Free Republic

A 48-year-old Florida businessman has legally adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend as his daughter in what one attorney is calling an attempt to shield assets in a wrongful death civil suit that has entered a "legal twilight zone," according to a judge. John Goodman, who founded the International Polo Club Beach in Wellington, legally adopted Heather Hutchins on Oct. 13 in Miami-Dade County, according to a court order by Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kelley. "The events which serve as the grounds for the relief sought by the Plaintiffs border on the surreal and take the Court into a legal twilight zone,"...

As celebrity scandals go, it’s probably second only to the O.J. trial: Woody Allen leaving Mia Farrow, his girlfriend and muse of 14 years, for her adopted teenage daughter Soon-Yi. That was way back in 1992, and what was unthinkable then has long since come to pass: Woody Allen has been forgiven by the public at large. His most recent film, “Midnight in Paris,” has made over $56 million at the US box office to date — his highest-grossing film ever. Along with Elaine May and Ethan Coen, he contributed a one-act play to Broadway’s “Relatively Speaking,” which opened this...

In Lawrence v. Texas (2003) the Supreme Court invalidated Texas’s sodomy law as violating the United States Constitution. The case involved “two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other, engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle.” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for a majority of the Court that “there are other spheres of our lives and existence, outside the home, where the State should not be a dominant presence. Freedom extends beyond spatial bounds. Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct. The instant case involves liberty...

Rick Perry Now Opposes Abortions in Cases of Rape, Incest Washington, DC -- At a pro-life presidential forum last night, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry announced that he had a change of heart on abortion in cases of rape or incest -- now opposing abortion in such rare cases. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/28/rick-perry-now-opposes-abortions-in-cases-of-rape-incest/

They were told to expect a kiss from a 'special someone'. But the joke was on teenagers at Rosemount High School when the mystery lip locks they suspected came from their classmates... were actually from their parents. Now that footage of the cringe-worthy pep rally prank has gone viral, John Wollersheim says as the school principal he owes an apology to everyone who was offended by the incestual display.

Last night, Presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announced during an on-line Town Hall Thursday night that he supports civil marriage for gay Americans. Having long supported civil unions for gay couples, Johnson's decision to endorse gay marriage is based on "a great deal of deliberation, discussion with the gay community, and a conclusion that government has no business choosing who should be allowed the benefits of marriage and who should not." Announcing his support for gay marriage, Johnson said, "As a believer in individual freedom and keeping government out of personal lives, I simply cannot find...

If the Republican presidential contenders wish to remain truthful to their rhetoric of decentralization of power in Washington, they should take a break from wooing social conservatives and stand for states' rights in regard to gay marriage. Because many likely Iowa caucus-goers describe themselves as very conservative on social issues such as gay marriage and abortion, many candidates feel they need to reach out to the far-right if they plan to get the presidential nod. However, a staunch, conservative position on social issues will likely hurt them in the long run, because it undermines their more-appealing small-government policies.... The three...

After introducing its first openly gay character in September 2010, Archie Comics continues to lead the pack with the mainstream comic book world’s first same-sex marriage. Kevin Keller will marry his military sweetheart, Clay, in an upcoming issue of Life with Archie. The character is also set to star in a pioneering solo title starting this February. An interracial same-sex marriage between two soldiers in an Archie comic? The times are no longer a-changin’, they are a-changed.

QUEBEC CITY, October 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Quebec couple was able to cover up the father’s repeated rapes of his 12-year-old daughter by taking her in for an abortion when she became pregnant, a court case in the province revealed. The couple reportedly began having sex in front of their children in the early 2000s and then had their daughter join them starting in 2007 when she was ten years old. On Tuesday, the province’s Crown sought a prison sentence of three to four years for the mother after she was found guilty of sexual immorality.  The judge will...

A bill that would repeal New Hampshire’s 2009 law legalizing same-sex marriage would also allow two citizens of either sex to enter into a civil union — even siblings. New Hampshire Republican state Rep. David Bates, the sponsor of the bill, confirmed this to The Daily Caller. Asked about the logic behind allowing siblings to enter into civil unions, Bates responded, “You have that question backwards. By definition in the bill, a ‘civil union’ means a contractual agreement that provides reciprocal benefits and obligations to the parties to the agreement.”

