Free Republic

Anti-gun rights activist David Hogg often urges young people to take on the Second Amendment. But he’s picked up a few more topics to pontificate on recently. In his latest talk Wednesday to students at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, with the midterm elections just weeks away, Hogg defended illegal immigrants, decried white politicians, and bemoaned American imperialism.

So I got an invitation today for Preservation Maryland.... ...and I'm not happy.

A majority of Catholics want the Church to reconsider its teaching on LGBT issues, a new poll launched in Rome yesterday has revealed. A total of 9,606 people were surveyed across Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, United States, Philippines, France, Italy and Spain for the poll, representing half of the world's Catholic population. The survey was carried out by Yougov on behalf of Equal Future 2018, a coalition of LGBT, progressive Catholic religious, children and young peoples' groups. Campaign director Tiernan Brady, who led the marriage equality campaign in Ireland in 2015, launched the findings in Rome. He described the survey findings...

Matthew Shepard was savagely killed in Wyoming in 1998 at the age of 21 and went on to became a symbol on anti-gay violence in the US. After being robbed by two men, he was repeatedly beaten and tied to a fence in near freezing conditions. A cyclist found him after 18 hours. Six days later he died. His parents cremated the body and kept the ashes, worried that a final resting place would be vandalised. But now he will finally be laid to rest. The remains will be interred inside the crypt of Washington National Cathedral on 26 October,...

She persisted—and it paid off. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, joined the board of IAC/InterActiveCorp ,the owner of a portfolio of internet brands, in September 2011. Her personal stake in IAC has swelled to more than $6.6 million as the stock has more than tripled in value in the past two years. Since she joined the board of IAC (ticker: IAC), Clinton, the vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, has never purchased any IAC shares on the open market, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission....

The Trump administration discontinued an Obama-era policy this week that granted diplomatic visas to the domestic partners of foreign diplomats to the United States, regardless of whether they are same-sex or opposite-sex. Instead, now that same-sex marriage is legal in the United States, the State Department will require those diplomats to marry in order for their partners to be eligible for diplomatic visas. Democrats, LGBT rights organizations, and the news media immediately framed the decision as an attack on gay people, bandying headlines such as, “Trump Administration Will No Longer Grant Visas to Same-Sex Partners of Diplomats.” The Human Rights...

November’s Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will make “clear in what you see” that one of its main characters is homosexual, the director teased in a new interview. During her 2007 tour for the final book of the main Harry Potter series, author J.K. Rowling told a crowd that “Dumbledore is gay, actually,” despite the elderly mentor character’s sexual attraction not being referenced in the books themselves. The bombshell earned her accolades from pro-LGBT activists but also criticism from parents concerned about exposing their kids to adult and morally-objectionable themes. Critics of the series, such as...

The Trump administration has begun denying visas to some unmarried, same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and employees of the United Nations, Foreign Policy reported on Monday. The administration is requiring couples already in the United States to show proof that they’ve married by Dec. 31, 2018 or to leave the country within 30 days. The outlet noted that this new policy means at least 10 unmarried U.N. employees currently in the country will have to get married in order for their partners’ visas to be extended. Since the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, U.S. policy has dictated that...

Wanda Syke's jokes fell flat with some of her fans. Over a dozen angry audience members walked out or were kicked out of Sykes' show in New Jersey on Thursday for heckling her when she opened with a series of jokes about President Donald Trump. The liberal comedian began her set at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank by making fun of how the public appears to be aging more quickly from stress during Trump's administration. The Asbury Park Press reported that some attendees began heckling Sykes, complaining that she was being political. "Do some comedy!"...

NATCHITOCHES, La. - A Louisiana woman is accused of asking her girlfriend to kidnap and kill her 7-month-old son in July, a crime carried out when the boy was doused with gasoline and burned to death. Levi Cole Ellerbe died hours after suffering second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body, according to the Alexandria Town Talk. The boy’s mother, Hannah Nicole Barker, was in court Friday for a preliminary hearing, at which Lt. Jeremy Swisher, with the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, laid out the case against Barker. Barker, 23, is charged as a principal to first-degree...

David Hogg wants to speak with President Trump. “I would love to speak to him at this point,” Hogg told BuzzFeed News in an interview on Tuesday. The gun control activist said he regretted not attending a listening session at the White House in the days after the mass shooting at his high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen people were killed in the shooting. “I’ve learned over the course of traveling the country how to directly address the issues with the dissenting opinions on our policy and I would welcome the opportunity to tell the president to...

