District of Columbia
Trans pride thriving in D.C.’s queer nightlife scene
T4T provides vital space for joy, visibility, resistance
The queer nightlife scene has long provided much needed spaces for connection, resistance, and activism. It’s fitting, then, that in 2025 — a time when the transgender community is bearing the brunt of discriminatory policies at national, state, and local levels — LGBTQ bars remain vital spaces of solace and celebration for a community that too often struggles to find acceptance in public life.
In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility on Monday, March 31, the Washington Blade spoke with several prominent transgender figures in D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife scene about their journeys into the industry, how it has shaped them, and why celebrating with other trans people in these spaces is essential to fostering support and protection for the transgender community.
Creating space for trans joy
Samson Russell, security operations manager at Crush Dance Bar on 14th Street, spends most nights scanning IDs and welcoming patrons to one of the busiest LGBTQ bars in the city. But once a month, Russell takes the stage as a DJ at T4T, a trans-centered event at Trade, another LGBTQ bar just down the street.
“I was never really into partying or nightlife,” Russell said. “I wanted to be a part of it, but it just was too intimidating. Once everything shut down [during the pandemic], I realized life is short, and there are more reasons to be involved in nightlife than just wanting to party. It’s about bringing people together.”
Russell’s entry into the nightlife scene was sparked by an Instagram message from DJ Lemz, a Washingtonian DJ known for the queer BENT celebration at the 9:30 Club. That push led Russell to embrace performing, highlighting trans identity in nightlife and using the stage as a platform for visibility.
“I started working the door at Trade maybe a year later, and then immediately wanted to be part of the drag scene,” Russell said. “Getting booked when you don’t have any drag experience is tough, even in a city as accepting as D.C. I wanted to highlight transness as an art form. My first time doing drag was producing my own show at Trade, and two years later, it’s still a monthly event called T4T. Eventually, I learned how to DJ, and three weeks later, I started DJing for T4T. Now, it’s just a mix of different art forms, all rooted in how my transness led me into nightlife.”
Onstage, Russell doesn’t just perform; they embody trans resilience. In some acts, they inject themselves with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) onstage, turning a deeply personal moment into a public declaration of identity.
“I’m not trying to act like I guided anyone into their sense of self, but it’s really cool when someone sees me and feels comfortable enough to talk about transness,” Russell said. “I’ll take off my shirt and show my scars. I’ll put lipstick and blush on them to make sure people see them. My T shot is the climax of my act. I want people just getting started in their transition to see it’s real, it’s happening, and if I can do it in this DIY blue-collar way, then surely they can too.”
Finding community and visibility
T4T isn’t just a performance space, it’s a refuge. Brooke N Hymen, a self-described “trans masc of bimbo experience” drag performer, has taken the stage multiple times at the event and finds it to be a source of validation.
“It’s proving to myself and the community that I belong here,” Hymen said. “It’s a way to showcase my transness and my trans art. Being seen and valued as a trans artist in the city — it’s an affirming feeling.”
The affirming energy of T4T extends beyond the performers. Keaton Paz, a trans employee at Trade, sees the impact firsthand at the door.
“I love getting to be at the door for those events and seeing trans people walk in,” Paz said. “You can see the relief and joy on their faces, like, ‘Oh, there are trans people here working and participating. I know this is going to be a safe space.’ That moment of recognition and safety brings me so much joy. Knowing we’re a second home for so many people, that’s what it’s about.”
For many trans people, LGBTQ bars offer more than just a place to grab a drink. They provide a sense of belonging. Whether through trans-specific events or simply recognizing a trans person behind the bar, these venues create spaces where trans people can exist without fear. The importance of visibility isn’t just about celebration, it’s a reminder that trans people deserve to live openly, loudly and without apology.
The complexity of visibility
“Trans Day of Visibility means living and showing your authentic self,” Hymen said. “It’s about knowing that your identity is valid, even if you’re not happy with your current circumstances. I’m early in my transition, but I think it’s important to be visibly loud and trans for the people who don’t have access to medical care or who are just starting their journeys.”
Paz echoed this, emphasizing that the day is meaningful even for those who are still questioning their identities.
“It’s not just for trans individuals,” Paz said. “It’s for anyone on their own gender journey. Having a day like this is powerful. It lets people see we’re here, we exist. If that visibility is taken away, it’s an attempt to erase us entirely.”
While agreeing with the sentiment, Russell expressed more complicated feelings about the day.
