Free Republic

The Maryland House of Delegates narrowly approved legalization of gay marriage late Friday, clearing the way for final passage next week and the expected signature of Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley. That would make Maryland the eighth state with a law on the books legalizing gay marriage, though it would have to survive an expected attempt to block it by referendum. In debate before the vote, Delegate Anne Kaiser, one of seven openly gay members of the House, said that she wanted, "Marriage. Nothing more. Nothing less." The final vote tally was 71-67, with the minimum number of votes needed for...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kept his vow to veto a bill allowing same-sex marriage Friday as he sent it back to the legislature, reiterating that the voters should decide if they want a societal change as significant as allowing gay marriage. The Republican governor vetoed the bill, titled Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act, which the N.J. Assembly passed Thursday, three days after its passage in the state Senate. "I am adhering to what I've said since this bill was first introduced – an issue of this magnitude and importance, which requires a constitutional amendment, should be left to...

The Department of Health and Human Services has states spooked. At least, legislators in Kansas cited the administration's contraception mandate as a reason to expedite passage of a bill to protect religious freedoms: Supporters of a proposal in Kansas that’s described as an attempt to protect religious freedoms told state legislators Tuesday that President Obama’s ill-fated mandate for insurance coverage of birth control is a compelling example of why the measure is needed. …The state House Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the proposed Preservation of Religious Freedom Act and is expected to vote on it by Monday. State Rep....

For years we have been told that homosexuality is something people are born with - like the color of one's skin - and that it can't be changed. Gay-rights activists insist this is so, because, they say, if people don't choose to be gay, it would be wrong to discriminate against them in things like marriage, adoption, and legal benefits. And heaven help those who disagree. Just ask actress Cynthia Nixon, who in a recent New York Times Magazine article, had the gall to admit that she chose to be gay. Nixon, who played one of the characters on the...

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. Gregoire signed the bill surrounded by gay rights supporters. “I’m proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal,” she said. OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh in the nation to...

The year 2012 is shaping up as a big one for same-sex marriage. Last week, the Washington state Legislature passed a bill allowing gay marriage, and legislatures in Maryland and New Jersey may follow suit shortly (though New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has promised a veto). North Carolina and Minnesota are conducting referendums this year on constitutional amendments to bar gay marriage, and Maine is likely to conduct a referendum on legalizing it. On Tuesday, the U.S. 9th Court of Appeals reminded us that courts too have something to say on the subject. In a case challenging the constitutionality of...

The ELCA leadership loves ELCA Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is the face and voice of today’s ELCA. Bolz-Weber pastors a church whose website states it is “queer inclusive,” “social justice oriented” and “irreverent."

Olé, olé olé! The hormones of McKinley High's students are in overdrive as Ricky Martin makes his much-hyped guest appearance as a Spanish teacher on the February 7 episode of Glee, which may be the naughtiest episode yet. Among the zingers that dropped my jaw: Sue Sylvester decides to create a spawn, but who'll be the daddy? After trying to recruit the glee club boys to visit a sperm bank, Sue approaches Mr. Schuester with a plastic cup requesting a sample of his "baby gravy." When Emma gets wind, she confronts Sue with a pamphlet labeled, "Please don't hog my...

David X spilled his story to the other men seated around him, revealing how his boyfriend — angry about leaving the heater on too long — had punched him so hard that his eye socket shattered. Instead of receiving comfort at the counseling session, a man told him: You should have just punched him back. You're a guy. That was the moment that David, a 56-year-old San Jose gay man whose last name is not being used to protect him, realized he was in the wrong place.

Today I want to write about something that has bothered me for the better part of a decade. I’ve carved out no fewer than a dozen drafts of this post, all strangely unalike, all ultimately failing to accomplish the job I’ve set out to do. Truth is, I’ve been trying to write it off and on for more than a year now, and the right words have been seemingly impossible to come by. In the end, and in order to post it, I guess I had to care more about the message than I do about potential backlash. I’m not...

A new bill that is being considered in Washington, D.C., could make it easier for some same-sex couples that marry in the U.S. capitol to get divorced. The “Civil Marriage Dissolution Equality Amendment Act of 2011,” which was proposed by D.C. council member Phil Mendelson, would make it easier for same-sex couples that are married in Washington to dissolve their marriages if they currently live in a state that wouldn't otherwise recognize their divorce. Current law states that at least one of the married individuals must be a resident of the District of Columbia for at least six months prior...

