Free Republic

Two brothers in law who went on a sponsored walk wearing comedy mankinis had to be picked up by police - after they were pelted with stones and eggs by residents who told them 'this is a Muslim area' and demanded they leave. Steven Ellis, 41, and Jason Hendry, 22, wanted to walk eight miles from Solihull to Birmingham city centre wearing the outfit featured in 2006 film Borat to raise money for Birmingham Dogs' Home. But they ended up being escorted by officers after they were attacked as they passed through the Sparkbrook area of the city, claiming police...

In a broad-ranging interview on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Tuesday night, President Barack Obama addressed Russia's recently passed anti-gay laws by saying he has "no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them."

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s primary challenger retweeted a tweet that calls him “Nancy boy,” according to the Sunlight Foundation’s Politwoops, which monitors politicians’ deleted tweets.

As a Conservative, I hold these truths to be self evident: (in no particular order) * Life begins at the moment of conception. Abortion, for any reason, real or imagined, is murder. * The Right to Bear Arms is an unalienable right that the government cannot infringe on in any way. Background checks, "assault weapon" bans, magazine capacity rules, and the like are completely unconstitutional. *Global warming is as much of a fraud as the "Next Ice Age" scare was in the 1970's. *Illegal aliens are criminals and should be treated as such. There should be no amnesty for illegal...

No sincere follower of Jesus would ever wish hatred, violence or discrimination against anyone. But behaving in a way that honors God is not the same as declaring that God must somehow changed His mind on sin. Tutu is an ardent supporter of gay rights and said that he "would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven." "No," he said, "I would say sorry – I mean, I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this." The former Archbishop may have been...

Once more we learn of military personnel being punished for causing homosexuals in the military to feel bad. From Fox News: An Army chaplain’s assistant said she was accused of creating a “hostile and antagonistic” environment after she posted a message on her personal Facebook page calling homosexuality a sin. The soldier, who asked not to be identified, said her commander ordered her to either remove the Facebook message or face a reduction in rank and pay. “I haven’t taken it down and I won’t take it down,” she told Fox News. “It is frustrating that people are trying to...

“Yes, we are facing difficult days. Yet there is hope ahead. Have faith and love for every member of the human race. It is time to hate the sin and love the sinner. We can set the example with personal and communal repentance, revival, restoration, rebuilding, recovery and renewal.” For Alveda King, “it’s all about redemption.” Her uncle once said: “We must discover the power of love, the power – the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men...

That didn’t take long. Salon magazine this morning is extolling the virtues of multi-spouse marriages.Same-sex “marriage” proponents have always scoffed at the idea that redefining marriage would open the door for multi-spouse marriages. “My Two Husbands by Angi Becker Stevens, not only argues for “poly-amorous” unions but continues to scoff at the foolish “right wing” people who expected people to go there. Her article is novel only in that it also scoffs at the same-sex marriage definers who argued back that it wouldn’t.Stevens has been married for 16 years to her husband, and has now taken a boy\friend who she...

Any male character that runs around in spandex with his "Boy Wonder" is going to be the target of a few speculative comments related to his sexuality. But a new novel has taken the speculation a step further, "outing" Batman and Robin as a gay couple. Released in English this July in the U.K., Erotic Lives of the Superheroes has been getting attention from British tabloids because in the novel, Batman is outed as a gay man. The story shows that Batman and Robin are an aging, bickering gay couple whose sex life has gone flat, and the dullness spurs...

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday at the U.S. Embassy in London that the State Department will now recognize in its visa-processing practices same-sex marriages performed in foreign countries—saying that “as long as a marriage has been performed in a jurisdiction that recognizes it so that it is legal, then that marriage is valid under U.S. immigration laws.” The State Department clarified to CNSNews.com on Monday that this principle does not extend to polygamous marriages, which are legal in many Muslim countries. … However, the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual describes polygamy as an “historical or religious practice” and...

<p>A French woman has posted an offer on a website to breastfeed babies of homosexual couples for €100 a day, stirring up media interest just weeks after a divisive same-sex marriage law was passed.</p> <p>The post, which the website said it verified as genuine and legal, reads: "I am a young mother in perfect health, a trained nurse of 29, and I am renting my breasts to milk-feed infants."</p>

In May we reported that ABC News editor Don Ennis walked into his New York City office wearing a small black dress and a brunette wig and told his coworkers that he is legally changing his name to Dawn Stacey Ennis. Several months later, it turns out, Ennis has decided he no longer wants to be a woman. Back then, Ennis, 49, wrote to his colleagues: “This is not a game of dress-up, or make-believe. It is my affirmation of who I now am and what I must do to be happy, in response to a soul-crushing secret that my...