“I’ve got mixed feelings because why is it different from any other day?” Russell said. “While I’m grateful it exists, there are 364 other trans days of visibility in my book. It’s so dandy that cis people think of us every last day of March, but at the end of the day, this is my daily life.”
For Russell, being visible as a trans person in Washington — especially under an administration that is hostile to LGBTQ rights — adds an even deeper layer to their presence in nightlife.
“I’m in the belly of the beast — the capital of the country under this horrible administration,” Russell said. “So what else am I going to do but perform in the most sincere way I can? Specifically to my transness. It’s not just about being a hot man. It’s about knowing where I came from, where we’re at, and what my part is in this fight.”
T4T is held every second Tuesday of the month at Trade, located at 1410 14th St., N.W.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s annual MLK Peace Walk and Parade set for Jan. 19
LGBTQ participants expected to join mayor’s contingent
Similar to past years, members of the LGBTQ community were expected to participate in D.C.’s 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Peace Walk and Parade scheduled to take place Monday, Jan. 19.
Organizers announced this year’s Peace Walk, which takes place ahead of the parade, was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. at the site of a Peace Rally set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Firth Sterling Avenue and Sumner Road, S.E., a short distance from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
The Peace Walk and the parade, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the same location, will each travel along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue a little over a half mile to Marion Barry Avenue near the 11th Street Bridge where they will end.
Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said he and members of his staff would be marching in the parade as part of the mayor’s parade contingent. In past years, LGBTQ community members have also joined the mayor’s parade contingent.
Stuart Anderson, one of the MLK Day parade organizers, said he was not aware of any specific LGBTQ organizations that had signed up as a parade contingent for this year’s parade. LGBTQ group contingents have joined the parade in past years.
Denise Rolark Barnes, one of the lead D.C. MLK Day event organizers, said LGBTQ participants often join parade contingents associated with other organizations.
Barnes said a Health and Wellness Fair was scheduled to take place on the day of the parade along the parade route in a PNC Bank parking lot at 2031 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.
A statement on the D.C. MLK Day website describes the parade’s history and impact on the community.
“Established to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the parade united residents of Ward 8, the District, and the entire region in the national movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday,” the statement says. “Today, the parade not only celebrates its historic roots but also promotes peace and non-violence, spotlights organizations that serve the community, and showcases the talent and pride of school-aged children performing for family, friends, and community members.”
District of Columbia
Ruby Corado sentenced to 33 months in prison
Former Casa Ruby director pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2024
A federal judge on Jan. 13 sentenced Ruby Corado, the founder and former executive director of the now closed D.C. LGBTQ community services organization Casa Ruby, to 33 months of incarceration for a charge of wire fraud to which she pleaded guilty in July 2024.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor M. McFadden handed down the sentence that had been requested by prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia after Corado’s sentencing had been postponed six times for various reasons.
The judge also sentenced her to 24 months of supervised release upon her completion of incarceration.
In addition to the sentence of incarceration, McFadden agreed to a request by prosecutors to hold Corado responsible for “restitution” and “forfeiture” in the amount of $956,215 that prosecutors have said she illegally misappropriated from federal loans obtained by Casa Ruby.
The charge to which she pleaded guilty is based on allegations that she diverted at least $180,000 “in taxpayer backed emergency COVID relief funds to private offshore bank accounts,” according to court documents.
Court records show FBI agents arrested Corado on March 5, 2024, at a hotel in Laurel, Md., shortly after she returned to the U.S. from El Salvador, where authorities say she moved in 2022. Prosecutors have said in charging documents that she allegedly fled to El Salvador, where she was born, after “financial irregularities at Casa Ruby became public,” and the LGBTQ organization ceased operating.
Shortly after her arrest, another judge agreed to release Corado into the custody of her niece in Rockville, Md., under a home detention order. But at an Oct. 14, 2025, court hearing at which the sentencing was postponed after Corado’s court appointed attorney withdrew from the case, McFadden ordered Corado to be held in jail until the time of her once again rescheduled sentencing.
Her attorney at the time, Elizabeth Mullin, stated in a court motion that her reason for withdrawing from the case was an “irreconcilable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”
Corado’s newly retained attorney, Pleasant Brodnax, filed a 25-page defense Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing on Jan. 6, calling for the judge to sentence Corado only to the time she had already served in detention since October.
Among other things, Brodnax’s defense memorandum disputes the claim by prosecutors that Corado improperly diverted as much as $956,215 from federally backed loans to Casa Ruby, saying the total amount Corado diverted was $200,000. Her memo also states that Corado diverted the funds to a bank account in El Salvador for the purpose of opening a Casa Ruby facility there, not to be used for her personally.
