Free Republic

The sponsors of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to nullify the marriages of the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters approved the ballot initiative that outlawed gay unions. The Yes on 8 campaign filed a brief arguing that because the new law holds that only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized or valid in California, the state can no longer recognize the existing same-sex unions.

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The parents of a television anchorwoman beaten to death at her home said Monday their daughter was sexually assaulted during the attack, and an arrest warrant released by police says DNA evidence linked an eastern Arkansas man to the crime "with all scientific certainty." In a television interview on NBC's Today show, Guy and Patti Cannady said Anne Pressly, 26, was beaten so severely that a portion of her jawbone was broken away. The couple said their daughter also broke her left hand while trying...

Ever since a slim majority outlawed gay marriage in California, opponents have waged national protests and petitions, urging the judicial system to reconsider the results of the Nov. 4 referendum. (Proposition 8 overturned an earlier decision by the California Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage.) While the court weighs whether or not to get back into the fray, the civil unrest ignited by the ban shows no sign of abating. A national protest against Prop. 8 organized by JoinTheImpact.com is scheduled for today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opponents say donated more than $20 million to...

LOS ANGELES - Homosexuals and their supporters in California are vowing to fight the passage of a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. Even as the last votes were being counted, the American Civil Liberties Union and other opponents of Proposition 8 filed a challenge with the state Supreme Court. They contended that it cannot be used to undermine one group's access to rights enjoyed by other citizens. (Read earlier story: "Major pro-family victory in California") The city attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco also filed a request with the Supreme...

Last-minute change among Catholics could have helped measure pass -- Some pollsters say it was previously undecided Catholics, jolted from their uncertainty by a Sunday sermon, who made the decisive tilt toward eliminating same-sex marriage in California.Others think that African-Americans and Latinos, voting in overwhelming numbers on Tuesday both to elect Barack Obama and pass Proposition 8, made a crucial difference.Still others say that despite months of polling that led many to believe Prop. 8 was expected to fail, a huge bloc of Californians had always shown themselves to be internally conflicted, and therefore unpredictable, on whether gays and lesbians...

America is at a crucial juncture. Prop 8 really comes down to what is right and wrong concerning marriage. Tuesday, it will be written into law: we will either be a state that supports free religion or free sexuality. One of them will be judged as less important. Watch this video, pass it on to your friends. This is not an issue that anyone can remain silent on.

Along with the new Jewish year we welcomed a new cycle of Torah readings. For Californians, the first post-Sukkot Sabbath reading was particularly timely, coming as it did a mere 10 days before the 2008 elections. It should have given pause to Jewish opponents of Proposition 8, the measure aimed at amending California’s constitution to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in state law. An assortment of arguments can be made in support of Proposition 8—from the deep and abiding connection of marriage with procreation, to the healthful effects for children of having both a mother and a father, to...

California, Arizona, and Florida have constitutional amendments on the ballot to ban homosexual "marriage." Liberty Counsel examines the Florida amendment as well as the repercussions of the federal election. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel tells OneNewsNow the stakes are high in Florida because passage of a constitutional amendment requires 60 percent of the vote. "Right now the polls show about 57 percent in favor of the amendment. The good news is only 34 percent oppose the amendment," he explains. "There is an undecided factor in there. I believe that factor will swing for us when they go to the polls."...

'Yes on Prop. 8' gaining on foes, poll finds By Aurelio Rojas arojas@sacbee.com Published: Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | Page 1A Over the past six weeks, a proposed constitutional amendment that would end same-sex marriage in California has gained substantial ground but still trails by a five-point margin heading into Tuesday's election. A new Field Poll shows Proposition 8, one of the most closely watched state ballot measures in years, is supported by 44 percent of likely voters. Forty-nine percent oppose it, and 7 percent are undecided. In the last Field Poll, released Sept. 18, the measure was behind by...

... Theft and vandalism of Proposition 8 signs have been reported in Santa Ana, Yorba Linda, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Irvine and Laguna Hills. In Fullerton, five people were taken into custody after police there found 10 torn "Yes on Proposition 8" signs in their car. The suspects told police they had just attended a "No on 8" rally. In Irvine, two citizen arrests have been reported of people stealing or vandalizing "Yes" signs and on Tuesday, three students were stopped by a police officer in an area where several signs had the word "No" spray-painted over several "Yes" signs....