My strange visitors United States Army Information System Command headquarters visiting my pro-family blog? By Julio Severo The Department of Homeland Security. The Human Rights Campaign. The USAISC headquarters. These were some of my strange visitors in the last six months. On July 27 and 29, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appeared in my tracking report visiting my English blog. About this visit, WorldNetDaily, the most important conservative news website in English, reported, “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun watching a blog posted by a Christian who was forced to flee Brazil because of the conflict...

The 'Gay Diet' If 'man food' is meat and 'girl food' is salad, what's 'gay food'? Simon Doonan has just written a new book called Gay Men Don't Get Fat. Doonan is less famous here than he is in the States: he's a Reading-born, highly successful window dresser for Barneys, a style columnist for the New York Post and elsewhere, and is married to the designer Jonathan Adler. His title alludes, of course, to the mid-noughties bestseller French Women Don't Get Fat, which did more to raise awareness of the French paradox among the general public than any book before...

The College Convention 2012 at New England College in Concord, New Hampshire provided a true test of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s religous views regarding gay marriage Thursday. The former Pennsylvania senator was one of four Republican candidates to attend the convention, as Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Buddy Roemer also attended the event. New England College has played host to the College Convention since the year 2000. Mr. Santorum countered questions about his views on gay marriage by comparing it to polygamy several times, while not actually defending his views regarding gay marriage. He became engaged in several back...

The latest version of the popular NIV Bible translation has had its verses on homosexuality reworded, making them clearer in denouncing the practice, a theologian who helped with the translation says. These clarifications include the verse in 1 Corinthians 6:9, where the 1984 NIV version uses the phrase “homosexual offenders,” while the 2011 translation changes the phrase to "men who have sex with men." The Committee on Bible Translation, chaired by Dr. Douglas J. Moo, who also serves as Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College, released the 2011 New International Version last year. “Debates among Christians about the...

Forgive the vanity question. Plenty of ink has been spilled regarding former Senator Santorum's comments regarding homosexuality and the "right to privacy." My query however focuses on the 2nd Amendment. Does Santorum's viewpoint relating to privacy rights or lack thereof conflict with or cause harm to our God given right to defend ourselves?

After the Illinois state legislature passed a requirement that says adoption and foster-care agencies — to be eligible for state money — must consider same-sex couples as potential foster-care or adoptive parents, the Roman Catholic bishops in Illinois decided to shut down most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in the state. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened: Massachusetts and Washington D.C. both passed similar requirements — and many Catholic Charities affiliates closed down in those states, as well. The New York Times reports: For the nation’s Catholic bishops, the Illinois requirement is a prime example of...

Bil Browning and his boyfriend were homeless. To protect the identity of the boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), Mr. Browning will not say specifically where, just that it was in “southern Indiana,” about 20 years ago. But he is very explicit about who refused to give them shelter. “The Salvation Army refused to help us,” Mr. Browning recalls, “unless we broke up and then left the ‘sinful homosexual lifestyle’ behind. We slept on the street, and they didn’t help when we declined to break up at their insistence.” Mr. Browning’s boyfriend was wearing a “Silence = Death” AIDS pin on his jacket,...

Has the unveiling of perverse homosexual behavior among male college coaches shed light on a deeper systemic problem with America? Are we seeing the tip of an immoral and sick iceberg; which, if it continues to drift, may tear a hole in our ship?

For the fifth straight survey, the GOP field has a new frontrunner in Iowa.

The enshrinement of equal rights for homosexuals into US foreign policy activities has drawn quick ire from African nations, with one senior figure saying the notion is "abhorrent" across the continent. President Obama has instructed officials across government to "ensure that US diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, and transgender persons" around the world. Under the move, legal, moral, and financial support will be boosted for gay rights organizations, emergency assistance will be sent to groups or individuals facing threats, and asylum in the US will be offered to people forced to flee...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday put the Obama administration clearly on the opposite side of Christians seeking religious freedom in the debate over human sexuality, prompting praise from gay rights activists and criticism from GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry. In remarks on Tuesday in Geneva to the United Nations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said religious and cultural beliefs are standing in the way of homosexual human rights worldwide. “Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply...

Building on pro-gay policies put in place by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama today ordered overseas federal agencies to fight local anti-gay violence and provide asylum to homosexuals seeking protection. Obama said, "I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world -- whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation." >>SNIP<< "There is no question that the administration's record of advancing equality for LGBT people has been enhanced by the leadership...

