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SAN FRANCISCO -- California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional,

Roland Martin’s call to attack men that liked a David Beckham ad has prompted the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to demand that CNN fire the commentator. It all started with a tweet Martin sent after Beckham’s commercial aired during the Super Bowl : “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!”

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused Thursday to unseal video recordings of a landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban but said it needed more time to decide if a lower court judge properly struck down the voter-approved ban. Siding with the ban's supporters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the public doesn't have the right to see the footage that former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had produced with the caveat it would be used only by him to help him reach a verdict. Chief Judge Walker "promised...

A Wisconsin school superintendent may be rethinking how he dealt with a student who wrote a school newspaper article condemning homosexuality as sinful. As part of an assignment for his journalism class, which is responsible for producing the school newspaper, 15-year-old Shawano High School student Brandon Wegner contributed half of a pro-con editorial feature on adoption by homosexual couples, using Scripture to buttress his case against same-sex couples adopting children. Wegner, who was raised in a Christian home, pointed out that, according to Leviticus 18:22, “it is an abomination” for couples of the same sex to be intimately involved. With...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum were shoved and a baby stroller was left knocked over after a group of “Occupy” protesters disrupted his election-night gathering and threw glitter on him Saturday night. The ruckus occurred after Santorum made remarks to supporters following his third-place finish in the South Carolina primary Saturday night. One female protester threw glitter on him before quickly being escorted away. The protesters yelled phrases suggesting they disagree with Santorum’s stance on gay issues. They chanted “bigot!” as they were escorted out of the auditorium at the College of Charleston along with...

(CNSNews.com) – On Jan. 1, the California Department of Education started implementing a new law that requires all children in the state’s public schools to study the “role and contributions” of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” to the “development of California and the United States of America.” This law, according to the pro-family group SaveCalifornia.com, will require the schools to promote “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans as role models” and mandate that “children as young as kindergarten must be taught to admire persons who engage in homosexuality.”

The USA’s first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, has responded to presidential hopeful Rick Perry's anti-gay TV promotion suggesting that "it must break God's heart to see religion used in a political campaign like this." Bishop Robinson of the Episcopal Church showed his distaste in a TV interview with MSNBC and also by writing an opinion piece in the Washington Post newspaper. Perry had stated in his commercial that “You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t...

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has heard arguments in a religious liberty case that could determine whether a college has the right to require students to profess certain beliefs about homosexuality in order to get a degree. Augusta State University, in east Georgia, put counseling student Jennifer Keeton on academic probation in 2010 after she acknowledged in private conversations and during class that she disagreed with homosexuality. School administrators claimed Keeton said it would be hard for her to counsel gay clients, a stance they said violated ethical standards for licensed counselors, as put forth by the American...

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Led by such American staples as AT&T, Kellogg and Coca-Cola, a record number of businesses -- 337 in all -- achieved a perfect score in 2011 for their policies affirming homosexuality. That's according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay organization, which launched its Corporate Equality Index in 2002, when only 13 businesses received a perfect score. By 2006 it had grown to 138, and last year it was at 305. Released each fall, the list shows the challenge that pro-family groups and citizens face when attempting to spend their money only at businesses that...

Pro-gay activists have launched a boycott of an Iowa baker who declined to create a wedding cake for a lesbian couple based on her religious beliefs. Victoria Childress, the owner of Victoria’s Cake Cottage in Des Moines, has been accused of being anti-gay, homophobic, and a bigot after she refused to make a cake for Trina Vodraska and Janelle Sievers. Childress told Fox News & Commentary that she made five cakes for the couple to taste – unaware that they were lesbians. “She introduced herself, and I said, ‘Is this your sister?’” Childress said. “She said, ‘No. This is my...

Having forcibly – and understandably – rectified the Versailles-type injustices and humiliations foisted on the homosexual community, the UK’s victorious Gaystapo are now on a roll. Their gay-rights storm troopers take no prisoners as they annex our wider culture, and hotel owners (here) and (here), registrars (here), magistrates (here), doctors (here), counsellors (here) and (here), foster parents (here), grandparents (here), adoption agencies (here) and traditional street preachers (here) and (here) find themselves crushed under the pink jack-boot. Thanks especially to the green light from a permissive New Labour government, the gay Wehrmacht is on its long march through the institutions...