Whether disapproving churches could be forced to choose between providing services to gay couples or losing their tax-exempt status is one of the questions swirling around Proposition 8, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage. AdvertisementIn its May ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, the state Supreme Court made clear that it did not intend for the decision to be interpreted as interfering with a church's right to determine who it marries. Yesterday, 59 California law professors released a one-page position paper making their case that the state and federal constitutions provide ironclad protections for churches. “No church's tax-exempt...

Speaking out recently against Proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown made an appeal for the importance of protecting the rights of same-sex couples. And then he urged his audience to vote yes on the proposition. Brown misspoke. He intended to advocate a no vote. But he isn’t alone in confusing which side is which. As election day nears, both supporters and opponents of Proposition 8 worry that voters will be confused by a choice that can seem counterintuitive: Voting no on the initiative means voting yes on gay marriage,...

Internal polling for proponents of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California, shows the race tied; public polls have it tied at 44% to 44% with 12 percent undecided. Internal polling for opponents of proposition 8 have the race within the margin of error. So it's real close. Both sides are accusing other of dirty tactics; someone effectuated a denial-of-service attack on the No side's website. Yes on 8 director Frank Schubert says his side will have 100,000 volunteers on Election Day. (That's unlikely -- initiative directors like to equate their lists with their volunteers -- but even...

A new poll of California voters shows Proposition 8, a proposed constitutional amendment that would reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples, has a 9 percentage point lead among likely voters, 52% to 43%. The poll was conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion between September 28 and October 5, 2008. The survey shows that Proposition 8 has majority support among men (53%), women (51%), whites (51%), Latinos (57%), those who are married (59%) and those age 45 and older (59%). Those opposed include likely voters under age 45 (54% opposed) and those who are...

A new CBS 5 poll shows that voters in California are slightly in favor of a ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage in the state, but the three percentage points that separate 'yes' and 'no' on the issue suggest that it could be decided by a handful of votes on election day. The poll of 615 likely voters released Friday found that 48 percent favored Proposition 8, while 45 percent planned to vote against the measure. Seven percent said they were not yet certain. Download the complete poll results (.pdf) Those in the Bay Area tended to oppose the...

A Dubai court sentenced two Britons to three months in prison on Thursday and ordered their subsequent deportation for having sex on a beach in the booming Muslim Gulf emirate. Michelle Palmer, 37, and Vince Acors, 34, were found guilty of having sex in a public place in the early hours of July 5 after drinking heavily. Both are still free on bail and were not in court to hear the verdict in the highly publicised case. The defence said it would appeal, although the relatively moderate ruling showed that they only committed an indecent act in public and did...

An eastern Idaho woman whose boyfriend impregnated her 9-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Isabel Chasarez, 27, must serve at least one year in prison before she is eligible for parole, 7th District Judge Brent Moss ordered Tuesday at the sentencing hearing.

For Californians interested in Proposition 8 (limiting marriage to one man and one woman) here is a link to their new website: http://www.protectmarriage.com/ A story told on KSFO radio in San Francisco this morning by Dr. Charlie Self says more about the importance of this Proposition than anything I can come up with. At a recent conference about Prop 8, someone told the story about a family whose 8-year-old daughter come home all excited and told her mother that girls would be able to to marry each other. The mother, a Catholic, told the girl why that was wrong. After...

Could Senator Barack Obama’s popularity among black voters hurt gay couples in California who want to marry? That is the concern of opponents of Proposition 8, a measure on the November ballot that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which was legalized in May by the State Supreme Court. Mr. Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, is against the measure. But opponents of the proposed ban worry that many black voters, enthused by Mr. Obama’s candidacy but traditionally conservative on issues involving homosexuality, could pour into voting stations in record numbers to punch the Obama ticket — and...

