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Pew: Every TV News Outlet Had Coverage Supportive of Same-Sex Marriage By Alex Weprin on June 17, 2013 11:28 AM A new survey from Pew’s Project For Excellence in Journalism examines the coverage of gay marriage among the media. The big takeaway: almost every outlet presented more supportive statements in favor of gay marriage than opposing statements against gay marriage, including every TV news outlet. Pew looked at every segment on gay marriage from March 18-May 12, and classified every statement made on the issue as being supportive of gay marriage, opposed to gay marriage or neutral. As a whole,...

More people value individual liberty, but we might be losing the moral guardrails. Are Americans becoming more libertarian on cultural issues? I see evidence that they are, in poll findings and election results on three unrelated issues: marijuana legalization, same-sex marriage, and gun rights. Start with pot. Last November voters in the states of Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana, by a margin of 55 to 45 percent in Colorado (more than Barack Obama’s margin in the state) and by 56 to 44 percent in Washington. In contrast, in 2010, California voters rejected legalization 53 to 47 percent. These...

Back in 2005, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting of American businessmen in St. Petersburg. He was such a good guest that he let Putin try on his Super Bowl ring, and Putin was such a bizarre host that he pocked the $25,000 piece of jewelry. At the time, Kraft claimed that he decided to give Putin (who he praised as a "great and knowledgeable sports fan") the ring "as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and [his] leadership." But, now that some time...

With the Supreme Court only days away from major rulings on same-sex marriage, President Obama faces the prospect of having to make his own difficult decisions about the definition of wedlock. Gay rights advocates are already pressing Obama to immediately broaden the federal government’s recognition of legally married same-sex couples if the court strikes down a ban on providing federal benefits to them. The question for Obama turns on whether the federal government should extend full benefits to gay couples living in states that don’t recognize their marriages. Obama would face rare, concrete decisions on the politically combustible question of...

Speaking at an LGBT Pride Month reception at the White House on Thursday, President Barack Obama declared that the nation has reached a “turning point” regarding homosexual marriage: “We’ve become not just more accepting; we've become more loving, as a country, and as a people. Hearts and minds change with time. Laws do, too. Change like that isn’t something that starts here in Washington, but it’s something that has the power that Washington has a great deal of difficulty resisting over time.” He later added, “I’ll continue to support marriage equality and states’ attempts to legalize it, including in my...

Despite threats from several Democrats in the Senate that forced him to withdraw an amendment that would allow gay couples to sponsor green cards for their foreign partners last month, Sen. Patrick Leahy decided to file it anyhow to the Gang of Eight immigration bill on Tuesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman had withdrawn the amendment during the markup of the bill last month after a contentious debate during which Republicans said they wouldn't have it and Democrats threatened to oppose the measure if it threatened the overall passage of the bill. "You've got me on immigration. You don't have...

(CNSNews.com) - Cardinal Francis George, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago, asked in a column published Sunday whether faithful Catholics are now to be excluded from working in the newspaper industry because of their beliefs. "Are Catholics to be unwelcome in the editorial offices of major newspapers?" he asked. In the same column, Cardinal George said that President John F. Kennedy started the problem of Catholics who act according to their faith being shunted out of the public life of the nation when he told a group of ministers during his 1960 presidential campaign that they did not need "to...

Record-breaking 100,000 turn out for Pride Parade as Mayor Huldai lauds Tel Aviv as world's most gay-friendly city. A record-breaking 100,000 people from Israel and abroad took part in the annual Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade Friday, which took place as planned despite the arrests made earlier in the week in connection to the 2009 shooting at the LGBT youth center Bar Noar. Thousands of people crammed into Gan Meir park in central Tel Aviv as the festivities got under way with a community "happening," complete with music performances, stalls representing local organizations and speeches from public figures such as...

A recent report claims that "marriage equality" will provide an economic boost to Illinois: US$54- $103 million in new spending, and $8.5 million in new tax revenues. This study comes at an opportune time for the gay lobby in Illinois. Their marriage bill, SB-10, is not exactly sailing through the House. Chicago legislators representing heavily ethnic minority and religiously conservative districts have been reluctant to endorse the redefinition of marriage. Perhaps the gay lobby hopes this extra tax money might motivate wavering legislators to support this bill. The people and legislators of Illinois should not count on extra revenue as...

