Free Republic

A Maltese Christian charity worker is facing criminal charges for allegedly discussing and promoting so-called conversion practices after he shared his ex-gay testimony during an online media interview. The case, believed to be the first of its kind, will see Matthew Grech, 33, a trustee of the Core Issues Trust, stand trial on Feb. 3 at the Court of Magistrates in Valletta, along with the presenters of a local free speech media outlet, PMnews Malta, said the U.K.-based group Christian Concern, whose arm, Christian Legal Centre, is supporting the charity worker.According to Maltese laws that prohibit "conversion practices," if found...

On Thursday, a pastor who previously lived a homosexual lifestyle made his appeal in a unique case regarding discrimination and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which protects Big Tech companies from liability for the content third-parties post on their platforms. The pastor is suing Vimeo for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and religion after the platform banned him from publishing videos telling the stories of people who identify as ex-gay. “This is a case of grave importance because it is about whether big tech platforms can unlawfully discriminate against persons based on religion or sexual...

Maybe he should convert to YouTube. A pastor and self-proclaimed “former homosexual” is suing Vimeo after the video-sharing website shuttered his account for posting clips lauding conversion therapy. Church United pastor James Domen’s Manhattan federal court suit says Vimeo shut down his account for posting five videos relating to “religion and sexual orientation” — but claims the video platform actually did it as part of an effort to silence him. “Church United’s account was deleted in an effort to censor James Domen from speaking about his preferred sexual orientation and his religious beliefs,” says the lawsuit, which says Domen spent...

LOS ANGELES — For most of his life, Blake Smith said, “every inch of my body craved male sexual contact.” Mr. Smith, 58, who says he believes homosexual behavior is wrong on religious grounds, tried to tough it out. He spent 17 years in a doomed marriage while battling his urges all day, he said, and dreaming about them all night. But in recent years, as he probed his childhood in counseling and at men’s weekend retreats with names like People Can Change and Journey Into Manhood, “my homosexual feelings have nearly vanished,” Mr. Smith said in an interview at...

The problem is this: academics and lawyers don’t agree on what ‘sexual orientation’ actually is. The term is infamously ambiguous. Assembly Bill 2943 is a malicious and terribly ill-conceived piece of legislation, and it has a very real chance of becoming law. The bill establishes that “sexual orientation change efforts are an unlawful practice under California’s” legal code. Senate Bill 1172, passed in 2012, outlaws such help for any minor.Summit Ministries, a widely respected national organization teaching a Christian worldview to students, has decided to cancel its summer classes in California. Why? Simply because Summit teaches the same sexual ethic...

The Home Office has allegedly told the LGBT website Pink News that it wants to look again at the possibility of banning psychotherapy for unwanted same-sex attraction, which it disparagingly terms 'conversion therapy'. It says there was a question asked about it in the government's LGBT survey conducted in 2017. The Home Office has said that the government is currently studying the responses to the survey and that it will publish a response later this year.However, the government stated last year that it does not believe creating a criminal offence is right. This was in response to a petition by...

For 11 years, the Truth Wins Out website aggressively attacked those who claimed to be ex-gay, along with individuals and organizations that supported ex-gays. Last month, Wayne Besen, the founder of Truth Wins Out, announced that he was closing shop because, he claimed, “we accomplished our major goals.”What, exactly, were those goals? Wayne writes, “We helped expose and ultimately vanquish (with the help of other heroes) major ‘ex-gay’ programs including Love Won Out, Exodus International, and JONAH.” Still, he reluctantly notes, “similar programs will always exist, as charlatans will provide a supply of snake oil to fill a demand.”The reality...

Donnie McClurkin, the pastor and gospel music singer who said God delivered him from "the curse" of homosexuality, is now under fire from critics after speaking out against last Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. McClurkin, 55, received some harsh criticism after he shared his interpretation of the Bible's position on homosexuality on Facebook last Friday. We've just received the answer from man's Supreme Court ... we already received the answer from GOD," the pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in New York wrote. "With NO REGARD to what the Supreme Court of MAN decrees ......

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore denounced reparative therapy at a conference here, saying the controversial treatment that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation has been “severely counterproductive.” Moore, who serves as president of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, spoke to a group of journalists Tuesday (Oct. 28) covering the group’s national conference. “The utopian idea if you come to Christ and if you go through our program, you’re going to be immediately set free from attraction or anything you’re struggling with, I don’t think that’s a Christian idea,” Moore told journalists. “Faithfulness to...

The recent spate of “lone wolf” terrorist attacks both here and in Canada seem to have come out of nowhere. And it’s clear that they have left Americans and Canadians as sitting ducks. Simply by using the Internet, ISIS has encouraged “lone wolf” individuals. These “wolves” have initiated attacks on their own with no planning or coordination with others and without leaving a trail of clues about their intentions. Law enforcement authorities and our government are not well suited to defend against such individual terror strikes. As Israel has learned about such attacks, there are just too many targets to...