First Lady Michelle Obama told two audiences at Democratic fundraising events on Tuesday that the justices her husband appointed to the Supreme Court will protect the right to “love whomever we choose.” She also said these justices would protect “privacy”—presumably a reference to the “right to privacy” the court invoked in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States. “Let’s not forget what it meant when my husband appointed those two brilliant Supreme Court justices,

PASADENA, Md., Sept. 21, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Katherine Cesinger, State Press Director, RickPerry.org, Inc., says, re: Governor Rick Perry's position on abortion: "His position has been consistent on this. Gov. Perry is pro-life, with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother." In response, Michael Anthony Peroutka, co-founder with his brother Steve of  "Institute On The Constitution" (TheAmericanView.com), has issued the following statement: "Though it has been said numerous times that Gov. Perry is pro-life, he is not pro-life because being pro-life means being against all abortions with no exceptions. Unborn babies in the womb as a result...

Cain: Government Shouldn't Make Decision on Abortion, Rape Washington, DC -- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is raising eyebrows today of pro-life advocates and political pundits who thought he had previously taken a pro-life position on abortion. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/10/20/cain-government-shouldnt-make-decision-on-abortion-rape/

A popular Columbia professor was charged Thursday with incest - accused of a sick sex relationship with a female relative, prosecutors said. Political science Prof. David Epstein, 46, bedded the young woman over a three-year period ending last year, according to court papers. He was arraigned before a Manhattan judge on a single felony incest count. "We ask that everyone remember that he is innocent until proven otherwise and that these allegations are nothing more than allegations," said Epstein's defense lawyer Matthew Galluzzo. University spokesman Robert Hornsby said that Epstein "is now on administrative leave and will not be teaching...

Ever since liberals drug-tripped their way into thinking that marriage is a right, we've been bombarded with insipid comparisons between gay rights and the civil rights movement. Realistically, democrats started the gay rights movement during the civil rights movement when they had a raunchy love affair with Jim Crow.© (That's pretty clever, if I do say so myself. Kind of want to copyright that. ETA: Done.) This has given rise to a new gold standard in liberal insults: homophobia. Some clever little person realized that a few very vocal anti-gay people turned out to be fruity themselves. An energy-saving light...

Fundamentalist Mormon Joe Darger, along with two of his three wives, recently appeared on O’Reilly to discuss their new book, “Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage.” O’Reilly began the segment by pointing out that opponents of same-sex marriage have always argued that if marriage was redefined to include same-sex unions, other groups would want the same treatment. This is the classic “slippery slope” argument, and despite arguments to the contrary by leading gay thinkers (such as philosophy professor John Corvino), the slide down this slope appears inevitable.

Research also shows that homosexuals are less likely to enter into long-term partnerships, less likely to be sexually faithful to a partner, and less likely to see their relationships last a lifetime. Incorporating this behavior into society’s concept of "marriage" would lead to a decline in commitment, fidelity, and permanence for marriages across the board. It is no more "discrimination" to bar marriage to a person of the same sex than it is to bar marriage to a person who is already married, a close blood relative, or a child. If same-sex "marriage" is legalized, we can be certain that...

Proponents of same-sex marriage are quick to claim that all they want is “marriage equality.” Nothing more. They’ll be content if they can just have “equality.” But we all know that reality doesn’t end there. In recent weeks, same-sex advocates have finally begun to admit it themselves. Published just days ago in a The New York Times piece, Stanford law professor Ralph Banks, asks, “What now of the two remaining criminal prohibitions of intimate relationships: incest and polygamy? Even as same sex … relationships are accepted, Americans are now imprisoned for incest and polygamy … Over time, our moral assessments...

A lawyer who donated sperm to pay his way through college has learned that he has fathered an astonishing 70 children. More than 15 of those have already attempted to contact 33-year-old Ben Seisler. The donor confessed to his fiancée as part of a new reality show, Sperm Donor, that aired on the Style Network on Tuesday. Seisler donated sperm for three years while attending law school at George Mason, Virginia. He earned around $150 per donation.

A few days ago, I received an email from a friend entitled “Interesting Marriages,” containing four links. The first link told the 2007 story of a Sudanese man who was caught copulating with a goat. Since the Sudanese tribal custom requires that a man must marry a woman whom he sexually violated (in order to preserve her family’s honor), the village leaders decided to publicly embarrass the man who had violated the goat, forcing him to pay a dowry to the goat’s owner before “marrying” the goat. The story, which was first reported in a light-hearted way on the website...

