National
Uganda president to reportedly reject ‘fascist’ anti-gay bill
RFK Center said Yoweri Museveni made comments during Saturday meeting

The RFK Center on Saturday said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will ‘reject’ the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill. (Photo by the U.K. Department for International Development; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights said in a press release that Museveni made the comments during a meeting with RFK Center President Kerry Kennedy and two of her organization’s staffers — Santiago A. Canton and Wade McMullen — in Entebbe, Uganda. The group said Archbishop Desmond Tutu also took part in the meeting via telephone.
McMullen told the Washington Blade the meeting was “never contentious” even though participants “often disagreed with the president’s position and assessment of the issues.”
“He was willing to listen carefully to all our points, and was very candid in his answers,” said McMullen.
McMullen added Tutu’s participation was “very impactful.”
“I welcome President Museveni’s decision to reject this hateful bill,” said Tutu in the RFK Center press release. “It is time for our African brothers and sisters to move past the antiquated notion that someone could be a criminal for who they love.”
The RFK Center’s press release noted Museveni “promised” the organization during a meeting last March that he would not sign “any bill that discriminates against any individual.” The organization said Museveni also pledged to introduce a new measure “aimed at protecting minors from being coerced into sexual activity.”
“I am pleased that President Museveni has upheld his promise to reject any piece of discriminatory legislation,” said Kennedy. “While we are concerned with plans to move forward with a new bill, we urge the president to ensure it will not discriminate against LGBTI people nor imperil the legitimate work of human rights defenders in the country.”
Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a Ugandan LGBT advocacy group, said on Saturday he welcomes Museveni’s comments.
“We have a clear position that the president [won’t] sign the bill in its current format,” Mugisha told the Blade. “He is willing to dialogue.”
The meeting took place a day after a Ugandan newspaper reported Museveni has blocked the so-called Anti-Homosexuality Bill because Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga allowed a vote on the measure without the required number of lawmakers needed for quorum. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill that would also criminalize the promotion of homosexuality originally contained a provision that would have imposed the death penalty on anyone found guilty of repeated same-sex sexual acts.
“A homosexual is somebody who is abnormal because the normal person was created to be attracted to the opposite sex in order to procreate and perpetuate the human race,” said Museveni in a Dec. 28 letter to Kadaga of which the Blade obtained a copy.
The Obama administration, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Havi Pillay and Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are among those who criticized the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill on Dec. 20. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, announced after Ugandan lawmakers approved the measure that his company would not do business in the country.
The Center for Constitutional Rights in March 2012 filed a federal lawsuit against Scott Lively on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda that accuses the evangelical Christian of exploiting anti-gay attitudes in the East African country and encouraging lawmakers to approve the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. U.S. District Judge Michael A. Posner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts last August ruled the group’s lawsuit can move forward.
The meeting between Museveni, RFK Center staffers and Tutu also took place a day after the Blade reported U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and four other lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) and Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) — will travel to Uganda next week.
A source who is familiar with the trip said the delegation is scheduled to meet with Museveni on Jan. 23 while they are in the East African country. The source told the Blade the lawmakers have thus far rejected Ugandan LGBT rights advocates’ requests to meet with them while they are in Uganda.
Inhofe’s spokesperson, Donelle Harder, on Friday denied reports the delegation will meet with Museveni while in the country.
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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