What same-sex marriage advocates won in the Illinois Senate on Valentine’s Day 2013 was just reversed. After weeks and months of hard work to accomplish what should have been easy, gay Democrat sponsor Greg Harris could not muster the votes, while Democratic Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, did not even call for a vote to establish same sex marriage in Illinois. “Today a broad grassroots coalition of Illinois families of Faith of all creeds and colors took on all the Illinois political bosses from Washington to the Governor’s Mansion to Chicago’s City Hall who tried to pay back the...

'As a mayor, I know that legalising same-sex marriage has sharpened New York City’s competitive edge, because it has made us an even more attractive place to live and work.' Across Europe and the US support for same-sex marriage is growing, and for a simple reason: it is consistent with democracy's promise of equal rights for all people. As long as government is in the business of handing out marriage licences, all couples – regardless of their sexual orientation – deserve equal status in the eyes of the law. I believe that it is only a question of when –...

Legalising gay marriage could force the Queen to break a Coronation oath, a senior clergyman warned yesterday. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, said the Queen vowed when she was crowned 60 years ago to ‘uphold the laws of God’. He claimed that signing into law an act allowing same-sex couples to marry would contravene that promise. He spoke as opponents of same-sex unions launched a last-ditch bid to kill the plans in the House of Lords today. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will demand amendments to the Bill to protect those with moral objections. Gay marriage passed with...

One of the clearest things about Minnesota’s new gay-marriage law is that it requires Minnesotans to “play pretend” — to embrace obvious fictions as reality. For example, the law states that citizens must view the union of two people of the same sex — who can’t produce a child — as identical to that of a man and woman, whose sexual complementarity is the only thing that can. The law also declares that, henceforth, “when necessary to implement the rights and responsibilities of spouses or parents in a civil marriage between persons of the same sex,” words like “mother” and...

At the start of May, Union University was graced with the presence of notable evangelical theologians who commented on the issues of homosexuality, marriage, the church, and society. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore joined the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Robert Gagnon at Union’s conference, “Salt and Light in the Public Square: Charles Colson’s Legacy and Vision.”Russell Moore prominently serves as the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s departing dean and will soon succeed retiring Richard Land as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Commenting on the marriage debate, Moore worried, “There are many people in America—including evangelicals—who...

NFL MVP Adrian Peterson says he has family members who are gay whom he loves and respects. But on gay marriage, the Minnesota Vikings running back says “that’s not something I believe in.” SNIP He was asked his thoughts on the Vikings cutting longtime punter Chris Kluwe, an outspoken advocate for gay rights and gay marriage.

ON Tuesday, Kevin Rudd declared himself in support of same-sex marriage. He told us that, after deep reflection, he found he was able to reconcile his religious faith with his secular ethical principles. His last line of argument was that: "30 years of research has seen the Australian Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association acknowledge that same-sex families do not compromise children's development". But Rudd hasn't kept up to date with recent research and his claim is misleading. Last July, in the journal Social Science Research, Mark Regnerus published a large-scale study comparing children...

Adrian Peterson told Bruce Murray and Amani Toomer on Sirius/XM NFL Radio Thursday that he has relatives who are gay but doesn't support gay marriage, NESN reported Monday. When asked about speculation that the Minnesota Vikings had released punter Chris Kluwe for being too open about his pro-gay marriage stance, the 28-year-old running back admitted he's against it.

Several hundred thousand opponents of same-sex marriage marched in central Paris on Sunday against a reform the unpopular French government passed last month at the price of deepening political polarization. Large park grounds around Les Invalides monument were full of protesters waving pink and blue flags, while far-right activists hung a banner on the ruling Socialist Party headquarters urging President Francois Hollande to quit. The protests, which began as a grass roots campaign strongly backed by the Roman Catholic Church, have morphed into a wider movement with opposition politicians and far-right militants airing their discontent with Hollande. Although they have...

Tens of thousands of people protested against France’s new gay marriage law in central Paris on Sunday. The law came into force over a week ago, but organizers decided to go ahead with the long-planned demonstration to show their continued opposition as well as their frustration with President François Hollande, who had made legalizing gay marriage one of his keynote campaign pledges in last year’s election. …

Joe Biden has a very long history of putting his foot in his mouth. Be it when he called his running mate "Barack America," or when he stated, "You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent to fully... I'm not joking." On Tuesday he did it again, this time when giving a speech about the impact that Jewish Americans have had on American culture. The Vice President started out by lauding the great achievements made by Jews in the United States. Then, speaking off-the-cuff, he veered into odd territory. Discussing the...

