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D.C. police investigating bomb threat targeting mayor’s Pride event

In Tweet, user says ‘I’m gonna bomb it’

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D.C. police are investigating a short message posted on the Twitter page of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs that appears to threaten to place a bomb at the annual District Pride concert scheduled to take place June 29 at the Lincoln Theatre.

A person who self-identifies as Alfie Tingay posted on the LGBTQ Affairs Office post, “i’m gonna bomb it.” The person was referring to the District Pride event that the LGBTQ Affairs Office Twitter page was promoting.

“Join the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs for our #District of Pride Showcase on June 29th at 7 p.m.,” the office’s Tweet says. “This show-stopping event will highlight some of our amazing talent who live right here in DC,” the Twitter message says.

The message includes a web address for people to RSVP to attend the event.

The person who self-identifies as Alfie Tingay @alfie_tingay on the mayor’s Tweet posted the “I’m gonna bomb it” message underneath a printed ad in a box on the site promoting the District Of Pride event.

“Tingay” posted the message at the bottom of a list of Twitter addresses to which he sent his Twitter message. They include agencies in the mayor’s office and LGBTQ organizations and media outlets, including the Washington Blade, Tagg magazine, Metro Weekly, D.C. Black Pride, and Capital Pride, the organization sponsoring the upcoming Capital Pride parade and festival on June 10 and 11.

The Blade forwarded the threatening Twitter post to the D.C. police Public Information Office and to the mayor’s office for comment.

In a brief statement sent to the Blade on Friday, May 19, Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said his office “reported the tweet and account using Twitter’s reporting system.”

He said his office also reported the threatening tweet to D.C. police and the D.C. Homeland Security And Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA). “No credible threat at this time has been made,” Bowles said in his statement.

“The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, like many of the other community affairs offices that host events in this city, are proud to provide safe and inclusive spaces for our entire community,” Bowles said. “We have and will continue to work with MPD, HSEMA, and our public safety agencies to ensure that we are protected as we celebrate almost 50 years of our strong and diverse LGBTQIA+ community,” he told the Blade in his statement.

A spokesperson for the Lincoln Theatre couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

D.C. police spokesperson Sean Hicks responded with an email message.

“I have sent this to our Intel Unit and Special Liaison Branch to review,” Hickman told the Blade in an email message. “We will get back to you once we’ve had a chance to look into it,” he said. The Special Liaison Branch includes the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit.

Hickman on Wednesday, May 17, sent the Blade a copy of the police incident report on the Twitter posting matter that the Blade had requested.  

The report states, “R-1 [Respondent 1] reports that he observed a Tweet on Twitter that stated, ‘I’m going to bomb it.’ R-1 believes that the subject that posted the Tweet was targeting members and organizations that are a part of and support the LGBTQ community,” the report concludes.

The report states that the identity of R-1 is “CONFIDENTIAL.” Hickman told the Blade R-1 “wished to remain anonymous.” Hickman said police investigators have a copy of the threatening Tweet. He did not say whether someone from the mayor’s office reported the threatening Twitter post to police or whether the police first learned about it from the Blade’s inquiry.

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District of Columbia

Oral arguments held in Casa Ruby civil suit appeals case

Alston Foundation urges judges to overturn dismissal of ‘negligence’ lawsuit

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Ruby Corado pleaded guilty in to a single charge of wire fraud. (Washington Blade file photo by Ernesto Valle)

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments May 7 on whether a 2023 decision by a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members of the now-defunct Casa Ruby LGBTQ community services center should be overturned.

The Wanda Alston Foundation, an LGBTQ youth housing services group that assumed control over the operations of Casa Ruby in August 2022 under a court appointed receivership role, filed its lawsuit against the former board members in December 2022 under the Casa Ruby name.

It accuses them of violating D.C.’s nonprofit corporations’ law by failing to “hold regular meetings/or maintain official records – thereby exercising no oversight or governance over the organization.” 

Among other things, the lawsuit said the former board members failed to take steps to prevent Casa Ruby’s founder and former executive director, Ruby Corado, from embezzling large sums of Casa Ruby funds for personal use.

Corado, who was arrested in March 2024 on multiple embezzlement related charges, pleaded guilty in July 2024 to a single charge of wire fraud under a plea agreement with prosecutors. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29, 2025.

The lawsuit called on the court to require Corado and the former board members to pay “restitution, compensatory damages, punitive damages, receivership fees and expenses, court costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses and any other relief the court deems necessary and proper.”

In May 2023, at the request of defense attorneys, D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya A. Dayson dismissed the lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members but did not dismiss the case against Corado and one of the board members who allegedly received improper financial benefits from Corado.

Dayson stated in her dismissal decision that it was based on her interpretation of a D.C. law that members of an organization’s board of directors can only be held liable for harming an organization like Casa Ruby if they “intentionally, rather than negligently, inflicted harm on Casa Ruby.”

According to Dayson, the law in question also says board members can be held responsible for harming an organization if a “board member intentionally violated a criminal law or that the board member received some amount of money to which they were not entitled.” She states in her decision that the Alston Foundation lawsuit did not provide sufficient evidence that the seven board members committed those types of violations.

Attorneys for the Alston Foundation disputed Dayson’s interpretation of the law in their initial legal brief filed before the D.C. Court of Appeals in February 2024. Among other things, the brief argued that the Alston Foundation’s Third Interim Report in its role as Casa Ruby receiver provides sufficient evidence that the former board members are legally liable for harming Casa Ruby.

