land.

In addition to the 65,000-seat domed stadium, officials said the project would include 5,000 to 6,000 residential housing units, with 30 percent designated as “affordable” for low- and moderate-income residents. They said the project would also include parks and recreation areas, hotels, restaurants, retail, and neighborhood amenities.

“As we focus on the growth of our economy, we’re not only bringing our team home, but we’re also bringing new jobs and new revenue to our city and to Ward 7,” Bowser said in a statement

Opponents of the project, including D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), have said they don’t believe the city should use its own funds for a stadium and the related development. 

So far, just four Council members have expressed support for the project. Mendelson and two other Council members have expressed opposition, and the remaining five have not yet said whether they would vote for or against it. The project needs seven of the current 12-member Council for it to be approved.

Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member, who initially had not taken a position on the proposal, this week said he was looking at the project more favorably, according to news media reports. 

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District of Columbia

Welcome home: DC LGBTQ Center opens its doors to healing and hope

The 6,671 square foot DC LGBTQ Center will offer a wide range of resources for LGBTQ individuals in need – including mental health services, job readiness programs, cultural events, and community support groups, all under one roof.

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The D.C. Center (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

On a sunny spring day in Washington’s Shaw neighborhood, the once empty Holzbeierlein Bakery warehouse now showcases energy, pride, and the sounds of chosen family coming closer together. After years in a less-than-perfect space on 14th Street, the DC LGBTQ community finally has a new home at the DC LGBTQ Center—and Executive Director Kimberley Bush says it’s more than a building. It’s a promise.

That promise, Bush explained to the Washington Blade on April 26—the day of the new LGBTQ Center’s opening—may change depending on who is being uplifted by the DC Center, but at its core remains the same goal: a thriving LGBTQ community in the nation’s capital. The commitment to the DC LGBTQ community is able to grow more connected and stronger, she explained, as more resources, space, and funding become available for the DC Center.

“This is a glorious home,” Bush said, beaming as groups of community members walked in under the giant inflatable rainbow at the Center’s doors. “It’s our new home. Today was a whole day of welcome home. This space has been an amazing endeavor for a long time, one that we’ve always known we’ve needed. This is space that we need for our LGBT siblings in need—and it’s amazing when your intentions match your efforts.”

The DC Center has long worked to “educate, empower, uplift, celebrate, elevate, and connect” the LGBTQ community from its former location at the Reeves Center. But now, in its new space at 1828 Wiltberger St., N.W., these efforts are more visible, accessible, and impactful than ever before.

“This space is a model that is new, that we are creating,” Bush said as groups of DC Center supporters chatted with Etta James’s “At Last” filling the hallways. “There is, I believe, no other LGBTQ+ community center in the country that not only has its own life and supportive services in its building, but is also co-housed with other organizations. A lot of community centers try and do it all, but that’s not what we wanted. We wanted to be able to bring everybody together under one roof, to be able to have that whole life supportive services center like one-stop shopping. We didn’t want to take over anything anyone else did. We don’t want to take away the dollars those organizations have to do what they do for the community. We want us all to be together. So that’s what we are. We’ve been able to now expand into almost 7,000 square feet of space.”

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The new DC Center features a variety of functional spaces designed to meet the diverse needs of the LGBTQ community. It includes office space for up to nine additional partner organizations, creating a hub for collaboration and support. Local and integral LGBTQ organizations like SMYAL, Team DC, and HIPS are some of the groups taking advantage of the space.

“People can be spread out,” Bush said about the opportunity for these LGBTQ-specific organizations to have a dedicated office in the Center. “We are on a grander scale, so we have a grander number of individuals that we can positively and effectively take care of. We [as members of the DC LGBTQ Center] can’t provide everything someone needs, but we can be an outpost for other organizations. Because we’ve expanded, we are able to expand the love, kindness, and support we can give our siblings.”

Additional support, Bush explained, is made possible by the intentional design of the new DC Center. Specialized rooms meet critical needs—from an HIV and STI testing room to therapy spaces and a boutique offering professional attire for job interviews. While the DC Center may not provide every service directly, it offers a shared space where partner organizations can step in and support the community—all under one roof.

