National
Book bans are ‘dangerous, insidious’
Movement to prohibit LGBTQ-specific material in libraries gains traction
The executive director of Equality Virginia this week reiterated her sharp criticism of efforts to ban books with LGBTQ-specific content.
“There is a dangerous, insidious trend developing in states around the country where innocuous and inclusive books are being removed from libraries and curricula, including and especially books and resources about LGBTQ+ people,” Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade on Tuesday in a statement. “We should not be pursuing book bans in a pluralistic democracy, but rather seeking to provide more information, more resources, more points of view for anyone seeking it out.”
Robert Rigby, Jr., a spokesperson for FCPS Pride, a group that represents LGBTQ employees of the Fairfax County School District, echoed Rahaman.
“Libraries and are places where children can and should be welcomed, safe, respected and included. Books and librarians literally save lives,” Rigby told the Blade on Wednesday. “Practically, inclusive book and materials collections improve attendance, scores, graduation rates and well-being. FCPS Pride respects and trusts our professional librarians. They are heroes who make schools a better place for all.”
Rahaman and Rigby spoke with the Blade against the backdrop of continued efforts to ban books with LGBTQ-specific content as students return to the classroom in Virginia and around the country.
A group of parents who want the ability to allow their children to opt-out of classes in which books with LGBTQ-specific books are read have filed a federal lawsuit against the Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Public Schools Supt. Monifa McKnight. A hearing in the case took place in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Wednesday.
“The Montgomery County Board of Education took away parental notice and opt-outs for storybooks that advocate pride parades, gender transitioning and pronoun preferences for kids as young as pre-kindergarten,” said Becket, a conservative law firm that advocates for religious freedom, in a statement about the case. “Becket is helping a group of Muslim, Catholic and Ethiopian Orthodox parents who want to restore their ability to raise their children consistent with their faith.”
NBC Washington on Tuesday reported Michelle Ross, director of the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Va., has resigned after she and her staff faced harsh criticism from a group that wants to ban books with LGBTQ-specific content. Donald “Mac” Scothorn, chair of the Botetourt County (Va.) Board of Supervisors, on July 31 proposed adult supervision for anyone under 18-years-old who visits the county’s four libraries.
The Hillsborough County School District in Florida ahead of the 2023-2024 school year has prohibited teachers from teaching their students about William Shakespeare, citing the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed. The Urbandale Community School District in Iowa has removed a Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg biography and nearly 400 other books from school libraries and classrooms.
“We even see extremists ban books and attempt to erase, and even rewrite, the ugly parts of our history,” said Vice President Kamala Harris in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 1 in response to the Florida Board of Education’s new Black history curricula standards that suggest slavery had benefits. “Right here in Florida, they plan to teach students that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates.”
A federal judge in Texas in April ordered Llano County officials return books — many of which had LGBTQ-specific content — they removed from their public libraries.
Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year signed a law that would have made it a crime for librarians and booksellers to provide access to books and other materials deemed “harmful to minors.” The statute was to have taken effect on Aug. 1, but a federal judge blocked it.
The College Board on Aug. 3 said the Florida Department of Education had effectively banned the teaching of Advanced Placement Psychology classes in the state’s schools because the course includes discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity. Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr., in a letter he sent to the Florida Association of District School Superintendents the following day said the course could be taught “in its entirety.”
California officials — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond — in a June 1 letter to the state’s public school superintendents and charter school administrators told them not to ban books. The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System the day before announced the launch of its Rock Banned Book Club.
“Here in Virginia, we were founded in response to government overreach,” Rahaman told the Blade. “As this conversation moves throughout state legislatures, we’re hopeful that our founding principles and open society outweigh the fear-mongering from opportunistic politicians and government officials.”
Brody Levesque and Christopher Kane contributed to this article.
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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