Free Republic

United Methodism’s largest overseas jurisdiction has voted to quit the denomination in response to the church’s divorcing sex from marriage at its governing General Conference earlier this month. The United Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast voted on May 28 to exit the denomination. In 2022, this conference reportedly had over 1.2 million members. So, its departure means over one tenth of United Methodism has in one day left the denomination. Oddly, United Methodist News Service reported the vote very briefly in an emailed news digest but as of today has no article on its website. Perhaps it will post...

[Catholic Caucus] Viganò Told: “Keep Your Mouth Shut”By Silencing Viganò, Catholic Media Silence Abuse VictimsSome faithful Catholics are voicing disagreement with the Editor of Crisis Magazine, Eric Sammons, after he scolded Archbishop Viganò to “keep your mouth shut” following Viganò’s assertion that he has personal knowledge of reports that Pope Francis sexually abused seminarians.As a sex abuse victims’ advocate who is aware of the serious effects of clerical sexual predation that has led countless victims to have their psychosexual development damaged; become drug addicts and/or alcoholics; and even commit suicide, I disagree with critics of Viganò’s transparency about abuse reports...

A former United Methodist Church pastor who was defrocked about 20 years ago for being in a same-sex romantic relationship has been reinstated by the mainline Protestant denomination. The UMC Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference voted overwhelmingly during a closed session of around 200 clergy on Tuesday evening to readmit Beth Stroud. Bishop John Schol, head of both the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey annual conferences, said he was “deeply grateful for the discernment of the clergy” and “grateful that the church has opened up to LGBTQ persons.” “I couldn’t be prouder as your bishop, and you couldn’t have given...

The United States Department of State issued a Worldwide Caution aimed at “LGBTQI+ persons and events” on Friday, warning that there is increased potential for organized terrorist-inspired violence. Friday’s alert didn’t allude to any specific threats or locations but...

United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Delegates voted 692-51 at their General Conference — the first such legislative gathering in five years. That overwhelming margin contrasts sharply with the decades of controversy around the issue. Past General Conferences of the United Methodist Church had steadily reinforced the ban and related penalties amid debate and protests, but many of the conservatives who had previously upheld the ban have left the denomination in recent years, and this General...

A man was arrested, accused of brutally beating a [man who pretended to be a woman] to death on the steps of the Miami City Ballet, police said. The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) said the [man] — now identified as 37-year-old Andrea Doria Dos Passos — was found on the front steps of the Miami City Ballet on Tuesday morning by a security guard who thought she was just sleeping. Police said she was partially clothed and wearing a blood-soaked blanket.

Don Lemon and Tim Malone were all smiles as they headed home from their glitzy New York City wedding. The newlyweds strolled hand in hand as they exited Ralph Lauren's Polo bar just before midnight on Sunday. Lemon, 58, tied the knot with Malone, 40, in an intimate ceremony at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church before leading guests on foot over to the reception. Disgraced sex pest broadcaster Matt Lauer, fired CNN boss Jeff Zucker and alleged killer Alec Baldwin were among the high-profile attendees. The grooms appeared in good spirits as they exited their venue in the same coordinated velvet...

One of the Catholic Church’s most infamously dissident prelates, Archbishop Thomas Gumbleton, died April 4 at age 94. In many ways, Gumbleton’s life was emblematic of the direction the Catholic Church took after Vatican II. He was born in 1930 and was one of nine children – a Catholic family size now rare outside of Traditional Latin Mass circles. Gumbleton and several of his siblings pursued religious vocations. He was ordained a priest in 1956, shortly before the Second Vatican Council and its use as justification to radically change Catholic worship. In 1968, Pope Paul VI appointed Gumbleton an auxiliary...

Uganda's constitutional court on Wednesday declined to nullify or suspend an Anti-Homosexuality law that prescribes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, but found it inconsistent with certain fundamental rights. Activists say the law has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBT people by both private individuals and state agents. "We decline to nullify the anti-homosexuality act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement," said Richard Buteera, lead judge, reading the judgment on behalf of his colleagues.

On Wednesday, Thailand’s House of Representatives voted 400-10 in favor of same-sex “marriage.” Only 10 lawmakers voted against the bill. Two abstained and three didn’t vote. The country’s Senate “rarely rejects any legislation that passes the lower house,” the Associated Press noted. Once it passes the Senate, it then must be approved by the majority-Buddhist country’s king. In addition to redefining marriage, the bill “extends all rights and protections contained in the Civil and Commercial Code to LGBTI+ persons,” the pro-LGBT group “Fortify Rights” said in a press release. The group’s lobbying to add the “gender-neutral language of ‘parent’ addition...

