Free Republic

Comedienne Sarah Silverman joined America's current War on Women yesterday after she tweeted a hoax before-and-after abortion photo. Reigniting the women's rights movement via Twitter, the 41-year-old wrote: 'Got a quickie aborsh in case R v W gets overturned.' The controversial comment captioned two photos of Miss Silverman made to look like she was pregnant before getting an abortion - and quickly divided opinion. While she caused a wave of support from hundreds of people voicing liberal pro-choice beliefs, she also drew criticism for her 'insensitivity' for a subject that is 'no laughing matter'. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2129490/Got-quickie-aborsh-Comedienne-Sarah-Silverman-supports-pro-choice-debate-tweeting-abortion-photos.html#ixzz1s9hzQLQd

This spring, Les and Scott GrantSmith will mark their 25th wedding anniversary. The couple raised two daughters along the way. But 15 years ago, they hit a crisis that nearly shattered their family. Les was keeping a secret, and that became a problem. But they solved it as a family, in a way that kept them together and happy. In the weeks leading up to that day back in 1997, Les was certain of two things: She was a mother who loved her daughters — and she was also transgender, the term for someone born in a body of the...

Atheists are using a music video that celebrates the burning of churches and synagogues to promote an upcoming atheist-themed festival at Fort Bragg. “Rock Beyond Belief” is scheduled to be held on the parade field at Fort Bragg in March. The event was created in part as a response to a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association event that was held last year. FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK! Justin Griffith, who organized “Rock Beyond Belief,” said he was personally offended that a Christian evangelical event like “Rock the Fort” was held on the base. “We felt it was entirely inappropriate for anyone to...

Grand Rapids - A Michigan man knowingly had unprotected sex with thousands of people whilst diagnosed with HIV, hoping to spread the infection. Police in Rapid Springs, Michigan, have released information hoping to alert potential victims of a serial philanderer who deliberately had unprotected sex with thousands of people, in an effort to spread HIV. David Dean Smith, 51, turned himself in to Michigan police last week, confessing that he hoped to spread his infection to others.

To raise awareness in an ironic way over what Occupy Wall Street sympathizers are calling police brutality over some actions from law enforcement against activists, 46 artists have put together the 48-page Police Brutality Coloring Book. Wired reports that the coloring book was created to draw attention to such action, especially since “[a coloring book] should be such a sweet, kid-friendly format, but when you’re dealing with a subject as serious as police brutality, the irony sort of heightens the effect,” said Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer known for creating President Obama’s “Hope” poster. Wired has more on the coloring...

The viewing public might be split on Chaz Bono's participation on the upcoming season of "Dancing With the Stars," but the way he sees it, his inclusion on the show is just what the doctor ordered for this country. Reacting to the criticism he's faced sine the Season 13 cast was announced last week, Bono told ABC News, "It's made me realize I'm really glad I'm doing this, because America really needs to see this." The 42-year-old only child of Cher and Sonny Bono added, "You know, it just kind of shows why for me it's important to be on...

As you pump 13 gallons into your Honda CR-V -- American's best-selling SUV with 28 mpg on the highway and 21 in town -- it's nearly impossible to view the $50 you're spending with a positive attitude. With the national average for regular at $3.81, it's easy to label oil executives as pond scum, but try to remain open-minded. Think of the big picture: Though that promised road trip to Disney World has gone up in carbon monoxide, high gas prices may actually have an upside. Not for you and your family personally, maybe, but perhaps for the United States...

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 9, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-abortion activists sought, unsuccessfully, to disrupt a debate on abortion at Dalhousie University Tuesday night by ripping down ads, setting off stink-bombs, and covering the ceiling with helium balloons featuring pro-abortion slogans. In the end, they even turned on the pro-abortion speaker. Representing the pro-life side of the debate was Stephanie Gray, co-founder and executive director of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform. Facing Gray was Dr. Mark Mercer, chairperson of the philosophy department at Halifax’s St. Mary’s University, who has in the past won the ire of pro-abortion activists for defending...

NPR Celebrates LGBT Valentine Cards 'For a Rainbow of Loves' By Tim Graham Created 02/14/2011 - 5:09pm NPR has a strange way of celebrating Valentine's Day. It's trying to "help" fans with corporate Valentines from NPR including this beauty: "You might have a face for radio, but I love you just the same." Sounds like a one-way ticket to sleeping on the couch. It's less surprising that NPR would use Valentine's Day as another day to celebrate identity politics and social liberalism with a Monday Morning Edition story on "Greeting cards that celebrate a rainbow of loves." NPR producer Selena...

