National
Advocates issue call to action on Transgender Day of Remembrance
Dozens of trans people killed in the U.S. in 2024 amid more anti-trans rhetoric
LGBTQ organizations and religious congregations across the country are marking Transgender Day of Remembrance with vigils and other events to honor trans people who lost their lives this year.
Founded in 1999 by trans activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith, the first day of remembrance began as a vigil to commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Boston. Since then, the day has grown into a national and international event to honor the memory of trans people who have been murdered, and to spotlight anti-trans violence.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20.
The Human Rights Campaign on Tuesday released its annual report documenting fatal violence against trans and gender-expansive people.
The report found at least 36 trans and gender-expansive people in the U.S. lost their lives to violence since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance. The true number is likely higher, the report noted, as some deaths go unreported or misreported.
Most of the victims were young and people of color, with Black trans women accounting for half of the lives lost.
Tori Cooper, the director of community engagement for the HRC’s Trans Justice Initiative, described the disproportionately high rates of violence against Black trans women as “a disturbing reality that reflects the trend of violence that continues to plague our community which disproportionately faces racism, misogynoir, sexism, transphobia, and a myriad of other societal issues.”
Advocates for Trans Equality, a trans advocacy group, published its own report on Monday, documenting at least 43 trans people lost to violence since November 2023. Another 24 died by suicide.
Olivia Hunt, director of federal policy at Advocates for Trans Equality, said in a statement accompanying the report’s release that it “honors the memory of those lost and spotlights the urgent need for change to protect those still with us.”
“Despite hopeful strides in healthcare, identity documentation, housing, employment, and education over the past 25 years, a resurgence of hate and misinformation — especially during this recent election cycle — reminds us how hard-won and fragile these advances are,” she said.
Anti-trans rhetoric was central to the campaigns of President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans this year, who collectively spent nearly $65 million on anti-trans ads between August and October.
On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to push for legislation that would establish the recognition of “only two genders” in the U.S. and to ban hormonal or surgical intervention for trans youth across all 50 states. Trump also promised to reverse a 2024 Biden administration policy that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation under the Title IX federal civil rights law, and to reinstate a ban on trans people serving in the military on his first day in office.
Cathy Renna, the director of communications at the National LGBTQ Task Force, said Republicans’ harmful rhetoric, laden with misinformation and stereotypes about trans issues, creates a “permissible climate of hate” that emboldens transphobia.
In light of the incoming administration, Renna said the Task Force is focusing on supporting the trans community, “doing the work that we need to do to either shore up rights that we’ve already been able to achieve, and fight back against the ongoing attacks, whether it’s a legislative attack, or whether it’s just the continued pushing out of misinformation, particularly about trans youth.”
Translegislation.com, which tracks trans-specific legislation, this year has tracked a record-breaking 665 anti-trans bills considered across 43 states this year, of which 45 have passed. The majority of these bills target access to gender affirming care for trans youth, which trans activists say is essential health care.
Cooper linked the denial of such care to the fact that trans people are significantly more likely to experience poor mental health during their lifetimes than cisgender people.
“Any child who is denied the health care that they need, though they don’t always fail, it’s setting them up for failure … It’s setting them up to experience mental health issues and discomfort in a variety of ways, and that’s especially important for trans youth,” Cooper said. “We’re not experiencing more mental health issues because we’re trans. It is because of the way that people who are not trans treat us and talk about us and create legislation about our gender identities and our gender journeys.”
Cooper, whose Trans Justice Initiative supports trans people through leadership programs and grants, emphasized allies play a crucial role in ensuring trans people feel safe and in countering anti-trans rhetoric.
“Trump and his allies, what many of them have done, is they’ve created lies. And the lies have unfortunately fooled — there’s no other way to say it — they have fooled people who don’t know trans people,” she said.
Allies should fully embrace and actively practice allyship, Cooper explained, in order to ensure that trans people feel safe, comfortable, and supported. At the same time, allies must confront and immediately correct any disinformation and misinformation about trans issues with factual information.
Local groups commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance
Several organizations in D.C. and beyond are commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance and showing solidarity with the trans community this week.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington DC is hosting a service from 6-8 p.m on Wednesday. The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center on Wednesday is organizing an open mic event at the Busboys and Poets on 14th Street, N.W., to honor the trans people who lost their lives this year.
Equality Loudoun is holding a vigil on Thursday in Ashburn.
Bet Mishpachah, an LGBTQ synagogue in D.C., on Nov. 15 marked the occasion with a commemorative service. Maryland Safe Haven on Nov. 16 held a vigil outside Baltimore City Hall and a ball at the Baltimore War Memorial Building afterwards.
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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