David Cameron warned restive Tory MPs he will not change policy on an EU referendum yesterday—but promised there would be no more divisive issues such as gay marriage. Seeking to draw a line under a turbulent fortnight, the Prime Minister said his party could now rally behind his pledge to give voters an in/out choice on British membership of the EU by 2017, following an attempt to claw back key powers. He warned Euroskeptics who may seek further concessions: “It’s a very clear, very decisive policy. [It] doesn’t matter the pressure I come under from outside the Conservative Party or...

Gay activists love to point to the changes in public opinion regarding same-sex marriage, announcing triumphantly that this is a sign of moral and even spiritual advancement. In reality, it is part of a larger trend towards immorality, a sign of moral bankruptcy and spiritual apostasy. According to a May 13th Gallup report, “Just three years ago, support for gay marriage was 44%. The current 53% level of support is essentially double the 27% in Gallup's initial measurement on gay marriage, in 1996.” But let’s put that data into a larger, cultural perspective. A May 20th Gallup report is headlined,...

Can there really be anyone who didn’t instantly recognize this as the cheap negotiating tactic that it is? To refresh your memory, Democrats have been threatening for the past month to add an amendment to the Gang of Eight bill that would extend spousal benefits for illegals under the bill to gay spouses too. That’s a potential dealbreaker for Republicans, who’ll have a hard enough time explaining their amnesty vote to conservatives next year without explaining a vote for gay marriage on top of it. Would Democrats insist upon it, thereby wrecking this horrible left-wing dream legislation, with sham border...

Vice President Joe Biden is praising Jewish leaders for helping change American attitudes about gay marriage and other issues. … Biden says, quote, “Think—behind of all that, I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether it’s in Hollywood or social media, are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry.” …

A recently released poll from The Washington Post indicates that a Bible Belt state may be moving toward majority support for same-sex marriage. According to the results, which were published on the newspaper's website Tuesday, 56 percent of Virginians polled stated that they believe gay couples should be allowed to marry; 33 percent said no and 10 percent held no opinion. This was an increase from two years earlier, when 46 percent of Virginians said yes to legalized same-sex marriage, 43 percent stated opposition, and 11 percent held no opinion. Based on 1,000 telephone interviews conducted from April 29 to...

ACLU: Time for 'Modern Family' gay couple to wed NEW YORK The ACLU is lobbying for the gay couple on "Modern Family" to get married. ACLU Action started a campaign to urge the show's producers to write a wedding episode for Mitchell and Cameron, fathers of an adopted child and one of three couples at the heart of the show. The ACLU says it is appealing to the fictional family to draw more attention to the real issue as it awaits Supreme Court decisions on two important marriage equality cases. "Mitch and Cam are a couple that America has come...

Gay actors George Takei and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have teamed up for a new Funny or Die video supporting same-sex marriage. Like most of the site's videos it's not remotely funny, but it does express plenty of intolerance while preaching a message of ... tolerance. The clip, a sendup of '50s era America, finds Takei narrating the sad tale of a guy named Dale who opposes same sex marriage. (VIDEO-AT-LINK) "What you can't tell about Dale is that he's sick. He opposes marriage equality. Dale looks normal, but he gives off clues of his prejudice with buzz words like pro...

Fifty-three percent of Americans say the law should recognize same-sex marriages, the third consecutive reading of 50% or above in Gallup polling over the past year. The 53% in favor ties the high to this point, also measured last November and in May 2011. Gallup's May 2-7 poll suggests Americans' support for gay marriage is solidifying above the majority level. Recently, Rhode Island and Delaware legalized same-sex marriage, and Minnesota is likely to follow suit. That would bring the total number of states legally recognizing same-sex marriage to 12. Just three years ago, support for gay marriage was 44%. The...

Yesterday my friend and fellow law professor, Dale Carpenter, published an op-ed that claimed religious liberty will be unharmed if we embrace same-sex marriage ("The rites and rights of marriage," May 9). The House of Representatives has now passed a new definition of marriage, and we will see how people of faith fare. Carpenter acknowledges that religious liberty is the first freedom mentioned in our Bill of Rights, but then suggests that our free-exercise rights are limited to a "right to worship." Instead, our federal and state constitutions guarantee the more robust free-exercise right -- the right of each American...