David Hansell, acting assistant secretary for a children and families agency within the Health and Human Services Department, on Monday touted the Obama administration’s “acceptance and embrace of the LGBT community,” including its efforts to encourage same-sex couples to adopt children. LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. The “Adopt Us Kids” Web site, described as “a cooperative agreement with the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children & Families, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,”

Sir Elton John’s new baby son Zachary is ‘living like royalty’ in his own £1.3million apartment adjoining the singer’s exclusive Los Angeles pad. The Mail on Sunday has learned that Sir Elton, 63, and his partner David Furnish have appointed a top Hollywood interior designer to turn the flat beside their luxury home into a dream nursery. [snip] ‘From what I understand the baby and his nannies are living in one apartment and Elton and David are living in another.’ The couple have hired ‘interior designer to the stars’ Martyn Lawrence-Bullard to decorate the baby’s apartment. Lawrence-Bullard, who also masterminded...

Planned Parenthood Launches ‘Social Change Initiative’ to Teach Parents How to Educate Children About Sex, Including Masturbation, Homosexuality Wednesday, December 29, 2010 By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is signaling its intention to dominate the national sex education agenda. Specifically, Planned Parenthood's Web site announced the group is preparing to launch a nationwide “social change initiative” to end the “stigma and shame about sex” in American culture. The project aims to teach parents and caregivers how to educate children about sex -- from birth. And it recommends telling teenagers about masturbation, oral sex and “where...

Sir Elton John and husband David Furnish have welcomed a baby boy to their family, according to US Magazine. Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born on Christmas in California via a surrogate. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. "We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John, 62, and Furnish, 48, told the magazine. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents." This is the first child for the couple, who wed in 2005 after 12 years together.

Guests lounge around the pool at Pearl's Rainbow, soaking up the sunshine and tropical vibes typical of a Southernmost guesthouse. Not a man is in sight -- and that's the way these vacationers like it. But over this Thanksgiving weekend, Key West's only lesbian-exclusive resort is going "all welcome." The decision was made public about the same time Pearl's Rainbow was honored in October by Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine, as the guesthouse that had the greatest impact on lesbian culture over the past 20 years.

Couple's Abortion Vote Site Declared a Pro-Life Publicity Stunt Minneapolis, MN -- The web site a Minnesota couple created seeking a public vote on whether or not they should have an abortion, taking the life of their 17-week unborn child, has been declared a pro-life stunt by both sides of the abortion debate. http://LifeNews.com/state-5681

Like pretty much every child who walks up Main Street U.S.A. at Disney World for the first time, Alix, 10, and her brother Evan, 11, can barely contain their anticipation. Evan wants to ride Space Mountain. Alix is so excited, she can't even say what she wants to do. She is jumping up and down. It's a typical Disney scene, except that Evan, Alix and their sister Jamie, a desultory 4-year-old shielded from the sun in a stroller, have come to the Magic Kingdom with their two moms. It is the 20th anniversary of Gay Days at Disney, and...

DALLAS - A transgender senior at North Dallas High School wants to run for homecoming queen. But school administrators won't allow it. Andy Moreno was born a male but has identified herself as female for the past year. She looks and acts like a girl. She said that has never caused any problems for her at school. However, her nomination for homecoming queen has caused some controversy.

The family of a Wharton firefighter who died battling a massive egg farm blaze is fighting to keep his widow from receiving death benefits, arguing that the 37-year-old had found out his bride of two years was born a man. Thomas Araguz III separated from his wife after learning her history two months prior to being trapped in the fatal July 3 fire, according to attorney Chad Ellis, who is representing Araguz's parents in the lawsuit. "He was distraught. It was extremely difficult and embarrassing for Tommy," said Ellis, who added that there is no will for the estate, which...

Will Obama, like U.K.’s Tony Blair, usher in ‘gay’ tyranny in the United States? Former British P.M. Tony Blair used state power to promote the acceptance of homosexuality in the U.K. He is now working to make Christianity "gay"-affirming. By Peter LaBarbera I was sent this must-watch CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) video by my friend Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan. Glenn is backing a civil rights lawsuit by the Thomas More Law Center against Attorney Gen. Eric Holder over the new homosexuality/transsexuality–inclusive “hate crimes” law. This video deserves wide circulation as a warning to America....

