Free Republic

Karine Jean-Pierre will become the new White House press secretary when Jen Psaki departs her role next week, President Joe Biden announced in a statement Thursday, becoming the first Black and out LGBTQ person to hold the position. Jean-Pierre currently serves as the White House’s principal deputy press secretary.“Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people,” Biden said in a statement, adding that “Jen Psaki has set the standard for returning...

After a draft Supreme Court opinion seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has protected the constitutional right to abortion for nearly five decades, was leaked this week, activists said they began to worry that other landmark rulings – on which modern LGBTQ+ rights hinge – may be targeted next. Protections stemming from cases like Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated discriminatory sodomy laws, and Obergefell v. Hobbs, which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S., will not immediately disappear with the overturning of Roe, but they may be weakened.

Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine said trans youth are being “driven to depths of despair” and committing suicide at alarming rates, during a speech on Saturday about the dangers of anti-trans laws being passed in red states across the country. Levine, the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, said in a speech at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth that LGBTQ youth are being “attacked” and have “few places to turn” for help. “I want to say this very, very clearly: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans are committing suicide at a rate...

The blood service asked Health Canada to allow it to scrap questions about gender or sexuality, and instead base screening on higher-risk sexual behavior such as anal sex. Starting no later than Sept. 30, potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple sexual partners in the last previous months, no matter their gender or sexual orientation. Those who say yes will be asked if they have engaged in higher-sisk sex. If they have, they will need to wait three months after such activity before donating blood.

In a corner of the third Jewish cemetery in Odessa, among the overgrowth and tombs that no one visits anymore, there is a monument that the present has recovered from oblivion. It is an amphitheater made up of large stone blocks and black granite columns. There are steles with 305 names in Hebrew. They are the identified victims of the 1905 pogrom against the city’s Jews. That episode of ethnic persecution also triggered the creation of the Jewish self-defense groups of Odessa, the largest armed organization of the Jewish people on Ukrainian soil. More than a century later, the members...

KYIV, April 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the biggest battle of the Ukraine war on Thursday, declaring the port of Mariupol "liberated" after nearly two months of siege, despite hundreds of defenders still holding out inside a giant steel works. In a televised meeting with his defence minister inside the Kremlin, Putin said there was no need for a final confrontation with the last defenders who were boxed in after surviving nearly two months of Russia's siege. "I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary," he told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in a televised...

After nearly two months under siege, the southern city of Mariupol could fall into Russian hands within "hours", a Ukrainian official said Wednesday, as the two sides agreed to a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to flee the devastated port city....The enemy is outnumbering us 10 to one," Serhiy Volyna from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade said."We appeal and plead to all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the procedure of extraction and take us to the territory of a third-party state."Thousands of troops and civilians remain holed up in the plant.

Benny @bennyjohnson2h BREAKING: Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) has been permanently suspended from Twitter.

The former public school teacher and principal has been pushed out of her education policy roleNEW YORK CITY (LifeSiteNews) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams fired a recently appointed education advisor after the New York Daily News reported her views on homosexuality. Mayor Adams named Kathlyn Barrett-Layne on Tuesday to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), along with eight other appointees. PEP is the governing body for the city’s education department. His administration asked her to resign hours after the announcement. The Daily News took credit for getting her removed from the board after it reported on several books...

Anyone who cares about the advancement of sports, and women's sports in particular, should celebrate her win.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a ban on transgender students playing girls’ sports on Tuesday, becoming the second Republican governor this week to overrule state lawmakers who have taken on youth sports in a broader culture war over how Americans view gender and sexuality. Cox joins Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who vetoed a statewide ban on Monday. Holcomb said Indiana’s Legislature had not demonstrated that transgender kids had undermined fairness in sports. Cox, for his part, referenced the potential effects on transgender youth. “I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt however,...

In related news, Holcomb also vetoed House Bill 1041 on Monday which would have banned transgender female high school athletes from playing on the girls’ teams. The bill had previously faced criticism despite passing through both the Indiana House and Senate. “It’s encouraging to see Governor Eric Holcomb tell his party that their culture wars have crossed the line. Signing House Bill 1041 into law would have put the lives of our children in jeopardy. However, this unnecessary debate has set a tone with kids that being transgender means something is wrong with them. It must be said that nothing...