When the LDS Church called upon its members to ''do all you can'' to back California's proposed gay-marriage ban, it inspired Orem entrepreneur Bruce Bastian. He donated $1 million - to the opposition. In one fell swoop of his pen, the WordPerfect co-founder outspent all Utah donors - 37 of them - who have pitched in $120,550 to push Proposition 8, a ballot measure seeking to eliminate Caifornia's current recognition of same-sex couples marriages. The outcome could wind up framing the issue for other states. Bastian, a former Mormon who is openly gay, made a smaller donation of $5,000 to...

Film of the Gay Pride march held in Arcata Ca yesterday in support of opposition to the California ballot proposition 8 to do away with Gay Marriage.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

Sorry for posting many UK articles, a Conservative friend came to stay with me for a few days, so I've inevitably been looking at UK news after we we're chatting for hours about European politics! I have posted this article to highlight the reality of ridiculous inequalities in Sharia law, Check out the last quote, and the last ditched cry for clemency from the Muslim Paedophile. The last comment reads: "Hussain had claimed that his DNA was found on saliva taken from one victim's breast because she had lifted her top and pushed it into his mouth." Do they...

The effort to make marriage defined as between a man and woman a constitution amendment, took place in Fresno. Proposition 8 supporters held a town hall rally hoping to mobilize valley opposition to gay marriage. The valley effort to pass Prop 8 got underway Thursday night at Pardini's in Northwest Fresno.

In a setback for opponents of gay marriage, a Sacramento judge Friday left intact a ballot title that states Proposition 8 eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry. Sponsors of the proposal had argued Attorney General Jerry Brown was prejudicial when he changed the ballot title – "Limit on Marriage" – that was on petitions circulated last year to qualify the Nov. 4 ballot measure. But Sacramento County Judge Timothy Frawley, who heard arguments in the case on Thursday, disagreed. "Petitioner has failed to explain why the term 'eliminates' is inherently argumentative, while the term 'limit' is not," Frawley...

Amanda Camerer and Jorge Mujica got married on such short notice that the bride had trouble finding something borrowed and something blue in time for their ceremony Thursday morning in the Kern County Clerk's Office. (snip) Like Camerer and Mujica, who are both 25 and are moving to Chicago later this summer to study art, a steady stream of couples in this Central Valley city rushed to the clerk's office Thursday to take part in the final civil wedding ceremonies offered by the county before they come to a halt today. In the wake of the California Supreme Court's ruling...

Kern County Auditor-Controller-County Clerk Ann Barnett repeatedly tried to avoid licensing and performing marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples, interviews and e-mails obtained by The Californian show. At her request, County Counsel Bernard Barmann filed a brief with the California Supreme Court opposing implementation of the May 15 ruling allowing gay marriage. She tried to resign her elected position as county clerk — while keeping her positions as auditor-controller and elections boss. “She really wanted to get rid of it,” Barmann said. And finally, when the ruling came down Wednesday that she had to license same-sex marriages, she decided to stop...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's Secretary of State says an initiative that would again outlaw gay marriage in the state has qualified for the November ballot. Debra Bowen says a random check of signatures submitted by the measure's sponsors showed that they had gathered enough for it to be put to voters. The measure would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union "between a man and a woman." It would overturn the recent California Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state if it is approved by a majority of voters on Nov. 4. California...

Opinion just released.

TAMPA — "Sex," "teacher" and "student" meet again. A 45-year-old high school honors teacher was arrested Thursday, accused of having sex with a 17-year-old boy. Police say Freedom High School English teacher Mary Jo Spack, 45, met two male students at a liquor store last Friday, then took them to a Tampa motel, where she had sex with one of them in the shower as four other students overheard in the next room. Spack's arrest, police said, was spurred by rumors at the school. The boy's boasting about having had sex with a teacher eventually caught the attention of a...

(CNSNews.com) - A 14-year-old California boy is charged with a hate crime as well as attempted murder for shooting a 15-year-old boy who "sometimes wore makeup, high heels and other feminine attire," as the Associated Press reported. The victim, Lawrence King, is brain dead, and prosecutors expect this to become a murder case very soon. They want to try the young suspect as an adult. King was shot in the head Tuesday morning while sitting in class at a junior high school in Oxnard, Calif. California has some of the nation's most liberal anti-discrimination, anti-bullying and "diversity" laws, including several...

