Free Republic

Rose Marie Belforti, a small town cheese maker in rural New York, is at the epicenter of the effort to banish Christians from living out their faith in public office. Belforti, a Bible-believing Christian, has been the elected town clerk for nearly a decade. After the New York legislature redefined marriage and ordered clerks to issue same-sex "marriage" licenses, Belforti had a surprise visit from a lesbian who wanted a marriage license. Rose did what she would do for anyone--she offered an appointment. Just not with her. The women weren't denied a license, but Rose, in anticipation of a conflict...

WASHINGTON -- The Census Bureau reports there are 131,729 same-sex couples in the U.S. who say they're married -- the first-ever government count of this kind. The 2010 results show that about 20 percent of the estimated 646,464 gay couples in the country checked off "husband" or "wife" boxes on their census forms. The census tally of gay married couples is higher than the actual number of legal marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships in the U.S.

Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian. She believes that God has condemned homosexuality as a sin, so she does not want to sign same-sex marriage licenses; instead, she has arranged for a deputy to issue all marriage licenses by appointment. But when a lesbian couple who own a farm near here showed up at the town hall last month, the women said they were unwilling to wait. Now Ms. Belforti is at the heart of an emerging test case, as national advocacy...

Gay pride parade Mayor Betsy Price will be one of three grand marshals in Saturday's "Ride the Rainbow" 30th Anniversary Pride Parade and Street Festival downtown. The parade begins at 10 a.m. at General Worth Square. Burns, who is gay and gained national attention last year when he spoke out against bullying, will also take part in the parade.

Credit: National Organization for Marriage Denver, Colo., Sep 27, 2011 / 06:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Legalizing “gay marriage” is having major repercussions for religious freedom, according to observers of the latest developments.Princeton law professor Robert P. George cited the words of American Jewish Committee lawyer Marc Stern, who in 2006 said the conflict between religious liberty and same-sex marriage would be “a train wreck.”“That train wreck has now arrived in states that have redefined marriage or have created schemes of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships as the equivalent of marriage,” George told CNA.He cited incidents of religious adoption and foster care...

You may have heard the story of Jamey Rodemeyer, Buffalo, NY, who was 14-years-old when he committed suicide, after being bullied online for over a year. Now, people all over the world are coming together to fight for Jamey, to end bullying. Jamey was an openly gay student at his middle school and was repeatedly bullied and harassed by peers who told him “JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND (sic) UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” one post said, according to local reports. Another read, “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it It would make everyone...

When the New York state legislature rammed through a law “legalizing” same-sex “marriage” this last summer, countless New Yorkers disagreed with the decision. Among them were Christian town clerks who could not in good conscience sign marriage licenses for a union they consider sinful. Clauses were written in the law that supposedly protect clergy from being forced to act against their faith. However, such clauses do not apply to town clerks or any other government official. Clerks are told point blank, either accept the law, or resign. Town clerk Rose Marie Belforti of Ledyard, New York found out the hard...

An elderly priest on the Acadian Peninsula has been barred from performing church services in the Bathurst diocese after he made remarks about homosexuals and women who have had an abortion. Rev. Donat Gionet, 85, gave the sermon at the Roman Catholic church in Saint-Léolin while replacing the regular parish priest late last month. He stands by the comments he made in Saint-Léolin, a village of about 730 people located about 50 kilometres east of Bathurst. Reached in Caraquet on Wednesday, Gionet declined an interview but did provide a written statement. In a letter written in French that he provided...

"Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok," she wrote. The L Word actress Leisha Hailey says she was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight after kissing her girlfriend. In a series of tweets Monday, Hailey wrote that she and fashion designer Nina Garduno, who have been together since 2006, "were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue." "I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir," she tweeted. "Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok."

Performance artist Lady Gaga is calling on the government to make bullying a federal offense. Reacting to the recent suicide of bullied gay Buffalo teen Jamey Rodemeyer, the 25-year-old New Yorker tweeted Wednesday, “Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be [sic] illegal. It is a hate crime.” Linking to the late boy’s “It Gets Better” YouTube video, which encourages viewers to love themselves and ignore the haters, Lady Gaga said she’s been sobbing, musing, and shouting since the tormented 14-year-old’s Sunday death. “The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling,” Lady...

Police in Lancashire have told the owner of a Christian café to stop displaying Bible texts on a video screen, because it breaches public order laws. Officers attended the Salt & Light Coffee House on Layton Road, Blackpool, on Monday 19 September, following a complaint about “insulting” and “homophobic” material. The café’s owner, Mr Jamie Murray, says the officers did not specify which Bible texts had caused the offence. BreachHe says the officers told him that displaying offensive or insulting words is a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act, and told him to stop displaying the Bible....