“Ms. Corado has accepted responsibility for transferring a portion of the loan disbursements into another account she operated and ultimately transferring a portion of the loan disbursements to an account in El Salvador,” the memo continues.
“Her purpose in transferring funds to El Salvador was to fund Casa Ruby programs in El Salvador,” it says, adding, “Of course, she acknowledges that the terms of the loan agreement did not permit her to transfer the funds to El Salvador for any purpose.”
In his own 16-page sentencing recommendation memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Borchert, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Corado’s action amounted at the least to fraud.
“The defendant and Casa Ruby received no less than $1.2 million in taxpayer backed funds during the COVID-19 global health crisis,” he memo states. “But rather than use those funds to support Casa Ruby’s mission as the defendant promised, the defendant further contributed to its demise by unlawfully transferring no less than $180,000 of these federal emergency relief funds into her own private offshore bank accounts,” it says.
“Then, when media reports suggested the defendant would be prosecuted for squandering Casa Ruby’s government funding, she sold her home and fled the country,” the memo states. “Meanwhile, the people who she had promised to pay with taxpayer-backed funds – her employees, landlord, and vendors – were left behind flat broke.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office and Corado’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for comment on the judge’s sentence.
“Ms. Corado accepts full responsibility for her actions in this case,” defense attorney Brodnax says in her sentencing memo. “She acknowledges the false statements made in the loan applications and that she used some of the money outside the United States,” it says.
“However, the money was still utilized for the same purpose and intention as the funds used in the United States, to assist the LGBTQ community,” it states. “Ms. Corado did not use the money to buy lavish goods or fund a lavish lifestyle.”
Brodnax also states in her memo that as a transgender woman, Corado could face abuse and danger in a correctional facility where she may be sent if sentenced to incarceration.
“Ruby Corado committed a crime, she is now paying the price,” said D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Peter Rosenstein. “While it is sad in many ways, we must remember she hurt the transgender community with what she did, and in many ways they all paid for her crime.”
District of Columbia
Kennedy Center renaming triggers backlash
Artists who cancel shows threatened; calls for funding boycott grow
Efforts to rename the Kennedy Center to add President Trump’s name to the D.C. arts institution continue to spark backlash.
A new petition from Qommittee , a national network of drag artists and allies led by survivors of hate crimes, calls on Kennedy Center donors to suspend funding to the center until “artistic independence is restored, and to redirect support to banned or censored artists.”
“While Trump won’t back down, the donors who contribute nearly $100 million annually to the Kennedy Center can afford to take a stand,” the petition reads. “Money talks. When donors fund censorship, they don’t just harm one institution – they tell marginalized communities their stories don’t deserve to be told.”
The petition can be found here.
Meanwhile, a decision by several prominent musicians and jazz performers to cancel their shows at the recently renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in D.C. planned for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve has drawn the ire of the Center’s president, Richard Grenell.
Grenell, a gay supporter of President Donald Trump who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term as president, was named Kennedy Center president last year by its board of directors that had been appointed by Trump.
Last month the board voted to change the official name of the center from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump And The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. The revised name has been installed on the outside wall of the center’s building but is not official because any name change would require congressional action.
According to a report by the New York Times, Grenell informed jazz musician Chuck Redd, who cancelled a 2025 Christmas Eve concert that he has hosted at the Kennedy Center for nearly 20 years in response to the name change, that Grenell planned to arrange for the center to file a lawsuit against him for the cancellation.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit arts institution,” the Times quoted Grenell as saying in a letter to Redd.
“This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,” the Times quoted Grenell’s letter as saying.
A spokesperson for the Trump-Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Blade asking if the center still planned to file that lawsuit and whether it planned to file suits against some of the other musicians who recently cancelled their performances following the name change.
In a follow-up story published on Dec. 29, the New York Times reported that a prominent jazz ensemble and a New York dance company had canceled performances scheduled to take place on New Year’s Eve at the Kennedy Center.
The Times reported the jazz ensemble called The Cookers did not give a reason for the cancellation in a statement it released, but its drummer, Billy Hart, told the Times the center’s name change “evidently” played a role in the decision to cancel the performance.
Grenell released a statement on Dec. 29 calling these and other performers who cancelled their shows “far left political activists” who he said had been booked by the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership.
“Boycotting the arts to show you support the arts is a form of derangement syndrome,” the Times quoted him as saying in his statement.
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Comings & Goings