That and follow-up briefs and their oral arguments at the May 7, 2025, hearing state that the appeals court can find that the former board members “were deliberately indifferent’ or ‘willfully blind’ to the alleged wrongful conduct of the nonprofit’s executive director amounting to actual knowledge on their part that inaction would harm the non-profit, ultimately and forcibly leading to its financial inability to continue operating.”

A follow-up brief filed by Alston Foundation attorney Theodore Howard argues that the former board members violated Casa Ruby’s by-laws by conducting only one board meeting in six years.

According to the brief, that “allowed Ms. Corado to maintain complete authority over the organization, including by allowing her to unilaterally appoint new Board members” and allowed her “to maintain sole control over Casa Ruby’s bank and financial accounts, even after Ms. Corado cut off access to those accounts to anyone but herself.”

An opposing brief filed by attorney Marlin Grifith, who is representing former board member Miguel Rivera, states that the decision dismissing the lawsuit correctly interpreted the law pertaining to nonprofit corporations.

“The Superior Court did not err…,” the brief states, adding “there are no facts alleged that support a conclusion of reasonable inference that the individual board members acted with actual knowledge that their inaction would cause harm to the organization.”

Howard, the attorney representing the Alston Foundation in its role as Casa Ruby receiver, said the attorneys on both sides of the case are now waiting for the three-judge appeals court panel to issue their decision. 

If they rule in favor of Casa Ruby/Alston Foundation, the case will be sent back to the Superior Court for further proceedings on the lawsuit, Howard said. He said negotiations would likely begin for a possible out-of-court settlement.

If the appeals court rules in favor of the former board members by finding they did not intentionally and knowingly inflict harm to Casa Ruby, “then the case, at least as between Casa Ruby [via the Alston Foundation] and the former board of directors, will be over,” Howard said.

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District of Columbia

Celebrate Frank Kameny’s 100th birthday at Supreme Court event

Rep. Torres, Jim Obergefell to speak on May 21

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Frank Kameny would have turned 100 on May 21. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Jim Obergefell will join national LGBTQ organizations and activists, and speak at 12 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court on May 21 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Frank Kameny, one of the founders of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. 

City Council members Erik Bottcher (New York City), Rue Landau (Philadelphia), and Zachary Parker (Washington, D.C.) will also speak.

During the demonstration on what would have been Kameny’s 100th birthday, activists will hold 100 candles in front of the Supreme Court. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Obergefell are serving as national honorary co-chairs of the celebration. 

The national event honors Kameny and pushes back on those who would try to render the LGBTQ community invisible, deny their history, and subvert their equality; and celebrates the 10th anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court marriage equality decision. 

“Frank Kameny was a strategic activist. He used picketing, politics, the courts, media, and pressure on the federal and municipal governments to fight for equality,” said Malcolm Lazin, National Chair, Kameny 100. “On the 10th anniversary of marriage equality, we’re honored to have as keynote speakers Jim Obergefell and Congressman Ritchie Torres, co-chair, Congressional Equality Caucus.” 

Collaborating national organizations include Advocates for Transgender Equality, The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Equality Forum, GLAAD, HRC, Lambda Legal, LGBT History Month, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, PFLAG, SAGE, and the Washington Blade. 

 To learn more, visit kameny100.org.

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District of Columbia

D.C. gears up for a weekend of trans empowerment

Washington is set to host a vibrant, multi-day celebration spotlighting the city’s trans and gender-diverse community with a daylong conference, lively after-parties, and community hangouts.

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A panel at last year's Trans Pride. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Trans Pride returns to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 17 for a full day of empowerment, education, and celebration—created by and for trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse people. The annual event uplifts the voices of the local trans community through workshops, panels, and networking, all in the spirit of resilience and joy.

(Note: Due to the current political climate surrounding people with gender-diverse identities, the location of many events are being withheld until you RSVP.)

The day, structured as a conference, features nearly 30 workshops covering a wide variety of topics specifically designed to uplift members of the D.C. trans community. From navigating recent federal ID document changes to Trans Sex Ed Trivia and Strategies for Growing Your Small Business in Uncertain Times, there’s something for every trans person in the lineup. Additionally, the event will include panel discussions, a resource and exhibitor fair, and networking opportunities.

After Trans Pride, the official after-party will be held from 6-9:30 p.m. This 18+ event’s location will be disclosed after RSVP-ing.

Following the official after-party, the official after-after party will be held at Sinners and Saints (2309 18th St., N.W.). Dubbed the “Not-Cis-Tine Chapel,” the event runs from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. with drink deals including $5 rail shots all night and jello shot discounts. Trans DJs Franxx and El Sucio will be spinning all night at this 21+ event.

On Sunday the 18th, Trans Pride will host Sunday Funday, where members of the trans community are invited to enjoy “games, drinks, and friends” from 2-6 p.m. The location will be shared after RSVP-ing.

To help kick off WorldPride, the Trans Pride Welcome Party will be held on June 6 starting at 7 p.m. This 21+ event will start the season right with a night of sparkle and shine. Glam looks are encouraged, and the location will be shared after RSVP-ing.

To RSVP to any of the events above, visit transpridewashingtondc.org/home

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