Many years ago, I was assigned to cover a story about a certain sperm donor, a newly graduated doctor in Kansas who had donated on such a frequent and regular basis that he was suspected of being the biological father to 500 children. You read that right, 500 children! My research led me to learn that professors and medical mentors had often urged their male med school residents to donate sperm as a way to: a) Put a little money in their pockets and b) Help propagate future generations of intelligent children. The belief was that if the sperm came...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina state lawmakers moved closer Monday to giving social conservatives their decade-old wish to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot designed to make clear that marriage is between one man and one woman in the state.     Ten House Democrats voted with nearly all Republicans in favoring of putting on May's primary ballot a question that would make marriage the only domestic legal union recognized in this state. The bill passed 75-42 - above the 72 needed for any constitutional change - and is now headed for debate Tuesday in the Senate, where a similar...

The Dargers, the polygamist family that says they inspired HBO's hit show "Big Love," take readers inside their unconventional world in a new memoir, "Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage." To Joe Darger, his three wives, Alina, twins Vicki and Valerie, and their 24 children, they are just like any American family -- except for a different family structure. "It's very much part of our culture. It goes back six generations for me. I had a very positive experience growing up," Joe Darger said today on "Good Morning America." Entering into a traditional, monogamous marriage would...

Actress Kristin Chenoweth is a self-identifying Christian who has sparked controversy by speaking out about her support of the gay community in an interview with lesbian and gay publication The Advocate. The LBGT publication asked the TV and theater star: "What would you ask people who cite Christianity as their justification for passing laws that discriminate against people?" Chenoweth replied, "I would ask, 'What would Jesus do?' It sounds so cliché and Pollyanna-ish, but I have a feeling if he were on the earth today, he wouldn't be walking around saying, 'You’re going to hell' and 'You're wrong, you're wrong,...

"You cannot construct an argument for same-sex marriage that would not also justify philosophically the legalization of polygamy and adult incest." -Rep Paul Stam North Carolina Rep Paul Stam likens gay marriage to incest, polygamy

George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” When you tell the truth about homosexuality today, you can be sure that the central tools of deceit—name-calling and bullying—will be unleashed. I recently was having a respectful conversation with a homosexual activist, but after I made a point he couldn’t answer he called me a “bigot.” I asked, “What’s your definition of bigotry?” He said, “Fear and intolerance.” I said, “The definition of bigotry is not ‘fear and intolerance.’ It’s making a judgment without knowing the facts. I have written a book about...

I'm penning this column from Australia where I was privileged to speak a few days ago at an event at Parliament House celebrating Australia's National Marriage Day. As in America, marriage in Australia is under attack by homosexual activists who seek to shoehorn their lifestyle choices into a shoe that will never fit: marriage. They want the law-and public opinion--to redefine marriage to include homosexual sex as something good, the moral equivalent of marital sexuality expressed by a husband and a wife. Pro-family Australians are blessed with charismatic leaders like MP's Bob Katter and Kevin Andrews, and pro-family advocate Babette...

One of the few issues on which opinion has moved left over the last few years is same-sex marriage. In 1996, Gallup found that Americans opposed it by a 68 percent to 27 percent margin. Last May, Gallup found Americans in favor by 53 percent to 45 percent. That’s a huge change in 15 years. Other polls have shown similar movement. Pew Research reported last week that 45 percent favored same-sex marriage and 46 percent were opposed — a dead heat. Pew polls in 2008 and 2009 found only 35 percent to 40 percent in favor. This is an issue...

A MAN who donated sperm to a lesbian couple will have his name stripped from their child's birth certificate after a successful legal bid by the birth mother's ex-partner. The woman took the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and biological father, to court in May to have his name replaced with her name in the document. The female child was born in 2001 and the women split in 2006, although they continued to share parental responsibility. The man also played a role in the child's life. New South Wales District Court Judge Stephen Walmsley today ruled in her...

Police charged a man with molesting his 9-year-old daughter at the sold-out Selena Gomez concert in St. Augustine Sunday night. Several women sitting behind the 52-year-old father and daughter alerted volunteers at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre about what they considered inappropriate touching. The volunteers told police, who arrested the man after he became aggressive with them and initially wouldn't let them talk to his daughter. The Times-Union is not identifying the father to protect the girl's identity. The man was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12. He is being held in the St. Johns County...