The Christian Post reported that on August 21, 2011, Mike Weatherley, a MP [Member of Parliament] for Hove, wrote a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron saying, "As long as religious groups can refuse to preside over ceremonies for same-sex couples, there will be inequality." In 2004, The United Kingdom passed laws legalizing same-sex unions, but churches were not required to participate in these unions. In 2010, the Conservative - Liberal Democrat Coalition proposed an amendment to those laws which allowed places of worship to "opt-in" to register same-sex ceremonies, something that MP Weatherley called a "messy compromise." But...

Police in Lancashire have told the owner of a Christian café to stop displaying Bible texts on a video screen, because it breaches public order laws. Officers attended the Salt & Light Coffee House on Layton Road, Blackpool, on Monday 19 September, following a complaint about “insulting” and “homophobic” material. The café’s owner, Mr Jamie Murray, says the officers did not specify which Bible texts had caused the offence. He says the officers told him that displaying offensive or insulting words is a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act, and told him to stop displaying the Bible....

Gay hackers attack pro-family petition in defense of Julio Severo and other Christians By Julio Severo A pro-family petition website to support me and other Christians has been hacked today. Attack by hackers on Sunday, September 25 The petition was created by LifeSiteNews in response to a massive campaign by homo-fascist group AllOut, which boasts more than 500,000 adherents. The campaign of AllOut pressured PayPal to block services to me and pro-family groups. PayPal readily yielded, firstly blocking my account, effectively hindering me from receiving voluntary donations from friends. Now, to make sure that a positive pro-family campaign may pressure...

Retailers Are Put on the Spot Over Anti-Gay Aid By ERIK ECKHOLM September 25, 2011 Matthew Ryan Williams A handful of advocates, armed with nothing more than their keyboards, have put many of the country’s largest retailers, including Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Wal-Mart, on the spot over their indirect and, until recently, unnoticed roles in funneling money to Christian groups that are vocal in opposing homosexuality. The advocates are demanding that the retailers end their association with an Internet marketer that gets a commission from the retailers for each online customer it gives them. It is a routine arrangement on...

TORONTO - This Toronto dad is just not ready to explain to his first-grade son about transgender people, prostitutes, AIDS or female genital mutilation. So one can imagine his shock when he found these issues listed as special days of recognition in his son’s Toronto District School Board 2011-12 daily planner. “I was looking through this thing and was shocked by the kind of days they are marking as ‘days of significance,’” he said. The first one that jumped out at him, under a headline that said “equitable and inclusive,” was Nov. 19’s Transgender Day of Remembrance. Then came Dec....

The last three GOP presidential primary debates have been nearly as notable for the actions of audience-members as for the candidates who appeared before them. In California at the MSNBC-Politico debate at the Reagan library, the audience applauded mention of the high number of executions in Texas and Rick Perry's defense of the death penalty. "If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is...

In Fort Worth, Texas - Dakota Ary, commented to his friend in their German class that his Christian beliefs say homosexuality is wrong. "I said, 'I'm Christian and, to me, being homosexual is wrong'" "After Ary commented to his friend about his Christian beliefs, the teacher reportedly began yelling at him and took him to the front office. " Ary got a two-day suspension because of his “inappropriate” comments. (According to the family’s attorney, Matt Krause with Liberty Counsel, religious discussions had come up in the classroom before.) "According to reports, just one week earlier the German teacher posted a...

An honors student in Fort Worth, TX, was sent to the principal’s office and punished for telling a classmate that he believes homosexuality is wrong. Holly Pope said she was “absolutely stunned” when she received a telephone call from an assistant principal at Western Hills High School informing her that her son, Dakota Ary, had been sent to in-school suspension. “Dakota is a very well-grounded 14-year-old,” she told Fox News Radio noting that her son is an honors student, plays on the football team and is active in his church youth group. “He’s been in church his whole life and...

I was stationed on Guam in the mid-1980s. My squadron flew search and rescue while on the island and made regular deployments to sea. Aside from my duties as a naval aviator, I was also a division officer and had enlisted men and women reporting to me. Guam is only 13 degrees north of the equator—beach weather every day. Most military people used the military beaches; I was one of the folks who liked to travel around the island. That’s how I discovered one of my men was gay. He was on the beach with his boyfriend, and although there...