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N.J. Senate passes marriage bill, 24-16

GOP Gov. Christie vows to veto

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New Jersey State House, gay news, gay politics dc

A same-sex marriage bill passed the New Jersey Senate, Monday, just 3 votes shy of a veto-proof majority. (Photo public domain)

UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL VOTE TALLY DATA, QUOTES AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION.

The New Jersey Senate passed a bill that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples on a 24 to 16 vote today. The bill now heads to the Assembly for a 1 p.m. vote on Thursday.

The Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act was given the legislative bill number S1, a symbolic nod to the high priority that the Democratic-controlled legislature was giving to the effort. Two Republicans joined 22 Democrats in voting for the bill, while on the other side, two Democrats voted with 14 Republicans in the negative.

The bill, which Gov. Chris Christie has pledged to veto, required 21 votes to pass.

“I’m thrilled to see the New Jersey State Senate dramatically reverse its course of just a few years ago and vote to bring the freedom to marry to thousands of loving and committed New Jersey couples,” Freedom to Marry COO and South Orange resident Scott Davenport told the Blade on Monday. “I believe as more and more gay and lesbian headed families tell their stories to their friends, neighbors and legislators about why marriage matters to them that we will see at least three more hearts and minds changed in the state Senate.”

Garden State Equality board member and BlueJersey.com editor Rosi Efthim is nervous about Thursday’s Assembly vote, but is optimistic about the bill’s eventual success.

“If it passes both houses, we expect Gov. Christie’s veto, but would have until the end of the legislative session [January 2014] to override,” Efthim told the Blade, Monday.

The Democratic National Committee’s first transgender member, and New Jersey resident Babs Siperstein believes the bill will pass in the Assembly on Thursday, and thinks veto override is a good possibility.

“There is a chance for victory, and there is obviously a lot more work to be done,” Siperstein told the Blade. “There is a window of opportunity with a number of political variables, but I believe it can be done.”

In January, Christie elicited praise from LGBT activists in the Garden State when he nominated an openly gay man to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Bruce Harris, the gay African-American mayor of Chatham Borough N.J. But activists were disappointed when Christie reaffirmed his pledge to veto a marriage bill that same week.

In Sunday’s New York Times, editors took Christie to task for his vow to veto the bill, calling his threat to block the effort “not only disgraceful, but against the tide of history.”

University of California Los Angeles-based LGBT think tank, the Williams Institute, estimates that 16,875 same-sex couples live in New Jersey, with nearly 3,000 of those couples raising an estimated 6,650 total children. New Jersey is likely to generate $48 to $119 million for the state economy in same-sex wedding-related business if the bill passes, according to the think tank. It said that 4,447 of the nearly 17,000 same-sex couples in the Garden State already identify one another as “spouses.”

On Jan. 7, 2010, a bill calling for the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples failed in the New Jersey Senate on a vote of 14-20. Senate leadership has since become much more involved in pressuring the chamber in favor of the bill, with a greater emphasis on lobbying the 24 Democrats and 16 Republicans than ever before.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, and Senate President Steve Sweeney, all Democrats.

While the Senate bill passed by 8 votes today, both houses will need to raise two-thirds majority support to overcome Christie’s threatened veto. In the Senate, supporters of the bill will need an additional 3 votes to reach the 27 vote threshold.

This story is still developing please return to WashingtonBlade.com for continued updates.

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Arizona

Shooting outside gay bar in Ariz. leaves three dead

Tucson police investigating double murder-suicide as a hate crime

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The shooting happened outside Venture-N bar in Tucson, Ariz. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Three people were fatally shot outside a gay bar in Tucson, Ariz., early Monday morning, about a mile from the city’s nightlife district.

Police have said the shooting, which took place in the parking lot of Venture-N bar at 1239 N. 6th Ave., was likely a hate crime and a double murder-suicide following a verbal altercation.

The suspect, Ousman Ceesay, allegedly shot Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara while they were outside the club around 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Reports show Capara and Siqueiros were pronounced dead at the scene. Ceesay died after being taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds.

Police have also said that Ceesay was carrying a list of LGBTQ businesses at the time of the shooting.

Arizona Public Media has said police are investigating the case as a hate crime because the suspect was carrying a note containing the names of multiple LGBTQ-associated businesses.

“I am deeply saddened that another senseless loss of life has happened in our community,” Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto said in a statement. “Bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our community.”

According to Prieto, there is no imminent threat to the community, and the Tucson Police Department is working to provide extra protection to various LGBTQ businesses across town.

Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, who represents the area, issued a statement condemning the act of violence, which appears to have been at least in part motivated by homophobia.

“I am disgusted and deeply saddened to learn of a targeted act of hate and the cold-blooded murder of two members of our LGBTQIA+ community, Vincent Siqueiros and Cameron Capara, at the Venture-N bar in Tucson last night. This horrific attack is a painful reminder that even in welcoming communities like Tucson, hate and violence against the LGBTQIA+ community still exist.”

“When that hate is combined with easy access to firearms, the consequences can be deadly. I am sick and tired of Congress refusing to lift a finger to protect our communities while, every day, dozens of people are shot and killed across the country. It does not have to be this way. The House of Representatives is returning to session this week, and our first action should be passing common-sense gun safety reforms that we know can save lives.”

Other federal lawmakers also condemned the shooting.

The Congressional Equality Caucus, which is made up of federal legislators advancing LGBTQ interests, issued a statement after news broke.

“Our hearts are with the friends and loved ones of the victims of this devastating attack outside a Tucson gay bar and with the Tucson LGBTQI+ community,” it said on X. “No one should fear violence because of who they are — and we’re going to continue fighting to build a world where no one does.”

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ organization in the country, released a statement following the shooting.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara and our hearts are with their families, loved ones, and the entire Tucson LGBTQ+ community. Once again, we are reminded that gun violence robs people of their lives, destroys families, and devastates communities.”

A candlelight vigil honoring the victims is planned for Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Catalina Park in North Tucson.

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Congress

HRC president campaigns for Chris Pappas in NH

Gay congressman running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

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Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, left, campaigns with U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in Manchester, N.H., on Aug. 30, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign)

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson on Sunday campaigned for U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in New Hampshire.

Robinson traveled to Manchester, the state’s largest city, nine days before the Sept. 8 primary that will determine who will vie for retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)’s seat.

Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, who represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2009, will face off against former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 2010-2013, in the Republican primary.

Karishma Manzur is among the Democrats challenging Pappas.

A poll the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released on Aug. 26 shows Sununu is ahead of Brown. The same survey shows Pappas ahead of Manzur and his other Democratic challengers.

The UNH Survey Center poll shows Sununu ahead of Pappas by a 45-43 percent margin if they were to face off in the general election. The margin of error is +/-2.1 percent.

Pappas would become the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate if he were to win in November.

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National

Milo Yiannopoulos deported to UK

ICE arrested far-right provocateur in New Orleans on Thursday

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Milo Yiannopoulos (Photo via Homeland Security @DHSgov/X account)

Editor’s note: The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday said Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported to the U.K.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday arrested far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

A DHS spokesperson in a statement sent to the Washington Blade said ICE arrested Yiannopoulos, who they described as “an illegal alien from the United Kingdom,” at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

The DHS spokesperson said Yiannopoulos “legally entered the country” in New York on May 14, 2019.

“He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” said the spokesperson.

The DHS spokesperson said an immigration judge on July 22 “issued a final order of removal” for Yiannopoulos “after failing to show up for his immigration hearing.” The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans on Friday reported Yiannopoulos is being held at an ICE detention center in Alexandria, La., which is about 200 miles northwest of the Crescent City.

“He will remain in ICE custody pending removal,” said the DHS spokesperson.

Yiannopoulos has, among other things, repeatedly targeted transgender people and Muslims.

The American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual Conversative Political Action Conference, in 2017 disinvited Yiannopoulos from speaking at that year’s CPAC after a video in which he appeared to condone sex between adults and underage boys emerged. Yiannopoulos subsequently resigned from Breitbart News, a far-right news website, where he had been a senior editor.

Yiannopoulos later that year married his boyfriend in Hawaii. The far-right provocateur in 2021 claimed he was an “ex-gay.”

The Australian government in 2019 banned Yiannopoulos from entering the country “on character grounds.” Yiannopoulos was also banned from Facebook, Twitter (now X), and other social media platforms.

Milo Yiannopoulos speaks at a “Gays for Trump” event during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Times-Picayune reported Yiannopoulos “most recently worked for” Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

The controversial rapper is scheduled to perform in New Orleans on Friday.

Laura Loomer, a far-right conspiracy theorist who is close to President Donald Trump, has called for Yiannopoulos’s deportation. Loomer on Friday wrote on X that she “reported him to ICE and the FBI” after he “called for me to be assassinated.”

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