Please Help Catholic students collect 100,000 Save Our Catholic Colleges protest petitions http://petitions.tfpstudentaction.org/disband-pro-homosexual-clubs-on-catholic-campuses.html?utm_source=sm&utm_medium=email&utm_content=SAE0100&utm_campaign=MainNewsletter Why are pro-homosexual clubs allowed to promote anti-Catholic behavior on Catholic campuses? After examining the official web sites of 244 Catholic universities and colleges in America, TFP Student Action found that 107 – or 43% – recognize student clubs that favor the homosexual agenda. Many of these clubs promote same-sex “marriage,” open homosexuality in the military, and push for the mainstreaming of unnatural vice.

Atlanta megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long said Sunday he is taking a leave from his church to deal with "family issues." He made the announcement during services at New Birth Missionary Church, WSB-TV reported. He did not specify how long he would be on leave. ...In September 2010, four young men connected to Long's church -- based in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia -- accused the pastor of coercing them into having sex. He denied the allegations and a settlement was reached in May before the matters were dismissed. A fifth man, Centino Kemp, said he had been sexually involved...

"In 2011, some brave Saudi Arabian women put up a fight over the ongoing driving ban that exists in the Middle Eastern country, but their battle is far from over. Now, religious scholars from Saudi Arabia’s highest authority on Islam are claiming that allowing women to drive would lead to further “moral decline.”

Two veteran street preachers in Houston are facing a bench trial for spreading the biblical message about homosexuality – and other sins – on one of their favorite corners for preaching in Houston. That the message was direct is obvious, from a photo of the situation that developed for David Stokes of BulldogMinistries.com and Dave Allen of HornofSamuelBook.com: Their sign warns those who are "Drunks, homosexuals, abortionist, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, witches, idolators" that "Hell awaits you." Their hearing will be in Houston Municipal Court, which is run by Barbara E. Hartle, who, according to the Dallas Voice, is...

Washington, DC, December 1, 2011 -- Only 21 percent of surveyed medical students could identify five true and two false indications of when and when not to wash their hands in the clinical setting, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Three researchers from the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology at Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany collected surveys from 85 medical students in their third year of study during a lecture class that...

PHILADELPHIA -- Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a young boy more than 100 times after meeting him through the charity he founded, then threatened the boy's family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff, an adult, only as John Doe. It claims Sandusky abused the boy at the coach's State College home, at Penn State facilities and on at least one bowl game trip. The plaintiff is not among eight victims named in a grand jury report released earlier this month that detailed a...

David Codrea published an article today about an interesting letter one law abiding silencer owner received from the ATF. The silencer owner in question owns an AWC .22lr silencer that uses a material made of tangled copper ropes to slow down the expanding gasses, a material not unlike the common Brillo pad or Chore Boy Pot Scrubber. He wanted to know whether it would be legal to replace the worn out material in his legally owned silencer with some pot scrubber material, an act which seems pretty innocuous to the impartial observer. The ATF, on the other hand… From the...

A mob rat convicted of beating two pizzeria customers in a “calzone rage” attack will face the same Brooklyn judge Thursday he had previously promised to stay out of trouble, the Daily News has learned. Joey Calco — a former hit man for the Bonanno crime family with two murder convictions under his belt — had reinvented himself in the witness protection program as Joseph Milano, the owner of Goomba’s Pizza in Florida. But Calco’s new life unraveled in 2009 over a beef with customers who were demanding their money back because he screwed up the calzone order. Calco vaulted...

Two former Syracuse University ball boys say they were molested by associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine, starting in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1990s. Police in Syracuse said they have opened an investigation into the allegations. And in a statement Thursday night, Syracuse said it has placed Fine on administrative leave. * One alleged victim, Bobby Davis, now 39, told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him beginning in 1984, shortly before Davis entered the seventh grade. Davis, the team's ball boy for six years beginning in 1984, said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at the...

News Release Americans For Truth About HomosexualityNovember 10, 2011; Contact: Peter LaBarbera: americansfortruth@gmail.comCHICAGO—The discovery that former Penn State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been molesting boys as young as 10 years old – and that university officials including head coach Joe Paterno did not do more to apprehend this predator – has shocked America. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), said the scandal exposes the continuing problem of homosexual predators in society. He offers the following observations related to the PSU scandal: Many openly homosexual (“gay”) men, like CNN anchor Don Lemon, were molested as...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In the middle of Curtin Road, John Matko held one handwritten sign in his right hand and rested another against his jeans. Two inches of black tape obscured Penn State’s logo on the 34-year-old father’s hat, as he tried to ignore the jeers, slaps and beer hurled at him. “Put abused kids first,” one of Matko’s signs read. “Don’t be fooled, they all knew. Tom Bradley, everyone must go.” Penn State’s Beaver Stadium loomed 30 yards away, rumbling with the first roars of Saturday’s game with Nebraska. The sea of blue-clad supporters wearing gray fedoras and...

