National
Jose Antonio Vargas ‘optimistic’ about immigration reform
National Council for La Raza honored gay former Washington Post reporter on March 5
Jose Antonio Vargas accepts an award from the National Council of La Raza in D.C. on March 5. (Photo courtesy of National Council of La Raza)
“When we talk about immigration, we’re talking about why our country looks the way it does,” Jose Antonio Vargas said, specifically applauding the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for their efforts. “I would think and I would hope and I would pray that the LGBT community should be at the center of that conversation.”
Vargas, who publicly disclosed his immigration status for the first time in an essay he wrote for the New York Times Magazine in June 2011, spoke with the Blade the day after the National Council of La Raza honored him along with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and United We Dream at their annual awards ceremony at the National Building Museum in D.C.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has repeatedly said his decision to come out as gay in 1999 while in high school in Mountain View, Calif., was less difficult than disclosing his immigration status, although his grandfather kicked him out of the house. Vargas, whose mother sent him from the Philippines to live with his grandparents outside San Francisco when he was 12, reiterated this point during a Center for American Progress forum on undocumented LGBT immigrants on Friday.
“I ruined the plan,” he said as he discussed his grandfather’s reaction to his decision to come out as gay. “The plan was to come to America, marry a woman and get my papers that way.”
Vargas has remained among the most high profile undocumented immigrants since disclosing his status.
He founded Define American, an organization that advocates on behalf of undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship, in 2011. Vargas last month testified in support of comprehensive immigration reform before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“It was definitely very stressful,” Vargas told the Blade as he recalled his testimony. His grandmother who once asked him whether he had to talk about his sexual orientation when he discussed his immigration status sat a few feet behind him during the hearing. “I’m only one person and it’s only one story, but there was an obligation to try to speak to the collective universal experience as much as possible.”
His advocacy on behalf of undocumented immigrants has not come without controversy.
He faced criticism for lying to his editors at the Post and other publications for which he worked about his status.
“Of course there’s criticism because I lied — I lied to my colleagues, I lied to my employers,” Vargas told the Blade immediately after the Center for American Progress forum during which he spoke. “I have no control over peoples’ judgment. All I ask for I guess is empathy.”
He responded further.
“It was either lie or don’t work,” Vargas said. “I wanted to work. I wanted to pay taxes. I wanted to contribute to my home. So that’s what I had to do.”
A Williams Institute report released during the Center for American Progress forum notes at least 267,000 of the more than 900,000 foreign-born LGBT adults currently living in the United States are undocumented.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said during the same Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Vargas testified the Uniting American Families Act that would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their foreign-born partners for immigration purposes would not increase the risk of fraud among those seeking to enter the country. She wrote to Congress last fall that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would instruct personnel to consider “long-term, same-sex partners” as families while weighing the potential deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Napolitano told the Blade late last month the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the White House from placing a hold on marriage-based green card applications for bi-national same-sex couples in response to requests from New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and others.
Vargas said he remains hopeful about the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform.
“I’m optimistic about it because frankly everybody realizes and acknowledges the urgency,” he said. “We’re talking about a legacy issue for the White House as well and doing what’s right.”
Vargas once again sought to personalize the issue during the Center for American Progress forum as he discussed a man with whom he recently spoke after a panel at Elmhurst College outside Chicago. He said the man told him “he would like to give him papers,” but appeared to have an issue with his sexual orientation.
“I am not going back in the closet for anybody,” Vargas said. “The country will only get gayer, it will only get browner, it will only get more Asian. This is the inevitability. In 21st century American politics diversity is destiny. Ignore it at your peril.”
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.”
PHOTOS: Miss Gay Old Bay
SUNFESTIVAL takes center stage as Rehoboth Beach closes out summer
Anne Arundel schools now need parent permission to call trans students by preferred names
Shooting outside gay bar in Ariz. leaves three dead
‘People don’t see me. They see a trend’
Trans, nonbinary Americans find refuge in the Netherlands
San Francisco, long a queer safe haven, remains competitive for homebuyers
Calendar: August 28-September 3
‘Teenage Sex and Death’ has never been more entertaining
Actor Tim Curry dies at 80
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Netherlands5 days agoTrans, nonbinary Americans find refuge in the Netherlands
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California4 days ago
San Francisco, long a queer safe haven, remains competitive for homebuyers
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Calendar5 days ago
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Movies5 days ago
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