The Democratic-led state Legislature in Minnesota is expected to begin a final push on Thursday toward making it the 12th U.S. state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples and the third this month after Delaware and Rhode Island.

David Cameron was accused of “running scared” on gay marriage after the controversial legislation was left out of the Queen’s Speech. Downing Street insisted that the law—which has already cleared the Commons—would continue its passage through the Lords in the new session of Parliament. But in apparent recognition of its unpopularity with many traditional Tory voters, there was no mention of it in yesterday’s speech setting out the Government’s legislative program for the year. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was rejected by more than half of his MPs in a Commons vote in February and was blamed by some...

“Yeah, I don’t feel good about it,” said Dayton when asked about the Minnesota Vikings decision to release outspoken punter Chris Kluwe. “I’m not in a position to evaluate the relative punting abilities, but it seems to me the general manager said, right after the draft, they were going to have competition,” Dayton recalled. “Well, they bring the one guy in, he kicks for a weekend and that’s competition? “I just think sports officials ought to be honest about what the heck is going on, same way I think public officials should be honest about what’s going on, so that...

Illinois Republicans have just forced state party chair Pat Brady to resign because of his support for gay marriage. What is this, Alabama? Brady, rather famously, came out in support of gay marriage in January of this year, and even made phone calls to lawmakers urging them to support gay marriage legislation before the Illinois legislature. And now he’s politically-dead, killed by a Republican party so permeated with hate and intolerance that even in a moderate-Republican state like Illinois, the GOP just couldn’t stomach having a fag-lover as party chair. This is why I, an Illinois Republican, left my party...

Clearly, the world isn’t as pro-gay marriage as Australia’s establishment media. With only 14 of the world’s 195 nation states allowing same-sex partners to marry, your average “gay marriage” state belongs to an experimental minority. We’re talking eccentric social-engineering islands. Together, they make up the seven per cent. So your average gay-marriage state looks like…? In short, the sociological answer is…very white. Such nations tend to be relatively small, overwhelmingly Caucasian, and frighteningly bureaucratic. Think, legalistic Belgium for a good example. Nevertheless, media elites boast that gay-marriage nations are “ahead of history,” implying that white-majority nations are morally superior, even...

<p>CHICAGO -- There are published reports Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady is planning to step down for personal reasons.</p> <p>The reports have Brady announcing his resignation on Tuesday.</p> <p>Republican State Rep. Jim Durkin told the Chicago Sun-Times Brady is "leaving on terms that he's imposed on himself." Durkin says Brady, who he calls a dear friend, wants to spend more time with his family.</p>

A battle within the Republican Party over same-sex marriage is unfolding on two fronts, in public, and behind the scenes. In the latter case, one of the most influential players is a billionaire hedge fund manager largely unknown to those who don’t work in finance or mix with political mega-donors. That man is Paul E. Singer, who over the years has used his wealth to spur Republicans to support gay marriage laws. Now, Singer is expanding his reach with the creation of an advocacy group which aims to spend millions influencing the legislative debate over same-sex marriage across the country.

For a man who regards Brussels as the biggest threat to Britain’s freedom since the Second World War, the choice of beer for Nigel Farage was obvious when we met at the Westminster Arms on Friday: Spitfire. It is brewed by Shepherd Neame in Kent to celebrate the Battle of Britain. Farage, a man of Kent, gulped down the first pint in 15 minutes, ordered a ‘reload,’ polishing off his second in another ten; and the moment we stepped outside, he lit up a fag.

Rhode Island on Thursday became the nation's 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, as a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman Catholic state ended with the triumphant cheers of hundreds of gays, lesbians, their families and friends. Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law on the Statehouse steps Thursday evening following a final 56-15 vote in the House. The first weddings will take place Aug. 1, when the law takes effect. "I've been waiting 32 years for this day, and I never thought it would come in my lifetime," said Raymond...

. 2013-05-03 "RENDER UNTO CAESAR ..." =============================== The "strategic goal" of the pro-gay-marriage-farce movement is "NOT" about homosexual marriage or child adoption. All of that is a political smokescreen for the Low-Information-Voters ... which by the way ... including MILLIONS of Twenty-Somethings (like my four adult children) who know NOTHING of history and DESTRUCTION of a nation. The real goal of the pro-gay-marriage-farce movement is to create a Perfect Storm to REMOVE the Churches' IRS 501 C-3 tax-exempt status. This SATANIC PERFECT STORM is designed to force genuine Christian Churches into FINANCIAL POVERTY by having their (idolatrous) IRS 501 C-3...

Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening, immediately following a final procedural vote in the state’s General Assembly. The outcome of the vote is not in doubt. Hundreds are expected to gather at the Statehouse to celebrate the new law, which has already passed the House and Senate once. The first weddings could take place Aug. 1, when the new law would take effect. …

As a Soldier and someone who will soon be applying to become Chaplain, I am forced to write this article under a pseudonym. It isn't because I am afraid that my beliefs or convictions are wrong but it is entirely possible that this could be used by some to keep me out of the Chaplains Corps where I think I can do such good for the Soldiers of the United States. I not writing my personal beliefs about homosexuality or gay marriage. Instead I would like to focus on a constitutional issue: how would legalizing homosexual marriage affect the First...

During a law school debate on April 15, New York University professor of social and cultural analysis Judith Stacey argued against the nuclear family and monogamous relationships, and for decriminalizing polygamy. The debate, sponsored by the conservative Federalist Society and between Ms. Stacey and the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson, was on “the defense of marriage.” Among Ms. Stacey’s wicked smart musings: “I say why should there be marriage at all;” “What should limit it to two and why should it be monogamous? Nothing in view gives the state that particular interest;” and “So I would agree that we...

A bid to legalize same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has failed. Unionists voted down a motion at Stormont’s Assembly which called on the power-sharing ministerial Executive to legislate. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK without marriage rights for gay couples. The issue sparked impassioned debate, with protests outside the legislature and verbal clashes between campaigners in favor of or opposed to the change. Amnesty International has warned of a likely legal challenge. … Church leaders had urged Assembly members to vote against the legislation, with the Catholic church asserting marriage was between a man and a woman....

Warren Jeffs must be banging his head against the walls of his prison cell these days. If he had only waited a few years before starting his Texas polygamy compound, he’d have ended up a civil rights trailblazer and Twitter-verse superstar, enduring nothing more than a little good-natured teasing from Jimmy Kimmel about his new show, “79 Wives and Counting.”Actually, that scenario’s not hard to imagine, given that the last vestiges of “repressive Christian morality” are being swept away by a tsunami of “progressive” dogma, its doctrines flowing from an absolute certainty that there are no absolutes — that all...

Revolutions are often sparked by an unexpected shock to an already-weakened regime. As commentators in France remark not only on the crisis engulfing François Hollande’s government but also on the apparent death rattle of the country’s entire political system, it could be that his flagship policy of legalizing gay marriage—or rather, the gigantic public reaction against it, unique in Europe—will be the last straw that breaks the Fifth Republic’s back. … (T)he deeper explanation for the strength of feeling lies in the fact that, in French law, marriage is indissociable from the right to start a family. There is currently...

I’ve had this photo from The Daily Caller up in my browser for days, ever since Vince Coglianese ran it, as it just keeps popping back into my mind. The photo comes from a speaking appearance by Belgian Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard in Brussels, which Femen targeted for a protest against what it calls “hate” and homophobia in the Catholic Church. I keep looking at this picture … and see hate, but not where Femen does: "A group of naked women bum-rushed Belgian Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard while he was speaking in Brussels and doused him with water from bottles shaped like...

I am troubled by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s crackdown on florist Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, for refusing to make a flower arrangement for a same-sex wedding. #I’m not arguing here against gay marriage. I voted for it. I’m not even sure that Stutzman has a legal right to refuse the business. Ferguson says that under Washington’s anti-discrimination statute, she doesn’t, and probably he’s right. She might, however, have a superior right under the state constitution, depending on how you interpret it. #The constitution has nothing in it about freedom from private discrimination. But Article 1, Section...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal.

With the Supreme Court set to start hearing arguments on the constitutionality of bans on gay marriage next week, polls across the nation are showing that for the first time in history, more Americans support same-sex marriage than oppose it. The reasons for this dramatic shift in the American point of view are many. For starters, President Barack Obama flipped the script when he announced his support of gay marriage in an election year. A gutsy move and one that made it okay to be pro-gay. Since then, people have been coming out of the woodwork to support gay marriage,...

A U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge has ruled that the federal judiciary discriminated against an assistant federal public defender in Portland by not recognizing her same-sex marriage from Canada, and that Oregon's ban against same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.