HELENA, MONTANA -- An overflow crowd jammed the Helena school board meeting Tuesday night to voice their concerns -- and support -- about a proposal to extend sex education to children as young as kindergarten age. According to the 62-page draft proposal, beginning in kindergarten, school nurses will teach students proper terms such as "nipple, breast, penis, scrotum and uterus." Once they are promoted to first grade, children will learn that sexual relations could happen between two men or two women. By the time students are 10 years old, instruction will include the various ways people can have intercourse, be...

At his Kentucky elementary school, kids taunted Brent on the playground about being gay, whatever that was. By eighth grade, he realized what they meant and came out to a friend – and vice versa. She was an avid writer, he a voracious reader. They headed to their school library in search of stories that spoke to their lives: gay, gay in the South, gay and fearing stereotypes like “disgusting” and “worthless.” “There were tons of books about gangs and drugs and teen pregnancy and there were no LGBT books,” says Brent, now 15 and heading into his sophomore year...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Earlier this year Constance McMillen was refused permission to attend her high-school prom with a female date while wearing a tuxedo, an event that catapulted her into the national media spotlight. Now her newfound notoriety has received an added boost, after the White House invited her to a reception honoring lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBT) scheduled for Tuesday at 5pm.  Both President Obama and Vice-President Biden were expected to attend the reception.  Openly gay Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh also planned to attend."I really hope the attention my case has generated...

A 10-year-old boy has been named grand marshal for a gay pride parade this weekend – prompting a family advocacy group to call the decision "child abuse" and urge the local mayor to withdraw city support for the event. The American Family Association spoke out against Will Phillips' scheduled participation Saturday in the Northwest Arkansas Pride parade in Fayetteville, Ark. "It's shameful that adults would abuse a brain-washed child in this way," AFA President Tim Wildmon wrote in a press release. "He's obviously just parroting the nonsense he's been told by manipulative adults. For gay activists to trot out this...

Because Liz Carter is white, she’s banned from debating Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson and the other black candidates running for his Georgia congressional seat at a candidate forum in Atlanta tonight. The forum, moderated by Newsmakers Live, is solely for the black Republicans and Democrats running for Johnson’s 4th Congressional District seat, Carter took to the Internet to say. Carter, a Republican, expressed her disappointment on Twitter Wednesday, asking, “What happened to diversity?” “We called them, we asked to participate,” said Carter’s campaign manager, Cheryl Prater. But she said Newsmaker Live’s event moderator, Maynard Eaton, told the campaign that because...

As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists. LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the...

To set up the video at the end of this article, I need to take you back to February 23, 2009  when Arizona State Senator Jonathan Paton (R-Tusgon) invited law enforcement officials to the Capital for a hearing.  Paton asked the officers to describe how bad the border violence has become in Arizona.  What the Senate Judiciary Committee learned was that Pima and Cochise counties were seeing an alarming increase of more and more "Rape Trees".  These are memorials, if you will, that are left behind by Mexican drug cartel members, and illegal male immigrants who have raped illegal...

President Obama today signed into law The Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act, which expands efforts to identify countries that don’t share our love for the First Amendment. He also took time to honor the man the bill is named after, journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic extremists in 2002 in what the President — with nary a teleprompter in sight — called a moment that ‘captured the world’s imagination.’ The Obama administration has pushed to have Pearl’s professed killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, tried in civilian court.

Political Correctness: While New York City OKs construction of a "monster mosque" at ground zero, the feds pay rent to a D.C. mosque tied to the Pentagon attack. Have we gone totally soft? Imagine on the 10th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we let the Japanese erect a cultural center at the site of that attack. Exactly. It would never happen. So why are Manhattan officials bowing to demands by a group called the American Society for Muslim Advancement to open — on of all days, Sept. 11, 2011 — a 13-story shrine to Islam in the shadow of the beautiful...

As the toddlers say, I don't want to share. ___ A few years ago, my daughter and I were browsing through the card kiosk, trying to select a Mother's Day card. "Mom you're the best!" read one. "#1 mom" raved another. "Queen mother!" pronounced yet another. I got to choose because she couldn't yet read, and I chose none of the above. Let's go home and make homemade cards, OK? On cream-colored card stock, those bards at Hallmark have put their finger on the problem I have with Mother's Day: For me, it can't be about bests and greatests and...

