National
N.Y. poised to legalize same-sex marriage
One vote needed to ensure passage before legislature adjourns Monday
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has submitted a marriage equality bill for the New York state legislature to pass. (Photo by Pat Arnow, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
The New York Assembly, which is controlled by liberal-leaning Democrats, has passed a same-sex marriage bill several times before and voted again in favor of the measure 80-63 late Wednesday.
With the legislature scheduled to adjourn for the year on Monday, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a strong supporter of the measure, met on Wednesday with LGBT leaders and other supporters to map out a last-minute game plan for pushing the bill through its final hurdle.
Hopes by supporters that the hurdle would be cleared on Wednesday were dashed when GOP members of the Senate, who hold a 32-30 majority in the chamber, did not take an expected caucus vote to allow the bill to come up on the Senate floor for a debate and vote.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island) told reporters in the state capital in Albany that Republican senators would resume a discussion on the bill on Thursday. But he gave no further details.
Skelos, who opposes the bill, has long said he would allow it to come up for a vote. It could not be immediately determined whether he was wavering on that commitment. Political observers have said the majority leader in the State Senate traditionally has exercised almost unilateral power to decide whether to bring bills to the floor for a vote.
“I believe that votes will be there for marriage equality if the vote happens,” the New York Times quoted Cuomo as saying on Monday.
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which lobbies against same-sex marriage bills across the country, has stated on the group’s website that he remains confident that opponents will retain enough votes to defeat the bill.
“What the governor is attempting to do is create a myth of inevitability,” he told the Times. “I don’t think the votes are there.”
But supporters say momentum for passing the bill was growing during the past week. On Monday, three Democratic senators whose support was uncertain earlier in the year announced they will now vote for the measure. Earlier this week two Republican senators announced their support for the bill.
With all but one of the Senate’s 30 Democrats saying they will vote for the bill, just three Republicans are needed to ensure its passage if Skelos allows the bill to come to the floor for a vote. With two Republicans already lined up, supporters say they expect at least one and likely two more Republicans to vote for the measure.
A coalition of LGBT organizations campaigning for the marriage bill has been working full-time over the past several weeks to line up support for the bill in the Senate, according to Marty Rouse, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, one of the coalition’s partners along with the Empire State Pride Agenda and other groups, including Log Cabin Republicans.
“Phone banks have taken place in several places across the state,” Rouse said in an HRC blog posting. “Field organizers with clip boards and postcards in hand have talked to voters at shopping centers, on main streets, on college campuses, at farmers’ markets, festivals and beaches, in places of worship, in nightclubs, on train platforms and on doorsteps,” he said. “It is this person-to-person conversation that is having an impact.”
In a separate development, the Assembly voted 78-53 on Tuesday to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which would amend the state’s non-discrimination law to protect transgender people from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, education and credit.
The action marked the third time the Assembly has passed a transgender non-discrimination measure. However, similar to past years, political observers in Albany expect the bill to die in the GOP-controlled Senate, where a clear majority of senators opposes it.
Supporters of the marriage bill were hopeful that President Obama would join in their celebration of its passage on June 23, when the president is scheduled to attend an LGBT fundraiser for his re-election campaign in Manhattan.
Arizona
Shooting outside gay bar in Ariz. leaves three dead
Tucson police investigating double murder-suicide as a hate crime
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.
Congress
HRC president campaigns for Chris Pappas in NH
Gay congressman running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
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.
We’re hitting the pavement across New Hampshire to fight for a freer, fairer future for everyone.
Glad to have Human Rights Campaign President @KelleyJRobinson join us for a canvass launch in Manchester today. pic.twitter.com/XWCEaQxy4o
— Chris Pappas (@ChrisPappasNH) August 30, 2026
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.
National
Milo Yiannopoulos deported to UK
ICE arrested far-right provocateur in New Orleans on Thursday
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.
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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