National
Backlash after WorldPride names Grimes — mother to 3 Musk children — a performer
‘Do better,’ ‘that does not make f***ing sense’
WorldPride organizers on Tuesday released the lineup for the WorldPride Music Festival ahead of June’s celebration in Washington and some are not happy with the concert’s featured performers.
Grimes, also known as Claire Boucher, a Canadian singer-songwriter, was announced as a performer for the event, part of Washington’s Pride weekend, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. The announcement sparked significant backlash on social media.
The biggest issue surrounding Grimes’s participation in the festival stems from her on-and-off relationship with Elon Musk, and to an extent, her relationship with the Trump-Vance administration.
Grimes has three children with Musk, X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl and Techno Mechanicus, and was seen in Washington in January the weekend before Trump’s second inauguration at known MAGA hangout bar Butterworth’s in Capitol Hill. Her close relationship with Musk left some puzzled and others angry, as a slew of comments were left under the festival’s announcement Instagram post including “drop Grimes” and “But why Grimes?”
Hope Giselle, a prominent D.C. transgender activist, criticized the decision to include Grimes in the WorldPride Music Festival in an Instagram Live video on Tuesday. During the hour-and-a-half video she called out organizers for including Grimes and said that she was “working diligently behind the scenes with the [WorldPride] team to try to ensure diversity,” but was let down by their final decisions.
“Grimes literally has children with Elon fucking Musk-rat, the person that is making us all feel this fucking small, or at least attempting to make us feel this fucking small,” Giselle said. “Y’all are gonna platform Grimes right underneath the headliners? That does not make fucking sense.”
Musk, the richest man in the world has 12 children, one of whom, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is transgender. Musk has been outspoken in his disapproval of transgender people and claimed that “I lost my son, essentially,” in an interview with the Daily Wire about her, adding that they were “killed by the woke mind virus.”
Musk was recently appointed as a “special government employee.” The role grants him direct unfettered access to the president, an office within the White House complex, a government email address, and leadership of a newly created agency—the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It appears that Musk can impact, if not guide the president’s actions.
In his new role, Musk has been assisting the twice-impeached President Trump in reshaping the government by cutting federal employees, freezing government aid spending, and removing federal protections.
So far, the Trump-Vance-Musk administration has banned transgender people from serving in the military, restricted gender-affirming care for youth, and announced the government would only recognize two genders on federal documents.
LGBTQ rights advocates have assailed these actions for targeting transgender people and have begun protesting.
“Our movement has always been powered by people, and today, that power is rising,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “We see it in trans youth refusing to be erased, in parents and educators standing up for inclusive schools, in faith leaders rejecting hate and in communities coming together to say: we will not go backward.”
One user, zjhunt, posted, “Grimes? That’s disappointing. Hate and complicity in this administration’s actions have no place on a stage celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. Do better @worldpridemusicfestival.”
Requests for comment were sent to Capital Pride, the official host of Washington’s Pride events, and Grimes’s publicist, but neither responded.
The festival is slated to take place June 6-7 at the RFK Festival Grounds. For more information about the festival, visit worldpride25.com.
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.”