Report says civil unions make 'second-class status' By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Writer MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) -- A commission established to study same-sex civil unions in New Jersey has found in its first report that civil unions create a "second-class status" for gay couples rather than giving them equality. The report stops short of recommending that the state allow gay marriage. But it does find that gay couples in Massachusetts, the only state that now allows gay marriage, do not experience some of the legal complications that those in New Jersey do. The civil union law sought to give...

GRAYSON - A Grayson High School teacher and coach recently resigned after police say he locked a student in a classroom trailer and sexually assaulted her. Marcus Lancaster, 23, was arrested Dec. 21 and charged with sexual battery and sexual assault, a felony. Sloan Roach, a spokeswoman for Gwinnett County Public Schools, said Lancaster was hired this year as a social studies teacher. He resigned Dec. 19 after the school district launched an investigation into the alleged assault, Roach said. Lancaster also coached Grayson football's junior varsity team and freshman baseball team this year, according to the school. He is...

It shows Mohammed, 40, with his new 11-year-old wife, Ghulam. Taken by US photographer Stephanie Sinclair, it was named Unicef Photo of the Year yesterday. Some 60million girls worldwide are married while still under age, according to the children's rights agency. A picture of a boy lifting bricks on his head in Bangladesh, showing the life of one of the millions exploited as child labour, came second. It was taken by GMB Akash. And third prize went to one taken by German photographer Hartmut Schwarzbach. It shows nine-year-old Annalyn celebrating her birthday by jumping on a sofa in the rubbish...

PHOENIX -- Police have arrested a man who they say sexually assaulted a 4 year old girl at a playground at University Park. Suspect booked into 4th Avenue Jail Police say the girl was at the playground with her family near by. Several witnesses say they saw suspect William Speed grab the girl while she played on the jungle gym and begin sexually assaulting her. The girl screamed and her family had to fight Speed to get him off of the girl. The family and nearby witnesses restrained Speed until police arrived. Suspect William Speed is a Level 3 sex...

Making sex legal at 16 in line with rest of Britain 'would hurt the vulnerable' Gay rights campaigners have clashed with Belfast's Rape Crisis Centre over plans to lower the age of sexual consent to 16. The British government has published proposals to bring Northern Ireland's legal process, under which it is illegal for 16-year-olds to have sex, into line with the rest of the UK. The centre has joined a loose alliance with the Catholic church, evangelical Protestant churches and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party to oppose the proposed change from 17 to 16. Ranged against them are organisations...

America's left and right are once again at odds, this time over a plan at the King Middle School in Portland, Maine, to make birth control pills available without parental approval to girls as young as 11. The school committee voted 7 to 2 in favor of the plan last Wednesday. You know kids are having sex early these days when contraception pills could be marketed as Flintstone Chewables. One side asks: Is it moral to sanction early sexual activity? The reality, the other side counters, is that teenagers are sexually active and the burden of unwanted pregnancies is too...

TAMPA - Undercover officers looking for car thieves Tuesday discovered a sexual relationship between a Middleton High School teacher and a teenage boy whom they pulled over driving the teacher's Jeep Grand Cherokee, officials said. Tampa police charged Christina Lin Butler, 33, of 3504 N. Tampa St., on Tuesday with felony lewd and lascivious battery after the traffic stop. Investigators said she and the ninth-grader had oral sex and intercourse at Butler's home during the past three weeks. A police report states the boy is 15; however, by his birth date, he is 16, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A 33-year-old high-school teacher was arrested after admitting that she had sex with a 16-year-old student, police said. Christina Butler, a ninth-grade teacher at Middleton High School, admitted to the relationship with the boy after a series of events Tuesday that began with a police stakeout targeting street crime at an apartment complex, police said. Officers first followed a group of six boys who left the apartment complex on bicycles, the report said. Later, the same group was pulled over driving erratically in Butler's Jeep Grand Cherokee.

