An Ofrenda for Gabe

Remembered by

Gabriel Arrazola Pérez was forty-four years old, a popular barber in Uptown, Minneapolis, and a lover and supporter of art and artists. Gabe was murdered over Memorial Day weekend earlier this year. A criminal case is pending for the man charged with his murder, who has admitted to stabbing him repeatedly. He alleges that Gabe made unwanted sexual advances toward him and claims he felt he had to defend himself.

“These are not reasonable, justified bases for violent acts against individuals,” says Kat Rohn, the Executive Director of OutFront Minnesota, the state’s leading advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ Minnesotans. Minnesota is among twenty US states that have banned the “gay and trans panic defense.”

More than being indefensible, when someone’s LGBTQ+ identity is weaponized into excuses and justification for violence, it distracts from the horrific acts suffered, from the need for accountability, and from honoring the victim’s memory as loved ones try to heal.

01

He still has his own space in this world

Sudden, tragic losses remind us how dramatically our lives can change in an instant, leaving us to carry an emotional burden we were never prepared for. When those losses are minimized to a single facet of an individual’s identity, it can affect a community in many ways. By memorializing Gabe through the tradition of building an ofrenda for Día de Muertos, his family and friends aren’t allowing him to be reduced to his sexuality, but to be seen as colorfully as he lived his life.

Preparing an ofrenda for Gabe wasn’t something anyone close to him imagined they would be doing this year. In Mexico, Día de Muertos isn’t a day of mourning. It’s a homecoming. Tradition holds that each year, on November 1 and 2, the souls of the departed return to visit the living. Families and friends build ofrendas, or altars, adorned with photographs, food, and meaningful offerings to honor, remember, and keep loved ones close.

Gabe’s close friend Alejo Gamiño plans to set up a barber’s chair for the ofrenda, recreating the space where Gabe spent so much of his life. “Like he was there,” Alejo says. He wants Gabe to feel “like he still has his own space in this world,” bringing together his workplace, his art, and his culture.

Alejo describes Gabe as a grounding confidant who helped him corral his thoughts. “I think he was the only one that could help my brain stop from going multiple places at once. He was able to just grab my ideas, or my brain, and say, ‘Okay, here we are. Let’s focus this on this instead,’” says Alejo. “And I think I was the same to him.”

They shared what they called “therapy time,” speaking for hours at the end of almost every day to debrief and listen to each other. Gabe was also there to offer tough love and encouragement in a way only he could. Alejo laughs as he recalls Gabe telling him when he was feeling down, “You’re being weaker, my friend!”

“I think he was the only one that could help my brain stop from going multiple places at once.”

Alejo Gamiño

Sonia Ortega and Gabe shared Oaxacan heritage, a connection that helped build their friendship. Last year, they traveled to Oaxaca together for Día de Muertos, visiting cemeteries, enjoying traditional parades, and sharing a meal of Oaxacan food with their families. Gabe proudly wore embroidered clothing from the region, and during their trip, Sonia recalls asking him about one of his outfits. “I told him, ‘I’ve never seen a shirt like the one you were wearing.’ And he said, ‘It’s not a shirt. It’s a blouse.’” For Sonia, that confidence was simply who Gabe was. “He did not have a hidden side,” she says. “He behaved the same way everywhere.”

“He was my best man in my wedding,” says Sonia. She and her wife were planning to get married quietly, but Gabe and Alejo found out and “helped us plan a wedding in three days.”

“He did not have a hidden side. He behaved the same way everywhere.”

Sonia Ortega

A space is being prepared at the California Building in Minneapolis this November. In addition to a large ofrenda for all those who have passed, Alejo has done a lot of work in collaboration with Gabe’s artist friends Gustavo Lira and Ken Rivera to create a special ofrenda for Gabe. Art was incredibly important to Gabe, as were these friends.

Sonia recalls how he acted as a sort of art broker to artists by purchasing their work and introducing it to people who might not otherwise have encountered it. “He really enjoyed that. He was very outgoing, and he was very knowledgeable. The things that he picked are beautiful,” says Sonia.

That passion for art will be captured on his ofrenda by filling it with alebrijes. Alejo describes alebrijes as colorful animal-like creatures believed to help guide or accompany someone in the afterlife. Their different animal forms carry distinct cultural meanings and symbols. He plans to place several alebrijes of different shapes and heights on Gabe’s ofrenda because their beauty and variety remind him of how imaginative and beautiful Gabe’s mind was.

Mezcal will also have a place on the ofrenda. When asked what she would offer Gabe, Sonia chose the traditional Oaxacan spirit she began drinking with him. A bottle was also present at his memorial, another reminder of the traditions, friendships, and celebrations that were important to him.

“Not everybody got to see every aspect of his life, so it’s just a way of showing a little more to the rest of the communities that he was involved with,” says Alejo. “I want them to also get to know the Gabe that they didn’t get to see.”

Among the artwork, photographs, and offerings will be the undeniable presence of the empty barber’s chair. It’s a poignant reminder that Gabe was multifaceted and more than just a victim of a hate crime. Since his passing, there has been an outpouring of love and support in which connections and acquaintances have shared the impact Gabe had on their lives.

Remembering Gabe for who he really was—all parts of him, not just what he was publicly reduced to—will hopefully bring healing for friends and family and for our community.

Sonia says, “I have never lost a close friend in my life, and I have never lost a brother or a sister. And that’s kind of how it feels, because he was family to me. He was not my friend. I didn’t see him so much as a friend. I saw him more like a brother.”

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A life where he could live openly

During Operation Metro Surge, Gabe volunteered to deliver meals to families who couldn’t leave their homes, sometimes closing his business early to help those in need. “He was a very kind person. He cared about other people,” says Sonia. He was also a major source of support for his family, particularly his mother. It’s clear by the heartfelt posts left in memory of Gabe in the Facebook group “Celebrating the Life & Memory of Gabriel (Gabe) Arrazola” that he had great capacity for creating relationships with people, whether they were in his shop, in a studio, or in Oaxaca. He built his life that way.

In a speech at Gabe’s funeral, his sister Lourdes Arrazola recalled his determination to have a life where he could live openly and pursue his dreams. She had encouraged him to move to another country in search of those opportunities. “Seeing the life he was able to build was one of the greatest gifts I could have received as his sister,” she said.

“Seeing the life he was able to build was one of the greatest gifts I could have received as his sister.”

Lourdes Arrazola

To honor Gabe and his memory, those who want to visit the ofrenda for Gabe can find it in Studio #118 of the California Building at 2205 California St NE, Minneapolis through November 3, 2026. The murder case is ongoing.

Watch: Sonia and Lourdes remember Gabe

Sonia Ortega and Lourdes Arrazola spoke with Q Minnesota at Indigenous Roots. Lourdes speaks in Spanish; the captions are an English translation.

Editor’s note. Our thanks go to Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, at 788 E. Seventh St. on St. Paul’s East Side, for hosting our photo shoot. The center is a community space for Indigenous peoples and communities of color, where artists and cultural groups gather to practice and share art, culture, tradition, and food and drinks at the cafe. It is also where Gabe, an Aztec dancer, spent so many hours dancing, and where his vigil and fundraiser were held.

From the shoot at Indigenous Roots · 10 photographs by Montana Scheff

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