A French nurse has placed an advertisement to rent out her breasts for parents who cannot breast-feed their babies. The woman is offering her services for €100 (£86) a day. The "young mother who is in good health" has put out the advertisement targeting gay couples. The 29-year-old has caused a stir in France following the proposal as the European nation is divided over the gay marriage bill, which was passed earlier this year amid protests. The advertisement has been posted under the username "cecelia232" on the e-loue.com website. The post titled "Breast rental - breast-feeding - Boulogne", offers services...

My Boy Scout Troop is considering alternatives and possibilities for the future of the Troop - in light of the policy changes that will become effective in January. Really, it is a matter of how we would react to changes that are likely to take place AFTER January. I am looking for competent legal advice about how my Unit's Bylaws could be modified so that two points are clear:

/ NEW YORK — New York City bar owners poured bottles of Russian vodka into the streets of Manhattan on Monday in a protest against Russia’s crackdown on the gay community. Holding up a bottle of the popular Russian brand Stolichnaya, the United Restaurant and Tavern Owners Association President Paul Hurley shook his head and called for a city-wide boycott of Russian spirits and liquor. The United Restaurant and Tavern Owners Association [...] President Paul Hurley, who urged people to drink American-made alcohol instead, said the boycott was the first step toward pressuring Russia to change its policies toward gay...

NEW ORLEANS -- The NOPD, along with the FBI, are investigating a hate crime caught on tape. Security cameras caught a man vandalizing a gay couple's home on Julia Street just after 1 a.m. Saturday. The video showed a man getting out of a vehicle, using a ladder to remove a gay pride flag and then returning to spray paint words on their wall. It was same flag John Hill and his fiance John Weimer Jr. held high just last month during a rally of support for the recent Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. "John and I were waving...

Two gay men who have been a couple for 14 years have become the first to register to marry in Uruguay, hours after a law came into force allowing same-sex marriages in the country. snip Uruguay is the second South American nation to pass a gay-marriage law. snip Three years ago, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow same-sex marriages. Since then, Brazil's Supreme Court overwhelmingly voted in favour of granting same-sex couples the same legal rights as married heterosexuals, effectively authorising gay marriage. In Colombia, a judge recently ordered a notary to sign a document which...

When evangelical preachers lose their way and turn their backs on biblical Christianity, why is it they end up in the Episcopal Church? As a preacher who traveled in the opposite direction and left the Episcopal Church 22 years ago—or I should say the Episcopal Church left me—I think I have a clue. On March 18, the Huffington Post reported that Rob Bell, the one-time evangelical pastor who rejected the core of Christian faith, has endorsed homosexual marriage. Where was that endorsement made? Surprise, surprise: Grace Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral of the Diocese of California. Grace Cathedral is located in...

CLEVELAND, August 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an unprecedented move on July 17th, the National Right to Life Committee (NRTL) chose to support Senator Rob Portman's newly expressed support of gay marriage and to withdraw support from one of the most effective prolife organizations in the country, Cleveland Right to Life (CRTL). In a letter dated July 17, 2013, the president of National Right to Life, Carol Tobias, informed CRTL President, Molly Smith, that because of their recent addition of support for traditional marriage and the family to its Mission Statement, AND because of CRTL criticism of Senator Portman, that...

ROME, August 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Up to 500 people are expected to hold a demonstration later tonight outside the Italian parliament to protest a bill that would criminalize homophobia and "transphobia," something constitutional experts believe would shut down citizens' right to free speech, especially for Christians. The event is organized by the recently formed Italian branch of Manif pour Tous. It will be matched by a demonstration in Paris by the French branch of the group, outside the Italian embassy. The group contends that the bill would stifle any principled opposition to the homosexual political agenda, including plans that they...

Friends, I have hesitated about publishing this article because its tone is so dire and so few in the church are ready to receive it. However, just a few days after I wrote it Alan Chambers shut down Exodus International and publicly announced his embrace of the same “gay” theology I warn about in the article. I have taken that as a sign I should release this now. In a few days the Supreme Court will announce it’s ruling on at least one of the homosexual cases now before it. I’m predicting that we’ll lose at least one of them,...