[Yvette Cantu] Schneider came out as a lesbian as a young woman, then converted to Christianity in the 1990s and spent more than a decade working with anti-LGBT groups and campaigns like the Family Research Council (FRC) and Focus on the Family. She also was active in the Proposition 8 campaign in California, which resulted in the outlawing of same-sex marriage in that state in 2008. (The ban has since been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.) Schneider, who eventually married a man, was for years one of the key sources anti-LGBT activists cited as “proof” that people can change...

A billboard posted by a Kentucky-based ministry that seeks to treat individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction has garnered controversy for its message. Abba's Delight recently posted the billboard in Louisville, which features a sunny sky and the phrase "Not everyone who is gay is happy. You have options." The billboard has garnered its share of criticism from LGBT groups and individuals who take issue with the organization's view on homosexuality. Daniel Mingo, executive director of Abba's Delight, told The Christian Post that plans for the billboard went back to "the fall of 2013," when "the ministry board discussed the possibility...

Anti-gay: a misleading charge used by gay activists to attach a negative label to anything a born-again Christian says that opposes the “gay agenda.” We are anti-sin (of all kinds) and pro-people (of all kinds). It is a blessing to be called “anti-gay” by a gay activist. Bigot: a born-again Christian who steadfastly refuses to deny anything that the Bible says about homosexuality. It is a blessing to be called a “bigot” by a gay activist.

Bill de Blasio’s wife opened up about falling in love with a man after years of identifying as a lesbian and their life as a “very conventional, unconventional couple” in a candid interview released Thursday. Chirlane McCray, 58, said her relationship with de Blasio was made possible “by putting aside the assumptions I had about the form and package my love would come in.” The interview, with Essence magazine, comes 34 years after McCray penned a groundbreaking 1979 essay for Essence entitled, “I Am a Lesbian,” about coming out as a gay black woman. A dozen years later, in 1991,...

After Steve Chalke and Rob Bell joined the ‘Accepting Evangelicals’ Group in affirming faithful same-sex erotic relationships earlier this year a new group of ‘post-gay’ evangelical Christian leaders has emerged. Their testimonies are clear, powerful, hugely encouraging and most welcome at a time when many young evangelicals are genuinely confused about the issue. These are men in pastoral ministry who admit to feelings of same sex attraction but who also see the Bible’s prohibitions on same-sex relationships as non-negotiable. The core of this new group, recently interviewed by Christianity magazine, are Sam Alberry, a church leader in Maidenhead, Sean Doherty,...

A spontaneous shift in sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual is by far the most common change that occurs in sexual orientation. Numerous studies have shown that both religiously and secularly mediated change in sexual orientation occurs in highly motivated, dissatisfied homosexuals at a rate that is at least comparable to the success rates generally achieved by therapists and counselors for other behavioral problems. And many studies have found that, for the most part, these are long-range, stable shifts in sexual orientation.

Members of the ex-gay community will be on Capitol Hill Wednesday to lobby their congressional representatives for recognition of former homosexuals and federal protection from discrimination. Christopher Doyle, the president and co-founder of Voice of the Voiceless (VoV), the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals and people who have unwanted same-sex attraction, told The Christian Post on Tuesday that the organization is demanding that every state recognize former homosexuals as a protected class. Doyle and VoV will also hold a rally and press conference at the Supreme Court Wednesday afternoon. "We want federal protection just as gays are given," Doyle...

On April 1, 2013 Dr. Phil aired a show titled: "Shocking Mom Revelations." As a part of this episode, he interviewed a mother whose daughter identified as a lesbian. During the episode, the mother shared about her disapproval of her daughter's "lifestyle choice" and expressed a desire for her daughter to see a counselor to get help in exploring her same-sex attraction. In shockingly un-therapeutic fashion, Dr. Phil flat-out shut the mother's opinion down, along with her Christian values, in favor for the simple explanation that "this is who her daughter is" and she should just accept it. Below is...

“Until recently, I have struggled all my life in feeling unloved and unaccepted,” Paulk said. “I have been on a journey during the last few years in trying to understand God, myself, and how I can best relate to others. During this journey I have made many mistakes and I have hurt many people including people who are close to me. I have also found a large number of people who accept me for who I am regardless of my past, any labels, or what I do.” Paulk continued, “I no longer support the ex-gay movement or efforts to attempt...

"You Can Check-Out Anytime You Like, But You Can Never Leave." So says the Eagles' song Hotel California . Ironically, this memorable phrase in that 1976 classic hit has lasting implications for all those wishing to leave the gay life. I am careful to say "life" and not "lifestyle" so not to offend any gay and lesbian reading this who may be quick to cast me as a homophobe or hate-monger. The truth is no one simply chooses to have same-sex attractions (SSA). These feelings are the result of many factors, mostly environmental and familial, mixed-in with one genetic factor,...