National
National News in Brief: November 4
Mexican authorities apprehend murder of US Airways flight attendant, Georgia university bans gay employees, Chick-Fil-A gave $2 million to anti-gay causes in 2009, and more
US Airways flight attendant murdered in Mexico
PHOENIX — The FBI announced that Mexican authorities have apprehended a suspect in the murder of Phoenix-based US Airways flight attendant Nick Aaronson, who was found strangled and beaten in his Mexico City hotel room over the weekend.
Jose Luis Ramirez, a convicted criminal out of prison on parole, also known as José Luis Cuellar and The Shadow, is in custody after being identified on bar and hotel security video, and after a handwriting match with a hotel sign-in log, according to multiple media reports. Authorities believe the murder was motivated by robbery and Ramirez was apprehended with Aaronson’s iPhone, which was GPS tracked.
Ramirez has told reporters that he only punched Aaronson, and did not murder him, blaming the death on another individual, a 15-year-old friend also in Mexico City.
Aaronson was active in the Phoenix gay advocacy community and participated in the popular NOH8 photo campaign.
Georgia’s Shorter University bans gay employees
ROME, Ga. — The Southern Baptist affiliated Shorter University has begun forcing its employees to sign a statement acknowledging they can be fired if they are found to be gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to OutQ News.
The “Personal Lifestyle Statement” was circulated to staff and faculty on Monday, and states that all employees must swear to reject “premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.” Failing to adhere to the policy may result in “immediate termination.”
OutQ spoke with a gay university employee who says — while he hasn’t been forced to sign the document yet — that he’s actively seeking a new job, and says the environment at the school has become “more tense.”
Chick-Fil-A gave $2 million to anti-gay groups
ATLANTA — Chick-Fil-A’s charitable arm, WinShape Foundation, donated nearly $2 million to “ex-gay” and anti-gay groups in 2009 alone, according to IRS filings uncovered by Equality Matters, the LGBT advocacy project of Media Matters.
Its 2009 tax forms indicate that WinShape — which has come under fire for barring same-sex couples from its retreat center in the past, and for supporting anti-marriage initiatives — donated to anti-gay advocates such as the Marriage and Family Legacy Fund, Focus on the Family, Exodus International and Family Research Council.
In response to controversy over sponsorship of anti-gay events in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island last year, Chick-fil-A president and COO Dan Cathy released a statement denying that Chick-Fil-A’s donation was an endorsement of traditional marriage, arguing that Chick-Fil-A has “no agenda against anyone,” and that the company would not “champion any political agendas” relating to marriages or families.
Lesbian veteran subjected to homophobic rant
DALLAS — A veteran Marine lance corporal who was seeking help for severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder says she wants to see the nurse that subjected her to a homophobic rant at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center fired.
According to a Change.org petition started by a friend of Lance Corporal Esther Garatie, who was wounded and honorably discharged from the Marines, a nurse practitioner told her that the source of her depression was her sexual orientation.
“She sat down and looked at me, and her first question was, ‘Are you a lesbian?’” Garatie told the Dallas Voice. “Her second question to me was, ‘Have you asked God into your heart? Have you been saved by Jesus Christ?’ This is when I realized that I was no longer a United States veteran in her eyes, I was just a homosexual.”
Calif. lesbian couple named homecoming king, queen
SAN DIEGO — Last week, a lesbian couple at Patrick Henry High School made history by being crowned homecoming king and queen, according to media reports.
During the homecoming pep rally Friday night, the school announced senior Rebeca Arellano as the student body’s selection for homecoming king.
“They were chanting my name and it was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had,” Arellano told ABC News.
Her girlfriend Haileigh Adams was crowned queen at the dance the next day. The couple started dating in their sophomore year.
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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