More than 80 lawmakers have called on the Obama administration to allow gay men to donate blood. The lawmakers say the administration should change what they say is an "outdated" policy. Eighty-two lawmakers in the House and Senate signed on to the letter, including Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Enzi was the only Republican to sign the letter. They said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should re-evaluate blood donation criteria that ban gay men from donating blood for life.

Ron McCoy and his partner Christopher Bowers boarded the shuttle bus from Albuquerque's Sunport Airport after flying in from their home in Portland, Oregon, the day before the Albuquerque Pride Festival began on June 28. The couple was in town for a long-awaited road-trip, but their elation soon turned to dismay when the driver of the bus noticed they were holding hands and told them to sit at the back... When they arrived at their destination, they had recovered enough to question the driver on his actions. .. A fellow passenger witnessed the incident and gave the driver a piece...

The toughest guy in Sicily is a gay man. Nine months ago Rosario Crocetta was elected as Sicily's governor on an anti-Mafia platform, and his fearless campaign against the degenerate mobsters has so impressed an otherwise conservative electorate that his sexuality has become an irrelevancy as reported by Anthony Faiola for The Washington Post: "'Having Crocetta in Sicily is like having an openly gay man elected governor in Alabama,' said Ivan Scalfarotto, a member of the national parliament and a Milan-based gay rights advocate. 'But the most telling point is that his sexuality became a small detail for voters. This...

FULL TITLE: Outrage as Christian radio host compares Ariel Castro's 'love for his victims' to the love between homosexual couples A Christian conservative radio host linked homosexual love to the ‘love’ Ohio kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro had for his victims in an extremely vocal display of her opposition to same-sex marriage that caused outrage among listeners. American Family Association talk show host and Fox News contributor, Sandy Rios, made the controversial comparison while speaking with Chicago anti-gay pastor Erwin Lutzer about their shared opposition to same-sex marriage last week. Lutzer noted that the Chicago's crime level is bad enough...

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Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine has a regular column on “Work Advice,” and this week’s topic was “Potty clarity at the office.” A reader complained that “Bob” at the office had decided to become “Barbara,” and began using the women’s bathroom (after a year using a one-toilet unisex bathroom). Since “Barbara” can’t afford surgery, the reader wondered how much time before the federal agency they work for can “take the position she is legally only a cross-dresser and have her use the gender-appropriate bathroom? We are at our wits’ end.” “Work Advice” columnist Karla L. Miller made a beeline for Mara...

Crystal Dixon of the University of Toledo was fired for writing an editorial in a local newspaper. She referred to Exodus and mentioned people who chose to leave the gay lifestyle. The case against Dixon is based purely on wild assumption that gay men cannot stop themselves from having anal sex or engaging in fellatio. These assumptions bestialize and infantilize gay men. Dixon said that gays had the choice to leave the lifestyle (in other words, stop engaging in anal sex and fellatio). According to her detractors, such was tantamount to being anti-gay. Her detractors are following the lead of...

Some have dived head first into the whole gay scene, apparently without hesitation. Others have been tugged in over a period of time, and then some are still “holding out.” Even the church can't deny that many within it are having tremendous struggles with homosexuality. Growing masses of gays are parading down the streets with banners, pursuing a new found freedom to do what they want. But the real things so many seek after - friendship, acceptance, and love - elude them, remaining just outside their reach. A man who at one time had given himself over to seeking pleasure...

<p>Secretary of State John Kerry has announced a policy change with immediate effect which allows the State Department to process visas for same-sex spouses in the same manner that it considers the application of heterosexual spouses.</p> <p>Kerry made the announcement at the consular visa office of the U.S. Embassy in London on Friday.</p>

Orson Scott Card, whose science-fiction book Ender's Game is being released as a film, is a conservative Mormon with a long history of attacking gay people and their rights. He's also one of the most respected sci-fi writers of all time. This has really got sci-fi fans and gay rights activists in a moral dilemma as the momentum for the film builds up to its November 1 release. Orson Scott Card has gone far beyond opposing gay marriage. In 1990, he wrote in Mormon publication Sunstone Magazine, “Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately...