Ultra-conservative Republicans are railing against the 605 pages of earmarks that will be included in a $460 billion spending package to fund six agencies of government that will come up for a vote on Wednesday. The earmarks have already caused scandal within the Senate, where Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman's office rescinded support for a $1 million earmark for an LGBTQ center in Pennsylvania that hosts BDSM parties. The funding caused a backlash on social media, prompting Fetterman, who was long one of the staunchest pro-LGBTQ lawmakers in the Keystone State, to have the earmark removed.

Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday...

Students and teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law which critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” The settlement clarifies what is allowed in Florida classrooms following passage two years ago of the law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Opponents said the law had created confusion about whether teachers could identity themselves as LGBTQ+ or if they even could have rainbow stickers in classrooms. Other states used...

In the first signals of how he’ll act on legislation approved by Virginia’s Democratic General Assembly, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a largely symbolic bill protecting same-sex marriage but took a more adversarial stance to bills dealing with gun control, reproductive rights and marijuana. Youngkin had until Friday night to take action on 84 bills the legislature sent to him on a shorter-than-usual timeline. He vetoed eight, recommended changes to 12 and signed the rest. The General Assembly finished its work Saturday without taking up any of the governor’s initial amendments and vetoes, which means they will be dealt with during...

Oh boy! Meet Elvis, 10 weeks, and his 11-day old brother Ezra, who have made British history along with their mums Emily Patrick and Kerry Osborn. The babies, pictured here for the first time, were born to the lesbian couple via IVF. Elvis was created from Kerry's egg which was fertilised and implanted in Emily so she could be his birth mother. Ezra, meanwhile, was created from Emily's egg and implanted in Kerry so she could carry and deliver him. It's the first time the procedure, known as simultaneous reciprocal IVF, has been attempted in the UK - and it...

'It's not loving to help somebody celebrate stepping into the fury of God's judgment'Pastor John MacArthur recently repudiated Pastor Alistair Begg's comments suggesting Christians ought to attend LGBT weddings.Responding to a congregant who asked for his take on the controversy during a question-and-answer period at his Grace Community Church in Los Angeles last weekend, MacArthur also suggested Begg's advice will tarnish the Christian radio personality's otherwise faithful 40-year ministry.John MacArthur’s first public comment (that I know of) regarding Alistair Begg’s counsel to grandmother to attend her grandchild’s transgender wedding.Q and A, Grace Church, Feb. 18, 2024https://t.co/E5MZZfkgwL via @YouTubepic.twitter.com/iHcY4Cl0Q4— The...

Prosecutors in Broward County have dropped charges against a Ukrainian refugee family accused of an anti-gay hate crime in 2022. Five members of the Makarenko family had been implicated in the alleged homophobic beating in Pompano Beach. Authorities...

“Democrat Staffer Who Filmed Himself Having Sex in the Capitol Won't Be Charged.”So reads the headline reporting a video posted by the above-mentioned staffer which showed for the first time ever a nearly naked man on all fours inside the Capitol office building. The video wasn't just nude posing either. The male staffer and his boyfriend filmed themselves engaging in homosexual sexinside a meeting room of the Capitol Building. Sen. Ben Cardin, who employed the staffer, simply dropped the issue. Aidan Maese-Czeropski, the staffer in question, was defiant in the aftermath, claiming he was "being attacked for who I love...

A screenshot of a now-archived version of the Shepherd's Conference website shows Pastor Alistair Begg listed as a speaker for the March conference. Begg's name is no longer listed on the website.Pastor, author and Christian radio personality Alistair Begg continues to face fallout from comments he made in a podcast last year about advice for Christians and same-sex weddings.Begg’s bio has been removed from the website of the Shepherd’s Conference, a ministry of Grace Community Church led by Pastor John MacArthur, following controversy over Begg’s advice for a grandmother about attending her LGBT-identified grandson’s wedding.An archived version of the site...

Addressing the controversy surrounding the Vatican's decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples, Pope Francis said the critics of the guidance, except for Africans, belong to "small ideological groups."The pontiff claimed that even in Africa, the resistance is more cultural, as homosexuality is generally not tolerated, Reuters quoted him as saying in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa.Francis was referring to the December 2023 document "Fiducia Supplicans" issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has sparked widespread debate within the Catholic Church. The guidance stated that priests may bless same-sex couples that approach them...