A call is being issued to Christians who have been engaged in the culture wars in California's schools to abandon the system, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on "discriminatory bias" against homosexuals and others with alternative sexual lifestyles. "We're calling upon every California parent to pull their child out of California's public school system," Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, told WND. "The so-called 'public schools' are no longer a safe emotional environment for children. Under the new law, schoolchildren as young as kindergarten will be sexually indoctrinated and introduced to homosexuality, bisexuality,...

A speech by a "parental rights" activist in Gloucester has been canceled after a gay marriage advocacy group threatened to protest what it deemed "hate speech." Cape Ann Marriage and Family, which characterizes itself as "pro-family" and has been active in advocating for a popular vote on gay marriage, had planned a meeting at a Main Street pizza parlor featuring a lecture by David Parker of Lexington. Parker is suing the state for the right to be notified when issues of sexuality, including gay marriage, are discussed in his young son's school. The case was initially dismissed but is on...

HALIFAX, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative government rapidly approved new regulations, effective immediately, allowing birth certificates to register a lesbian "spouse" of a birth mother as the "other parent." The decision was made in cabinet only four days after the couple launched a human rights complaint. Halifax scrambled to make adjustments to the Vital Statistics Act after a "married" lesbian couple, Emily and Jamie O'Neill, filed a Human Rights complaint demanding the province recognize them equally as parents to Emily's newborn daughter, Jordyn, who was conceived through artificial insemination and born August 7. Since the old...

And now we have Ahmadinejad's quote of the day! —On executions of homosexuals in Iran: In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that like in your country. ... In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this. This would be laughable if the truth was not that they execute them. I just can't understand why the left, who say they love gay rights, want to force kids to learn tolerance in third grade, etc...are so quick in defending this thug. Watch Video

In 2002 he campaigned for governor in support of gay rights.

A former candidate for political office in Nassau County was arrested Friday and charged with criminal sexual activity. Keith Lamar Sawyer, 44, 85064 Art Wilson Road in Yulee, was accused of seeking a sexual en-counter with an underage teenage girl. He was taken to Nassau County Jail and charged with solicitation of a minor for lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious conduct. Sawyer, a Democrat, has unsuccessfully sought election to various county offices, including the Nassau County Ocean Highway & Port Authority in 2006 - he lost to the late Ed Gandy that November - and to the...

The California Senate has approved a plan to replace "man and woman" in state references to marriage with "two persons," establishing a same-sex marriage procedure in the state that just seven years ago voted to limit marriage to one man and one woman. The 22-15 vote came on homosexual Assemblyman Mark Leno's proposal to open marriage to any pair in the state, not just those couples made up of a man and a woman. All Republicans opposed AB43, while all but three Democratic senators supported it. The bill now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature or veto. He...

Speaking in Sioux City, Iowa, moments ago, Fred Thompson endorsed an amendment to the Constitution that would prevent state judges from altering the definition of marriage without the direction of their states' legislatures. Mr. Thompson has been under fire from social conservatives in recent days for refusing to support the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would define marriage in the United States as being between one man and one woman. He's said that such an amendment would conflict with his views on federalism. Along with restraining state judges, the amendment Mr. Thompson is proposing would also mandate that no state be...

The son of Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton has been sentenced to two years probation under a plea agreement in a statutory rape case. A C Wharton III, 35, was accused of raping a 13-year-old Knox County girl he met on the Internet. He has been released from a Knox County jail where he spent four months, Knox County Special Prosecutor John Gill told WMC-TV of Memphis. “This is not to a level of defense at all, but he had some mental issues related to prescription drugs that caused him, well, contributed to his behavior,” Gill said. A C...

WBC to picket the funeral of Rev. Jerry Falwell - at Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Virginia - in religious protest and warning: "God is not mocked!,, Gal. 6:7. God Hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, and all such Arminian heretic preachers - from fundamentalist evangelicals to openly gay Episcopalians and pedophile Catholics - all of whom have created the Satanic Sodomite Zeitgeist wherein America has irreversibly gone the way of Sodom. There is little doubt that Falwell split Hell wide open the instant he died. The evidence is compelling, overwhelming, and irrefragable....