Angie Jackson has taken micro-blogging to a whole new level. In an attempt to “demystify” abortion, the 27-year-old shared her experience on Twitter, YouTube and her personal blog. “I’m doing this so other women know, ‘Hey, it’s not nearly as terrifying as I had myself worked up thinking it was.’ It’s just not that bad,” Jackson said on her YouTube video. Her ordeal began on February 13, when she discovered that her IUD, a contraceptive device placed in the uterus, failed. Jackson, a mother of a four-year-old son with special needs, decided to terminate the pregnancy. "I had made...

HAMILTON, Ontario, February 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Public school children in Hamilton, Ontario will not be permitted to withdraw from classes that promote homosexuality, according to the Hamilton Mountain News. At the same time, according to a leaked document obtained by a local journalist, teachers are being instructed to tell parents who object to the curriculum that “this is not about parent rights.”At the end of January, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) hosted a professional development day dedicated to “equity” training, where they distributed a sheet to teachers with “quick responses” they can offer to parents who object to...

Newly-elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown on Sunday defended his nude photo spread from his college days - and said the racy pictures helped get him where he is today. "If I hadn't done that ... I never would have been sitting here with you," said Brown in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC News' "This Week." "It's all connected," added Brown, a Republican who was elected to fill the seat of the late Ted Kennedy in an upset that has put President Obama's agenda in turmoil. Brown, who took it all off for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1982, said the...

Friday January 29, 2010 Judge Gives Miller 30 Days to Transfer Daughter to Former Lesbian Lover or Face Arrest By Matthew Cullinan HoffmanRUTLAND, VERMONT, January 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ex-Lesbian Lisa Miller has been given 30 days to transfer custody of her daughter to her former lesbian partner, or possibly face criminal penalties.Although Vermont Judge Richard Cohen has so far refused to issue an arrest warrant for Miller, he has set a deadline of February 23rd for the transfer to take place.If Miller does not appear during that time, Cohen said on January 22, "I will consider all possible...

A transgender couple have revealed they are expecting their first baby in a month’s time. Scott Moore - thought to be only the second ‘pregnant man’ to go public - is due to give birth to a boy in February, with husband Thomas by his side. The couple were both born girls and have undergone surgery to transform their sex. Scott, 30, who is legally married to Thomas because he still has a female birth certificate, says he is eagerly looking forward to giving birth. They have decided to call the child ‘Miles’. ‘We know some people will criticise us...

Vt. Judge: Birth Mom Must Give Child To Ex-Partner By WILSON RING Associated Press Writer Dec. 29, 2009 MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The birth mother of a 7-year-old Virginia girl must transfer custody of the child to the woman's former lesbian partner, a Vermont judge has ruled. Vermont Family Court Judge William Cohen ordered Lisa Miller of Winchester, Va., to turn over daughter Isabella to Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven at 1 p.m. Friday at the Virginia home of Jenkins' parents. Miller and Jenkins were joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. Isabella was born to Miller through artificial insemination...

On that still-quiet Tuesday morning, the sales staff was in a basement room eating breakfast, waiting to open the doors to the first shoppers at 10 a.m. There was no immediate sign of the fiery cataclysm that erupted overhead starting at 8:46. But out of a baby-blue sky suddenly stained with smoke, a plane’s landing-gear assembly the size of a World War II torpedo crashed through the roof and down through two empty selling floors of the Burlington Coat Factory. The Sept. 11, 2001, attack killed 2,752 people downtown and doomed the five-story building at 45 Park Place, two blocks...

Out of the Closet; Into the Church Homo McGreevey Finds Higher Calling thelastcrusade.org What does a gay governor do after he resigns from political office in disgrace? He becomes an Episcopalian and enters the priesthood. Jim McGreevey, the former New Jersey love gov, has gone from Turnpike truck stops to All Saints Church in Hoboken, where he is known as “Father Jim.” Last Sunday, the ex governor administered the sacrament of baptism to a bevy of babies, blessed the Eucharist, and carried the cross during the processional. In 2004, Mr. McGreevey resigned as Governor of New Jersey after revealing...

Fort Hood Tragedy -- Barack Obama Gives "Shout-Out" Before He Comments on Shooting -- FOX News

Rosie O'Donnell has confirmed that she and longtime girlfriend Kelli Carpenter are on the rocks. In a new interview with USA Today, she says, "We're a family. We will remain a family forever. And we are working on our issues." The 47-year-old O'Donnell -- who has been suggesting a split on her blog -- wouldn't confirm a National Enquirer report that Carpenter, 42, has moved out of their Nyack, NY, home and into Manhattan. (USA Today notes that Carpenter was not at the house during the interview.) Meet Rosie O'Donnell and other stars' surprise BFFs "We're a family, we remain...