Christianity is not just about being happy and feeling good and being liked by others What’s at the root of this movement to back away from moral issues? Here’s what I think is the problem. When you advocate for moral causes like protecting the unborn, or school choice, or freeing the slaves, a bunch of people are not going to like you. Christians in the time of Jesus knew that being bold about their Christian convictions would make a lot of people think bad things about them – they expected it. But young evangelicals have gotten the idea that being...

Using the same tactics used by “gay” rights activists, pedophiles have begun to seek similar status arguing their desire for children is a sexual orientation no different than heterosexual or homosexuals. Critics of the homosexual lifestyle have long claimed that once it became acceptable to identify homosexuality as simply an “alternative lifestyle” or sexual orientation, logically nothing would be off limits. “Gay” advocates have taken offense at such a position insisting this would never happen. However, psychiatrists are now beginning to advocate redefining pedophilia in the same way homosexuality was redefined several years ago.

Those who have followed my writings and rantings over my ten or eleven years of blogging (I began blogging, ahem, when I was twelve) know that I have a few pet peeves. They include, but are not limited to, pronouncements from Hans Küng, declarations from Anne Rice, lousy music, Dan Brown novels, burnt coffee, and people who think the Oregon Ducks' (football) offense is "a gimmick". And then there is the women's ordination movement, which I find to be both completely disingenuous and hysterically ignorant. Or, as I put in a post a few years ago: Why does this rankle...

Three months before Russia’s parliament unanimously passed a federal law banning the propaganda of “non-traditional relationships” — that is, same-sex ones — the bill’s sponsor went on the country’s most respected interview show to explain her reasoning. “Analyzing all the circumstances, and the particularity of territorial Russia and her survival…I came to the conclusion that if today we want to resolve the demographic crisis, we need to, excuse me, tighten the belt on certain moral values and information, so that giving birth and raising children become fully valued,” lawmaker Yelena Mizulina told Vladimir Posner, Russia’s Charlie Rose. Mizulina heads the...

And the next host of the Academy Awards is … Ellen DeGeneres. It will be DeGeneres’ second tour of duty as Oscar host, having previously emceed the 79th annual Academy Awards in 2007 and earning an Emmy nomination. The popular syndicated talkshow host also fronted the Emmys in 2001 and 2005 (co-hosting them in 2003). “I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time,” DeGeneres said, joking that “you know what they say – the third time’s the charm.”

Coming soon to an American court room near you. Wealthy gay dad, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, says he and his civil partner Tony will go to court to force churches to host gay weddings. He told the Essex Chronicle that he will take legal action because “I am still not getting what I want”.A Government Bill legalising gay marriage passed Parliament recently but it included measures to protect churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings.Mr Drewitt-Barlow said: “The only way forward for us now is to make a challenge in the courts against the church.“It is a shame that we...

If you’re a physician who sees children and adolescents on a regular basis, there is a lot you can do to encourage young patients and their families to view homosexuality as normal and healthy, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP recently issued an updated policy statement concerning homosexuality to its 60,000 members. The new guidelines say pediatricians should strive to “provide the context that being LGBTQ is normal, just different.” According to the AAP, homosexuality “should not be considered abnormal.” While the organization acknowledges that “LGBTQ” teens as a whole engage in riskier behaviors and report higher...

In Russia it is now illegal to even speak about homosexuality around minors, much less openly display gay pride. Technically the ban is against “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” around minors, but the implication for openly gay individuals is clear. Public displays of affection by gays, including holding hands or displaying symbols like a rainbow flag, are now banned. Violators face steep fines and jail time; foreigners face similar penalties plus deportation. So what will happen to openly gay athletes and fans, as well as any vocal supporters or protestors, when Russia hosts the Winter Olympics next year in Sochi?...

Barack Obama served as the president of the Harvard Law Review while in law school there, and during his tenure in that position, he was allegedly accused of sexual harassment. Two editors at the law review filed complaints with the university administration alleging that Obama had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior. The university allegedly settled the cases and offered them agreements that allegedly included financial compensation and required them to remain silent about the nature of the settlements. The story, based on one reported in The Kansas Citian, is reported here. The claim is that Barack Obama, while president of...