“Often people are not able to go here, here, and here, to get what those gaps in life are creating,” she said. “To bridge them in one space just gives that person the opportunity to have less on their heart and their mind in regards to what they need to take care of themselves.”

In addition to being able to provide a space for instrumental elements of protecting the safety and well-being of the DC LGBTQ community, the Center also has a food pantry, a boutique with a clothing closet, an ADA-accessible shower, a mailroom to assist those without a permanent address, and a spacious kitchen.

This, she explained, is why this space is so monumental to providing the DC LGBTQ community the resources they need in a succinct and approachable way.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“By bridging those gaps and having as much as we can here means you’re in one space to get your needs met,” she added. “From sexual health needs, in terms of testing, counseling, and what have you, to mental and behavioral health needs. You can get food, you can get clothing, you can shower. You can store some of your things here. That is such an ease off of your mind to where now you can breathe.”

After stepping into the Center’s director role in 2022, Bush said that she often sees her “siblings” within the community make a better life for themselves starting by walking through the front doors. Sometimes the following steps take more time and resources than for others, but regardless of what it takes, Bush emphasized the goal is to alleviate some stress and make tomorrow an approachable reality.

“I have the amazing opportunity to interact with our community members, our siblings, on a regular basis,” she said. “Often I see them when they first walk in our door. Sometimes they walk in unhappy, sometimes devastated, or they walk in not in a good space. When they come in and invite us in to hear their stories, when they want to share what’s going on with them so we can learn how to best care, love, and support them, it’s incredible. We make a POA, a plan of action, outlining how to take care of them and what that’s going to take.”

Walking through the Center, it is hard to not notice the smiles coming from everyone’s faces—from volunteers, board members, community members, and those seeking assistance. The DC Center, with its rainbow murals and shining floors, has become a beacon of hope for many LGBTQ Washingtonian residents in need. For some, Bush explained, that can be as simple as having a space for solace in a city that seems to have no shortage of stressors.

“The space is made for anyone who’s in need, and even if you’re not,” she said. “This is a place for you to come and be peaceful. A place for you to come and have a cup of tea, not to pay a thing, or have to talk to anybody. You can just sit here and have a cup of tea.”

The more she spoke about the space, it became clear that providing a space for LGBTQ people to be is just as important as providing spaces for the services to take place. The DC LGBTQ Center invites people to not only find what they need to make themselves better in a literal sense but also allows them to simply exist. It is rare for a city to provide this kind of refuge from the constant motion that life demands. And that can be life-changing, she says.

“I will say, ‘How are you today? How are you feeling today?’ ‘How are you’ and ‘how are you feeling’ are two different things, but I do want to know how you’re feeling. If you don’t answer me, that’s good. You know? That’s perfect,” Bush said. “This space is built for everyone, especially for trans and non-binary folk, and for our brown and Black folk. It’s a space for those who just need a space to be.”

In a world that often erases or overlooks LGBTQ people, especially trans, non-binary, Black, and brown community members, the simple act of being seen and cared for can be revolutionary. The DC Center aims to be a place for LGBTQ people to be themselves—not to force them to prove anything or lead them to speak, but to truly be themselves. That quiet affirmation of ‘allowing to be’ can plant the seed to a better, more authentic life.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“One thing that I love to hear, and it makes me feel so good, because they say it in a way that’s just like you and I would say it, or anyone would say it, but sometimes they may not have thought they would say it. They would say, ‘See you tomorrow. See you later.’ This is a person who may not have had tomorrow in their mind. Where you and I say that all the time, but for a lot of our people, our siblings, who come to us, that may not be a thing for them. But when they come in our doors, receive the care and the love and the support and kindness, but then they walk out and they say, ‘See you tomorrow,’ and we do see them tomorrow! I can tell you that this response not only drives me to do this work, because this is good work and I’m very fortunate and privileged to be here, but it’s hearing that out of someone’s mouth. That’s it. That’s all I need.”

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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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