Al Sharpton issued a statement this evening claiming a "moral victory for all Americans" on the dropping of Rush Limbaugh as part of a group of investors seeking to buy the NFL St. Louis Rams franchise.The AP reported Sharpton's statement and a follow up comment he made in an interview:"It is a moral victory for all Americans — especially the players that have been unfairly castigated by Rush Limbaugh," Sharpton said in a statement. "This decision will also uphold the unifying standards of major sports." Sharpton added in a telephone interview that major sports leagues shouldn't welcome owners who are...

"Kids are being aggressively recruited to become heterosexual in this country." Editor's note: This audio is from the speech Kevin Jennings gave at a GLSEN event in Iowa in 2000.

Another gold nugget buried in that LA Times piece that Ed linked earlier, even purer and finer than the quote from Harvey Weinstein trumpeting Hollywood’s famous, er, moral compass. Honestly, at the rate we’re going, it can’t be long before some celebrity and/or liberal tells us that the kid was asking for it. Jonathan Kuntz, a visiting professor in UCLA’s Cinema and Media Studies school, said the local reaction may be a version of the “there, but for the grace of God, go I.” “I think that there are a lot of folks in Hollywood in the late ’60s and...

Mackenzie Phillips is claiming in her new book, High on Arrival, that on the eve of her 1979 wedding she slept with her musician father, John Phillips. “My father was not a man with boundaries,” writes the actress, who is appearing on Oprah this afternoon. “He was full of love, and he was sick with drugs. I woke up that night from a blackout to find myself having sex with my own father.” Singer-songwriter Phillips was, of course, the founder of the Mamas and the Papas who enjoyed an extraordinary run of hits in the late ’60s, including “California Dreamin’,”...

During a visit to Ukraine, the singer said he and his partner David Furnish were keen to become parents to a 14-month-old they had met there. "David and I have always talked about adoption," he said. But as Mr Furnish held baby Lev on his knee, Sir Elton revealed he had changed his mind. "Having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. The singer said the death of his long-term keyboardist, Guy Babylon, had also helped change his mind about children. "It broke my heart...

One normally expects to see paeans to one-party rule and dictatorships in fringe publications sponsored by International ANSWER or World Can’t Wait. Usually, the New York Times offers those sentiments in more subtle terms than it does in today’s Thomas Friedman column. Friedman extols the Chinese form of government while deriding the fact that political opposition keeps Obama from imposing the policies Friedman likes:

The world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes have taken the Arab world by storm, and now they are headed for British television screensNamed the 99, as each possesses one of Allah's 99 attributes, the characters include a burka-clad woman named Batina the Hidden and a Saudi Arabian Hulk-type man named Jabbar the Powerful. They have proved a hit from Morocco to Indonesia and were recently named as one of the top 20 trends sweeping the world by Forbes magazine. Now they are being brought to British television by Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother, with a mission to instill Islamic...

... For my first trip out and about since learning I was pregnant, I went to meet with the director of an adoption agency. He was so supportive and sweet that I walked away choked up but not in tears — it was the first day I didn’t cry. Even though the adoption agency can pay my medical costs and set me up with adoptive parents for maternity shopping, grocery shopping, birthing classes and all kinds of programs, it didn’t feel like enough. I told the director how scared and lonely I’ve been and he just said, “I know. I...

ABC News will host an hour-long special on health care reform in the U.S. next Wednesday from the White House East Room -- a move that ABC is defending but critics are calling a surrender to the Obama administration's effort to control the debate. The prime time special -- called "Questions for the President: Prescription for America" by ABC News -- will be a nationally televised event during which President Obama will answer questions presented by audience members selected by ABC News. Participants will present a broad range of "divergent opinions in this historic debate," according to the press release...

A ten-year-old Catholic boy is being placed in the care of homosexual foster parents against the wishes of his religious mother. A devout Catholic, she has told friends she is worried about the environment in which her son will be placed and wants him fostered by a heterosexual couple, in line with her Church’s belief in the traditional family. Her parish priest and her son’s headteacher are said to be deeply concerned. The priest said: ‘This isn’t about a gay couple in a private home, this is about a gay couple running a hotel where they also live, where they...