Bricks thrown through windows of a northwest suburban school prior to an appearance there by an anti-gay activist had threatening notes attached, police said today. The bricks were thrown at Christian Liberty Academy early Saturday morning, apparently in protest of Scott Lively, an anti-gay activist, who spoke there later that night during a banquet hosted by Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality. A note attached to one brick read, "This is just a sample of what we will do if you don't shut down scott lively and AFTAH (expletive) scott lively Quit the homophobic (expletive)!" Another brick had "Shut down Lively"...

Portland, OR - Black-clad demonstrators gathered in front of the Mars Hill Church in Southeast Portland this morning to protest the church's stance on homosexuality. About 20 protesters lined Southeast Taylor Street carrying flags and shouting obscenities as church-goers left when the service ended. "Shame on you bigots," one woman yelled at worshippers as they left. "Shame on you homophobes. You're not welcome here. You're going to burn in hell." She declined to comment for this story. Brad Salyers came to Mars Hill from Wilsonville Sunday with his wife and two young children. . It was his first visit to...

The Texas school where a teen was punished for saying homosexuality was wrong has apologized and stated the boy “has the right to express an opinion in a manner consistent with law and policy.” The Fort Worth Independent School District has issued a letter fully vindicating high school freshman Dakota Ary, who was given in-school suspension for telling another student that he believes homosexuality is wrong because of his Christian faith. The controversy surrounded an incident that happened when Dakota was in Kristopher Franks’ German language class at Western Hills High School and the topic of homosexuality arose. Dakota said...

San Francisco (AP) -- A federal judge in San Francisco has decided to unseal video recordings of last year's landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware on Monday agreed with lawyers for two same-sex couples who sued to overturn Proposition 8 and with a coalition of news outlets that there is no reason to keep the recordings secret.

A Florida teacher who was suspended for statements that disapproved of legalized homosexual marriage in New York has been reinstated, attorneys representing the veteran educator have announced. "This is a great day for the Constitution," said Harry Mihet, senior litigation counsel for Liberty Counsel, which worked on the case involving Jerry Buell. "By fully exonerating Mr. Buell, the Lake County (Fla.) School Board has reaffirmed what the rest of Americans already knew. The First Amendment protects the right of public servants to express their personal opinion without any fear or intimidation. It is a shame that Mr. Buell had to...

One of the few issues on which opinion has moved left over the last few years is same-sex marriage. In 1996, Gallup found that Americans opposed it by a 68 percent to 27 percent margin. Last May, Gallup found Americans in favor by 53 percent to 45 percent. That's a huge change in 15 years. Other polls have shown similar movement. Pew Research reported last week that 45 percent favored same-sex marriage and 46 percent were opposed -- a dead heat. Pew polls in 2008 and 2009 found only 35 percent to 40 percent in favor. This is an issue...

MOUNT DORA, FL, August 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mount Dora High School has removed a veteran social-studies teacher Gerald (Jerry) Buell from his classroom for Facebook comments critical of homosexual ‘marriage’. Christopher Patton, Communications Officer for Lake County Schools told LifeSiteNews that Buell was moved to administrative duties pending the results of an investigation into a suspected code of ethics violation. On his personal Facebook account, outside of school time, Buell posted a reaction to New York’s passage of homosexual ‘marriage’ saying he “almost threw up.” He also referred to homosexual unions as sinful and referred to it as...

An Illinois judge ruled Thursday that the state can stop working with Catholic Charities on adoptions and foster care placements — something the state decided to do in July after the not-for-profit agency refused to recognize Illinois' new civil unions law. In his ruling, Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Schmidt said that no one, including Catholic Charities, has a legal right to a contract with the state government. He did not address the more sensitive issue of whether a state contractor that refuses to serve gays and lesbians is violating the state's new civil unions law. The state Department of...

Ann Coulter to Serve as Honorary Chair of GOProud’s Advisory CouncilFor Immediate Release August 9, 2011 Ann Coulter to Serve as Honorary Chair of GOProud’s Advisory Council Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the GOProud Board – “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and fearless leader of the conservative movement, we are honored to have her as part of GOProud’s leadership.” (Washington, D.C.) – Today, GOProud, the only national organization of gay conservatives and their allies, announced that Ann Coulter was joining the organization’s Advisory Council as Honorary Chair. Coulter’s official title will be “Gay Icon.” “Ann Coulter is a brilliant and...