After marriage was redefined to include same-sex couples in New York, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan is warning that this step could lead to a further redefinition ..The New York City archbishop said that in recent decades, the Church has been a prophetic voice warning that no-fault divorce, contraception, cohabitation and promiscuity would lead to “a cheapening of the marriage bond and harm our kids.” “And now we ring the steeple bell again at this latest dilution of the authentic understanding of marriage, worried that the next step will be another redefinition to justify multiple partners and infidelity,” he said...Archbishop Dolan...

NEW YORK – Hundreds of protesters against the legalization of gay marriage in New York jammed the hallways of the Capitol building Monday as Republican senators privately discussed whether to bring the same-sex marriage issue to a floor vote. Demonstrators opposing gay marriage, including Christian ministers, African-American church members and Tea Party organizers, outnumbered those in support of the controversial bill, which has 31 votes and needs one more vote to pass the New York Senate. The measure was approved by the New York State Assembly last Wednesday, 80 to 63.Republicans have been mulling over same-sex marriage bill in private...

Inbreeding among British Muslims is threatening the health of their children, a leading geneticist warned yesterday. Professor Steve Jones, from University College London, said the common practice in Islamic communities for cousins to marry each other increased the risk of birth defects. ‘There may be some evidence that cousins marrying one another can be harmful,’ he told an audience at the Hay Festival. ‘We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene. ‘Bradford is very inbred. There is a huge...

You will recall that Palin-hating blogger David Epstein was arrested in December and charged with felony incest for having sex with his adult daughter (now 24) from 2006 through 2009.One of our readers has obtained court documents (for Case #2010NY090162) indicating that Epstein copped a plea to a misdemeanor charge of attempted incest. (Click the image to enlarge). That ruling was on May 11 — two weeks ago — and yet I can find no news reports about Epstein’s conviction. You might think that at least the New York Times would find the disposition of this case newsworthy.The alert reader...

While often hostile to the Calvinist Christianity in which he was reared, David Hume’s essay “Of Polygamy and Divorces” offers a vigorous and well-argued defense of marriage arrangements as they existed in England and many other parts of Europe from the early Middle Ages through most of the 18th century. His arguments have great relevance for us today as we struggle to cope with unprecedented rates of divorce and unprecedented ease of both entering into and exiting marriages and other intimate procreative relationships. His arguments against polygamy are also important as that practice seems to be undergoing something of a...

CHICAGO, May 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The University of Chicago (UC) last month footed the bill for an exhibit of hundreds of extremely explicit sadomasochistic pornographic images and books to be displayed on campus grounds. The Chicago Sun-Times last Wednesday reported that an officially recognized student sadomasochist group received $3,200 from the University to host a three-day display of the “Carter-Johnson Leather Library,� making UC the first campus to welcome the lewd display. A member of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) attended the exhibit and reported on the extreme pornographic material on display, including a lesbian porn book describing...

The darkest hour is just before dawn. A huge swath of this planet, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Philippine Sea, has been held in a synthetic,forced nightfall for nearly fourteen centuries. But the sunrise is coming, it is coming sooner rather than later, and this light will be the life of men. Everywhere in the western world, people look at the savage violence that is a daily occurrence in the Muslim world and shake their heads in stunned disbelief. A pastor of a very small Christian flock in Florida burns a Koran. Weeks later at literally the global...

OTTAWA, Ontario, February 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent parliamentary session on a bill relating to sexual offenses against children, psychology experts claimed that pedophilia is a “sexual orientation” comparable to homosexuality or heterosexuality, a definition that was questioned by one Member of Parliament who was present. Bill C-54, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code, seeks to increase or impose mandatory minimum penalties or punishment on sexual offenders of children for particular crimes. Parliamentary discussion on February 14 centered on the mandatory minimum imprisonment and how offenders respond to treatment. Dr. Vernon Quinsey and Dr. Hubert Van Gijseghem,...

Canisius College – a Jesuit institution – has invited an open homosexual activist, Dustin Lance Black, to talk about “Leadership for Equal Rights: GLBT Equality.” According to the college’s web site, the lecture is scheduled on March 10 as part of a Leadership Series program. The web site post is here: http://www.canisius.edu/campus_leader/workshops.asp Not only is Black a homosexual activist and screenwriter for the movie “Milk,” but he is also a board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which sponsored a federal court challenge to overturn Prop. 8 – the 2008 amendment that defends traditional marriage in California....