The annual Gay Pride parade and rally was held in Jerusalem on Thursday evening. Several roads were shut down during the parade, which traveled through the downtown area to a city park. … As usual, the march drew counter-protests. The “pride” march is particularly controversial in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest city, with many Jews and Muslims arguing that it encourages immoral acts and constitute a desecration of the holy city. One counter-protester was arrested for throwing a stink bomb at marchers. …

The Abortion Lobby has smeared anyone who supports the unborn as “sexist” for decades, but a new movement is branding people as misogynists if they want to restrict abortion to women. Lauren Rankin made the case in an article posted yesterday at Truth-Out.org entitled, "Not Everyone Who Has an Abortion Is a Woman - How to Frame the Abortion Rights Issue." While Rankin, an avowed feminist, likes the sloganeering that pro-life activists hate women, equal rights, and the color pink, she doesn't believe it goes far enough. “Abortion rights activists have overlooked and dismissed a very important reality," she writes....

Wealthy gay dad, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, says he and his civil partner Tony will go to court to force churches to host gay weddings. He told the Essex Chronicle that he will take legal action because “I am still not getting what I want”. A Government Bill legalising gay marriage passed Parliament recently but it included measures to protect churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings. Challenge Mr Drewitt-Barlow said: “The only way forward for us now is to make a challenge in the courts against the church. “It is a shame that we are forced to take Christians into...

<p>The streets outside Minneapolis City Hall were filled with newly-wedded gay and lesbian couples reveling in their new marital status Thursday morning while inside dozens more waited their turn in lines that lasted until dawn.</p> <p>Down the street at the Hotel Minneapolis, Cathy ten Broeke and Margaret Miles, the first couple legally wed in Minnesota, partied into the night, wearing the same slinky dresses they wore 12 years earlier at their commitment ceremony.</p>

NEW YORK, July 31 (By Dan Elias for RIA Novosti) - Vodka was flowing outside the Russian Consulate in New York City Wednesday – not into glasses, but onto the street. Dozens of gay rights activists cheered as bottles were dumped directly opposite the consulate building – in the latest protest against Russia’s new laws on homosexuality, which critics say are part of a broader crackdown on Russia’s gay community. The protest was organized by RUSA LGBT, an American gay rights group for Russian speakers, and Queer Nation, a New York-based organization that fights homophobia and anti-gay violence. “We’ve received...

Along with decisions about what to eat for lunch and which clubs to join, California public school students may soon may be allowed to choose which gender they would like to be. The California legislature has passed a bill, AB 1266, that would require all public schools to allow youths to choose which gender-segregated facilities and activities fit their “identity,” including restrooms, locker rooms and sports teams. The bill awaits the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown to be enacted into law. Ads by Google Great Wolf WaterparkFun For Everyone Under One Roof. Book for Total Family Immersion! www.GreatWolf.com/Mason_OH Men Care...

A lesbian couple in the western city of Nantes were angered this week after a French court made a controversial decision to recognize the parental rights of their child’s biological father, who when he donated his sperm had promised to waive all rights to the child. … Until this week, the two-year-old had been exclusively entrusted to the care of its mother and her lesbian partner. … The judge’s decision means the father will be granted visitors rights before an eventual move towards what is referred to in France as a “classic” agreement, which would see the child live with...

"Quinn resides in Chelsea, Manhattan, with wife, Kim Catullo, a lawyer.[27][28] The couple married on May 19, 2012,[29] and spend their summer weekends at a home that they purchased in 2004 in Bradley Beach, New Jersey.[30] Her former partner, Laura Morrison,[31] was chief of staff to former State Senator Thomas Duane"

CHICAGO, IL, July 31, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – After a group of eight Catholic Democrats published an open letter in the Chicago Tribune Monday accusing Cardinal Francis George of political blackmail for threatening to withhold charitable funding from an immigrant group that recently came out in favor of same-sex “marriage,” the cardinal fired back in a statement, calling the letter’s signers cynical and “intellectually and morally dishonest.” The Chicago diocese’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) had been contributing between $25,000 and $30,000 each year to several member groups of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to aid...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The Mayo Clinic says its Minnesota employees who are in same-sex domestic partnerships will have to get married if they want their partners to remain eligible for health insurance -- now that the state has legalized same-sex marriage. Mayo Clinic spokesman Bryan Anderson told the Rochester Post-Bulletin that the clinic hasn't yet determined the deadline for same-sex couples to get married. Same-sex marriages will be legal in Minnesota as of Thursday. "Mayo has long had a policy providing same-sex domestic partner benefits because those affected were not allowed to be married. That policy notes that marriage would...