Tomorrow the Senate will hold the first hearing on The Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, thus granting to all lawfully married couples—including same-sex couples—to receive federal marriage benefits and protections if they are joined by a valid marriage in a state where such marriages are legal. “The president has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people --our families, friends and neighbors,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said at today’s press briefing. “He is proud...

In the early weeks of her presidential run, Michele Bachmann has avoided getting bogged down in the divisive, distracting terrain of social policy. Gay rights groups say they plan to change that. Even as Bachmann’s tightly-disciplined campaign pivots sharply away from her roots as a social conservative warrior to embrace her newer image as a Tea Party fiscal crusader, gay leaders are looking to drag her back into the fray. Energized by victory in New York last month, they say Bachmann’s campaign will be both the focus of their attention and a useful rallying cry as the presidential campaign hits...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said Friday that he will push for legalizing same-sex marriage in the upcoming legislative session."I certainly plan to be very active in support of it, and we'll have other announcements in upcoming months," O'Malley said at the National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City.O'Malley has long supported civil unions and has said that if lawmakers passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, he would sign it. But Friday marks the first time O'Malley has made same-sex unions a legislative priority.The Democratic governor said he would favor a measure in Maryland that mirrors the same-sex marriage law recently...

Gov. Cuomo raised $6.2M campaign funds from lobbyists, unions, business and a gay-rights organization so far-- and has a war chest of $9.2M cash. Cuomo spent nearly $23M on the governor's race, then took office with just over $4M in the bank. A $60,000 contribution from a major gay-rights group came six weeks before passage of the same-sex marriage bill.

7-14-2011 SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. announced today that he has signed the following bill: • SB 48 by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) – Pupil instruction: prohibition of discriminatory content.

The California state legislature has passed a book-banning law. Nobody is calling the book ban a book ban because the books the book ban bans offend homosexuals. If the legislature had extended legislative protection to the hurt feelings of, say, Mormons or evangelical Christians, then everyone would have agreed that it’s a book ban. But it doesn’t, so don’t call the book ban a book ban. You just might get banned, too. The legislation, awaiting the signature of Governor Jerry Brown, decrees that localities in America’s most populous state “shall not adopt any textbooks or other instructional materials for use...

The U.S. ambassador to El Salvador has violated rules of diplomacy and international laws by writing an article encouraging homosexual “rights,” according to a coalition of pro-life and pro-family groups in the country. Speaking directly to Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte, the coalition wrote, “(I)n clear violation of the rules of diplomacy and international rights laws, you intend to impose (a) new vision of foreign and bizarre values and intend to disguise (these) as ‘human rights.’” The statement was published July 6 in the local newspaper El Diario de Hoy. The rebuke of the ambassador occurred after she called for the...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued a “Dear Colleagues” letter on June 14 directing federally funded schools to allow and promote the establishment of clubs on campuses, specifically Gay-Straight Alliance clubs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.The letter was issued from the department’s Office of Civil Rights for elementary and secondary schools and was sent to all school districts in the United States, according to Jo Ann Webb, spokesperson for the Department of Education (DOE).Webb said the school districts – the entity that oversees elementary, middle and secondary schools in a specific district in every state – will decide what...

California lawmakers on Tuesday sent the governor a bill that would make the state the first requiring public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum. The bill, passed on a party-line vote, adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as well as people with disabilities to the list of groups that schools must include in the lessons. It also would prohibit material that reflects adversely on gays. Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco says SB48 is crucial because of the bullying that happens to gay students. Republicans called it a well-intentioned but ill-conceived...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - If homosexual activists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have their way, a radical “gay sensitivity” training program developed by the department could soon be coming to every federal agency, the Washington Times reported Sunday. According to an internal newsletter published for employees, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency that oversees federal employment issues, has met with officials at USDA responsible for developing the program. The newsletter, which calls the program “groundbreaking,” reports that the goal of collaboration with OPM is to spread USDA’s “LGBT Special Emphasis Program”  across the...

Our recent story about the increasing trend of families leaving the city once their kids hit school age garnered a lot of attention inside and outside City Hall. As we noted, despite years of policy initiatives by city and school officials, new census figures show 5,278 fewer kids living in the city in 2010 than in 2000. That means just 13.4 percent of San Francisco residents are kids - one of the lowest percentages of any city in the country. Is it just a given that not many kids will grow up in the city, or can more be done?