This week, U.S. Attorney General Holder announced Obama’s decision not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was passed by a bipartisan overwhelming majority and signed by Bill Clinton in 1996. Significantly, the Attorney General described anti-sodomy beliefs as “animus,” which means “vehement emnity,” “hatred” or “ill will.” This echoes Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s anti-Christian view, stated in a Supreme Court decision upholding the ejection a Christian legal group for not allowing open homosexuals in leadership positions, that “Condemnation of same-sex intimacy is, in fact, a condemnation of gay people,” and “Our (Supreme Court) decisions decline to distinguish...

Redefine marriage and you'll encourage polygamist agendas. At least that's the view of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), and one I share. According to the ACL, "It's important that the definition of marriage remains the union of a man and a woman" not two men or two women – and certainly not four women and one man. Also, "It's important that marriage is not watered down to include polygamy, such as is being debated in Canada." The uncomfortable truth: In Canada, where marriage was redefined, Muslim fundamentalists and scripture-twisting cults want their versions of "equality" too. Consider: Canadian multiculturalists are...

The trick in this biz is never to be right too early. Kathy Shaidle writes: Remember during the gay ‘marriage’ debate, we were scolded: ‘Nobody’s talking about polygamy, you bigoted hicks’? Why, yes. Yes, I do. Steyn in The Western Standard, September 2004. Headline: It’s Closer Than They Think. The activists roll their eyes and go into "Oh, come off it, you can't be serious" mode. Like the chichi gay couple from New York who've built their dream home in rural Vermont, they don't want any other incomers muscling in. Gay marriage, they assure us, is the merest amendment to...

Here is how Peter Yost of the Associated Press (as dutifully reported by their ally, Newsday), defended Obama’s reversal on the Defense of Marriage Act (the reversal being that the Justice department will no longer defend the act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes. Obama campaigned as an opponent of gay marriage.): Obama’s move may position him politically at the forefront of rising public support for gay marriage. Polling results can vary rather significantly depending on what words are used to describe gay marriage, but there is a gradual trend in public opinion...

The trick in this biz is never to be right too early. Kathy Shaidle writes: "Remember during the gay ‘marriage’ debate, we were scolded: ‘Nobody’s talking about polygamy, you bigoted hicks’?" Why, yes. Yes, I do.

A purge may be underway in the polygamous communities of Hildale-Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border. 2News has been told even men who were in FLDS leadership positions have been ousted from the sect. "There's a big shake up," said Isaac Wyler, long-time resident of Colorado City. "There are a lot of people who are shaken by what's happened with their families." Wyler was one of three people, close to the communities, who spoke to 2News Tuesday night. Perhaps as many as three dozen men have been told to leave over the past two months, and the orders to get...

In a bold, principled, and unexpected move, the administration — led by Obama himself — has determined that the gay-marriage banning Defense of Marriage Act "violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment" and will no longer defend it in court.

PROVO — The father of The 5 Browns — his face scratched with injuries from a spectacular Monday auto accident — pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing his daughters when they were children. Keith Brown, 55, appeared very solemn and serious during his appearance. He was just recently released from the hospital where he was treated for injuries from a Monday night accident in Little Cottonwood Canyon. In a voice barely audible, Brown pleaded guilty to sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony, and two counts of sex abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. Brown will be sentenced March...

Actor David Tennant is to marry actress Georgia Moffett. That news is fairly straightforward, albeit devastating for several single women I know. But the type of viewer who gets confused between actors and the televisual roles they play should just give up now. You see, the pair met during the filming of the 2008 Doctor Who episode The Doctor’s Daughter. Tennant, of course, played the Doctor, while Moffett played his daughter. Well, sort of. The character Jenny was in fact created by inserting the Doctor’s hand into a progeneration machine, a device that took a diploid cell (containing copies of...

What’s wrong with a prominent professor’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. The story of David Epstein, the Columbia University political scientist and Huffington Post blogger now facing criminal charges of incest, has launched a very interesting discussion. What is fascinating about it, and deeply disturbing, is the inability of some commentators to articulate what is morally wrong about the act of incest. It is almost equally disturbing that a legal argument for a “right” to engage in adult, consensual incest stands on surprisingly firm footing, thanks to precedents the United States Supreme Court has already established in other cases on...

Appearing on Good Morning America Friday morning, Vice President Joe Biden said the nation's attitude on gay marriage is changing, and that "it’s inevitable there will be national consensus." He told George Stephanopolous the same thing is happening on the issue of gay marriage that happened with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military. Recently, the President said in a press conference his position on the controversial issue is "evolving": The sentiment I expressed then is still where I am — which is, like a lot of people, I'm wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on this. I have...