A decade before Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of sexually assaulting young boys, he wrote a book about his life. The book, oddly titled “Touched,” is listed (but not currently available) via Amazon.com, and its sales page is fast becoming a gathering place for those angry at Sandusky for what appears to be a long history of sexual abuse. “Jerry Sandusky’s book is appropriately titled,” wrote one Amazon customer. “It shows the deeper evil that he lives with everyday. We just found out what type of person he really is: a low life animal! He has brought...

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...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fox 29 has learned the number of child-abuse in the Penn State sex-abuse scandal involving ex-coach Jerry Sandusky has more than doubled in the past day, and is closer to 20 victims. There were eight victims named in the grand jury presentment and 40 charges leveled against Sandusky, a long-time assistant to Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. Paterno was not named in the grand jury finding as violating any laws. Sources tell Fox 29 since a press conference on Monday, the number of potential victims has more than doubled in the case.

Victims of clerical sexual abuse will find it easier to bring compensation claims against the Catholic church after a judge ruled it can be held responsible for the wrongdoings of its priests. [SNIP] The judge said although there had been no formal contract between the church and the priest, the late Father Baldwin, there were "crucial features" that should be recognised. He said: "He [Baldwin] was provided with the premises, the pulpit and the clerical robes. He was directed into the community with that full authority and was given free rein to act as a representative of the church. He...

The X-Men movie series, based on the comic books of the same name, is well-known for its unusual cast of gifted mutants and for its extraordinary special effects. What is not as widely known about the X-Men is the fact that the movies, along with the comic books, draw many clear parallels between the mutants and the gay and lesbian community. It is an open secret that the most recent movie in the series, “X-Men First Class,” which serves as the prequel for the other films, is especially overt in presenting these parallels. Zach Stenz, one of the First Class...

An Ohio high school teacher who allegedly had sex with players on the school's football team, then claimed insanity as a defense, was found guilty Thursday. Stacy Schuler, 33, was convicted of 16 felony counts of sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to minors. She was sentenced to four years in prison. Attorneys for Schuler, who resigned from her post as a health and physical education teacher at Mason High School last February, reportedly have argued that the alleged sexual acts may never have occurred, as Schuler has no memory of them. But two young men who...

The female teacher who raped five teenagers was being sentenced at 4PM local when the TV cut away for other programming. Does anyone know what the sentence is? Thanks.

Is Shep Smith losing weight or what? He sure looks gaunt.

Henry Charles Lea was a remarkable historian. Largely self taught and meticulous in his work, he produced a detailed and lavishly footnoted history of the medieval period. Anyone who speaks to the subject of priestly celibacy today should first become familiar with this two volume work, History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church, published in 1907, third ed., revised, and reprinted by BiblioLife. To that end I'll post, in several parts, some excerpts from this work beginning with Vol.2 and unless otherwise noted all quotes are from this volume that begins with chapter 24, The Fifteenth Century. Lea begins...

I always appreciate a story where an individual who enjoys hunting animals simply for sport or who torments animals for pleasure- get his comeuppance. Good for the bull.

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877) Home of the South Central L.A. Tea Party!

VIDEO

“Give me the child,” the Jesuit maxim is supposed to have run, “and I will give you the man”. But not if Richard Dawkins gets there first. The arch-atheist’s new book, The Magic of Reality, is designed to inoculate tender minds once and for all against the supernatural and its apologists. Actually, not just tender minds. While it’s aimed at children of 10 and up, the text is persuasive whatever one’s age. After all, Dawkins is a populariser as well as a proselytiser; his argument, beautifully complemented here by Dave McKean’s copious illustrations, has wonderful clarity.

Many people who work in the field of psychology argue against the idea that a person can change their sexual orientation. But a new study published in the October edition of the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy reveals that some homosexuals who seek to change their sexual orientation may be able to do so with the help of religious mediation. The study, conducted by psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University, examined changes in homosexuals who sought the help of Exodus International in trying to change their sexual orientation. Researches tracked changes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TivVcfSBVSM

A Christian schoolboy was suspended from Western Hills High School in Texas for saying he thought that “being a homosexual is wrong.” Can you believe this? The boy’s name is Dakota Ary, and here is his story: According to news reports, during a German class, Dakota’s teacher started talking about religion and homosexuality in Germany, and even posted a picture on the wall of two men kissing.  Dakota turned to a friend and said he was a Christian and that “being a homosexual is wrong.”  The teacher reportedly overheard his comment and sent him to the principal's office.  Then, the...