In the 35th-floor conference room of a Manhattan high-rise, two of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most trusted advisers held a secret meeting a few weeks ago with a group of super-rich Republican donors. Over tuna and turkey sandwiches, the advisers explained that New York’s Democratic governor was determined to legalize same-sex marriage and would deliver every possible Senate vote from his own party. Would the donors win over the deciding Senate Republicans? It sounded improbable: top Republican moneymen helping a Democratic rival with one of his biggest legislative goals. But the donors in the room — the billionaire Paul Singer,...

(Reuters) - The New York state Senate again put off a vote on legalizing same-sex marriage on Thursday, and the Republican Senate leader said lawmakers would meet again on Friday to decide what to do. The bill is one vote short of enough support for passage in the state Senate. It was approved in the state Assembly by a comfortable margin. If approved, New York would be the sixth and by far the most populous U.S. state to legalize gay marriage, and the vote would be a huge victory for the gay rights movement.

Known primarily for making an unforgettable catch, David Tyree lately has been speaking some pretty unforgettable words. Tyree, whose catch in Super Bowl XLII is among the most amazing plays in NFL postseason history, has drawn widespread criticism for his strong opposition to gay marriage. The issue is a hot topic in New York, where the state legislature is currently considering whether to make New York the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Hans Pennink David Tyree visited the New York state Capitol in Albany on Monday and shared his views against same-sex marriage with James Jasiewicz.In a...

U.S. Department of Agriculture activists want to impose their intense brand of homosexual sensitivity training government-wide, including a discussion that compares “heterosexism” — believing marriage can only can be between one man and one woman — to racism. If accepted by the Obama administration, that move could mean more sessions for military service members already undergoing gay-sensitivity indoctrination. Critics fear additional gay-oriented training would be an unnecessary added burden for combat troops and encourage some to leave. USDA officials have asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which oversees all federal worker policies, to impose its gay-awareness programs on all...

Former pro football player David Tyree has dared come out publicly with his view that New York State should not grant same-sex marriage licenses. For that view, disclosed in an interview with the "anti-gay group" the National Organization for Marriage, Tyree's "put his foot in his mouth" according to Yahoo! Sports blogger Doug Farrar (emphasis mine): And with that voice, Tyree managed to put his foot in his mouth in the minds of many people, saying that two people of the same gender could not make a commitment to each other that involved the raising of children. Asked in a...

Sen. Roy McDonald. (nysenate.gov) Senator Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, told the Times Union Tuesday that he will back a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. He becomes the 31st senator to proclaim his public support for the bill. It needs 32 votes to pass the Senate.“I’m trying to do the right thing,� he said. “Rather than wait I worked with the governor…I’m not out to alienate anybody. This is driven by compassion.�“My lifestyle is my lifestyle — I don’t want anyone telling me or my children what to do,� he said. “We’ve got 20 million people in this state…we can’t be paralyzed by...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal judge has upheld a gay judge's ruling to strike down California's same-sex marriage ban. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware said Tuesday that former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker did not have to divulge whether he wanted to marry his own gay partner before he declared last year that voter-approved Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.

Tracy Morgan says he's sorry for telling an audience that he would "pull out a knife and stab" his son for being gay. The comedian and actor on NBC's "30 Rock" apologized Friday to his fans and the gay and lesbian community for what he called "my choice of words" during his June 3 appearance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.

Last fall, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cut soda and other sugar- and corn-sweetened drinks from the list of “foods” that New Yorkers can buy with federal food-stamp benefits. Lobbyists, from soda makers to grocery stores to minority advocates, have fought the proposal. They say that any restriction would represent an attack both on business and on personal freedom for the poor. That argument is flimsy. As food prices rise, and as the federal government cuts back spending, the mayor’s attempt to safeguard the taxpayer dollar is fiscally and socially sound. Back...

The rising generation of Americans ages 18 to 29 are more likely than their elders to support gay marriage, but believe more or less as the country at large does about abortion, according to a major new survey of attitudes on social issues released Thursday. The survey, produced by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), used 3,000 phone interviews and a number of focus groups to produce data on the “millennial” generation’s views on major social and moral matters. “We wanted to cast some light on where exactly millennials are on these issues,” said Robert Jones, the founder and CEO...