Four years ago, 14-year-old Lizzie Lowe took her own life because she did not believe she would be accepted as a Christian who was also gay. Since then her church, St James in Didsbury, Manchester, and its sister church Emmanuel, has formally become an inclusive church - embracing everyone, regardless of gender, race, disability or sexuality. Lizzie's parents believe embracing inclusion could help save the lives of other teenagers.

While the country is celebrating the historic Supreme Court judgement to decriminalise Homosexuality, the Churches in Mizoram have "rejected" https://www.time8.in/mizoram-meghalaya-churches-say-gay-sex-is-immoral/ the apex court's ruling on Article 377. A congregation of 14 major churches in the state, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, on Monday has said https://thenortheasttoday.com/mizoram-state-churches-reject-scs-section-377-ruling/ that it wished the apex court had never scrapped Section 377. The leaders of the Church stated that homosexuality, lesbianism should continue to be criminalised as it was in the past. In Meghalaya, the Church has said, https://nenow.in/north-east-news/meghalaya-shillong-catholic-church-thumbs-gay-sex.html "What is legal is not equal to moral acceptability. The Catholic Church and many others  hold that homosexual...

The organisation behind Sesame Street has denied co-habiting duo, Bert and Ernie, are gay, following comments by one of the show's writers. Mark Saltzman said his writing about the room-mating couple was based on his relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman. Sesame Workshop then issued a statement saying the pair "do not have a sexual orientation". Bert and Ernie may look human, but the pair "remain puppets", it said. "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves." It broadly repeats past statements the non-profit organisation has made about...

LGBT flag once hung over sanctuary of gay parish, displayed at Cdl. Bernardin's MassParishioners of Resurrection Parish in Chicago, Illinois, held a rainbow flag-burning event last week, cutting up and setting on fire an LGBT flag that once hung in the sanctuary at the parish's first Mass. The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 29, the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels, but the Chicago archdiocese — heeding complaints by gay activists — called the pastor, Fr. Paul John Kalchik, and ordered him not to hold the event. A handful of parishioners took things into their own hands and...

Eminem says he felt uncomfortable with homophobic lyrics he wrote and released on his recent album, Kamikaze. He faced criticism for his language on album track Fall while speaking about Tyler, The Creator. Eminem says he "felt like this might be too far", in a new interview to promote the record on his own YouTube channel. "In my quest to hurt him, I realize that I was hurting a lot of other people by saying it," says Eminem. "It was one of the things that I kept going back to and going 'I don't feel right with this'." Many others...

NORTHERN IRELAND, September 12, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Nearly thirty companies from and outside Northern Ireland have signed a letter calling on the province to recognize same-sex “marriages” within its borders. Organized by the left-wing Amnesty International UK, the letter argues that redefining marriage is an economic necessity. “A diverse, outward-looking and inclusive society is essential to create a vibrant and competitive economy and a prosperous future for Northern Ireland,” it claims. “Equality contributes to an environment of creativity and excellence where our LGBT staff feel able to bring their whole selves to the workplace and where their relationships will be...

I watched nearly all of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Right away, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stated clearly that the role of a judge is to rule based on the law regardless of his or her personal view of the outcome. He also stated that since Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s confirmation hearing in 1993, every nominee has agreed to decline to discuss his or her personal opinion of the “correctness” of any given court precedent. He stated firmly that requesting a judge to do so would essentially be asking for a promise...

It took Michael Moore to correct anti-gun protester David Hogg’s proposal for Canadians to meddle in American elections. After screening Moore’s anti-Trump “Fahrenheit 11/9” at the Toronto Film Festival, Hogg and other Parkland, Florida high school students joined the millionaire filmmaker on stage during a Q&A. “I have a question for you guys,” Hogg said after grabbing the mic from Moore. “Who’s ready to save America?” The Canadian audience cheered. “Who’s ready to make America the country we say it is on paper, and make it the actual country that it wants to be?” he asked. Hogg was the critical...

The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) issued an apology on Sunday after a host at the group's convention over the weekend referred to some attendees as "things and its." The NLGJA noted in a statement that the man who made the remark, a local ABC weatherman in Ohio, was a "volunteer emcee" at the event. "The Association of LGBTQ Journalists celebrated the closing of its national convention in Palm Springs," the group's Board of Directors wrote. "During the closing reception, Marshall McPeek, a volunteer emcee, made an inappropriate, unscripted remark that does not reflect our values." The statement...