The first same-sex Jewish partnership ceremony officially to be termed a marriage by Liberal Judaism – a major British progressive strand of the religion – took place in Manchester last weekend. Liberal Jewish Community members Jeffrey Levine and Roman Hunter-Fox exchanged vows, a ketubah and rings under a chuppah at the city’s Lowry Hotel. As reported in the Jewish Chronicle, both men performed the traditional glass-breaking, while specially written shevah brachot (seven blessings) were made, including the phrase “Blessed is God that you cause loving companions to rejoice together”, to replace the traditional blessing for a bride and groom. This...

A gay softball organization can keep its rule limiting the number of heterosexual players on each team, but allegations by three players who say they were disqualified from a tournament because they weren't gay enough can proceed to trial, a federal judge said. The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance oversees gay softball leagues in dozens of U.S. cities and runs an annual tournament called the Gay Softball World Series. Three men claim in a lawsuit filed last year that their team's second-place finish in the 2008 tournament in Washington state was nullified because they are bisexual, not gay, and...

Oprah Winfrey, God and gays by Kathleen Gilbert Fri May 27 4:02 PM EST May 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Oprah Winfrey, the undisputed queen of daytime TV and popular spirituality, signed off her show after 25 years with a shout-out to both Jesus Christ and the homosexual culture. The farewell episode was appropriate for the woman whose remarkable emotional genius captured a large audience, but whose pseudo-Christian philosophy proved a source of confusion and frustration for conservative Christian America. While apparently espousing Christianity, Winfrey has also promoted New Age spirituality and homosexuality, and sided with the abortion lobby. During...

A Toronto couple raising their 4-month-old without identifying the child as a boy or a girl have created a media firestorm in Canada, where some have likened the scenario to a "bizarre lab experiment" that seeks to undo thousands of years of social evolution. Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, are raising their third child, Storm, to be free of societal norms regarding gender. Is Storm male or female? The parents won't say, so no one knows except Storm's older brothers, Jazz and Kio, as well as a close family friend and two midwives who helped deliver the baby,...

America now has a gay-rights majority. Gallup reports that for the first time ever, most people -- 53 percent -- favor legalizing same-sex marriage. That's up from 27 percent just 15 years ago. The nation has moved, and it's not going back. It's nice to think that in a democracy, public policy will soon follow public opinion, with same-sex marriage becoming the norm, not the exception. But that's not how democracy works in a big, diverse federal system. On this emotional issue, the citizenry is divided, and marriage laws as well as politics will reflect that division for a long...

Are children born to and raised by lesbians more likely to engage in same-sex sexual activity? Law professor Eugene Volokh reports on an interesting study that address that question: ThereÂ’s long been something of a debate about this question, and I thought IÂ’d note an interesting and apparently quite credible article touching on it, Nanette K. Gartrell, Henny M. W. Bos & Naomi G. Goldberg, Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Sexual Orientation, Sexual Behavior, and Sexual Risk Exposure, Archives of Sexual Behavior (2010). (I learned of it because one of the coauthors is affiliated with the...

The Libertarian Party of Minnesota has taken a position on the proposal to place a marriage amendment on the ballot for the voters of Minnesota. I am taking the time to rebut this paragraph because this kind of argument has become all too common, even among those who have every desire and intention to expand the scope of government. You might think this would give Libertarians pause, but, that is another story. Here is what the LPMN has to say: The proposed Gay Marriage Ban would expand government control and restrict the freedom of consenting adults to live their own...

The Presbytery of Charlotte added its support Tuesday to ending the ban on gays and lesbians becoming clergy and lay leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Presbyterian church leaders from the seven-county Charlotte region voted 162-154 to change the denomination's constitution by removing a 1997 amendment that said the ordained must either be single and chaste or in a heterosexual marriage. ..The Rev. Kate Murphy of Hickory Grove Presbyterian, who made the case for removing the ban on gays and lesbians, said her reading of Scripture told her that "committed monogamous homosexual relations are not sinful in God's eyes."

As gay rights advocates intensify their campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, the bulk of their money is coming from an unexpected source: a group of conservative financiers and wealthy donors to the Republican Party, most of whom are known for bankrolling right-leaning candidates and causes. Their behind-the-scenes financial support — about $1 million in donations, delivered in recent weeks to a new coalition of gay rights organizations — could alter the political calculus of Albany lawmakers, especially the Republican state senators in whose hands the fate of gay marriage rests. The donors represent some of New York’s...