Free Republic

BRUSSELS, April 23, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an astonshing display of gentleness in the face of a vile attack, the head of the Catholic Church in Belgium, Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, remained calmly seated with eyes closed in prayer Tuesday as four topless women attacked him with shouts and curses and doused him with water. It’s not the first time the bishop has been attacked for standing up for the Church’s teachings on homosexuality and expressing his concern for those who live the homosexual lifestyle. The incident took place at the ULB University in Brussels where the archbishop was participating in...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Ellen DeGeneres a “special envoy” for global AIDS awareness during a speech on Tuesday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. DeGeneres, a lesbian comedian who hosts NBC’s Ellen DeGeneres Show, is in a same-sex marriage with actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres will “use her celebrity platform to raise awareness about the global fight against AIDS,” according to a State Department press release. The release also quoted from a letter Clinton sent to DeGeneres and from Degeneres's response. “By lending us your energy, compassion, and star power to serve as our Special...

A mother and her two daughters, all former Girl Scouts who say they are disillusioned with the organization’s connection to less-than family values, claim the U.S. group’s 52nd National Convention next week in Houston is a farce. Christy Volanski and her daughters, Sydney and Tess, formed a sort of watchdog group earlier this year with their online site, “Speak Now: Girl Scouts,” as their platform in attempt to expose the group’s pro-abortion stance. Volanski, who also served as a Girl Scout leader in the last three years of her daughters’ eight year membership, told The Christian Post that Girl Scouts...

LEDYARD, NY, September 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Another town clerk in New York may lose her job for refusing to sign marriage licenses for same sex couples, the New York Times reports. Fifty-seven-year-old Rose Marie Belforti has been the town clerk in the small rural town of Ledyard, New York for ten years. When the state of New York legalized homosexual “marriage” this past summer, Belforti decided that she could not reconcile signing same-sex marriage licenses with her Christian faith. Instead, she decided to delegate the task to a deputy, who would issue such licenses by appointment. Now, a lesbian...

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...

A state lawmaker who was a central figure this year in the drama over whether Maryland would approve same-sex marriage was charged Friday with stealing campaign funds to pay for her wedding. Charges brought by the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor allege that Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George’s) spent thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to pay for wedding expenses and for the salary of an employee in her law firm. In several instances, Alston wrote herself checks from the account of “Friends of Tiffany Alston” and then cashed the checks for personal use, according to the prosecutor’s...

Having tied the knot in a white wedding, a lesbian couple thought the icing on the cake would be a traditional honeymoon along with other young couples. But the trip turned out to be a nightmare after staff at their resort treated them as if it was not a "real honeymoon" and excluded them from special romantic meals and dances. Gemma Harman, 24, and Tamsin Harper, 36, said it was the "worst two weeks" of their lives and the "homophobic manner" in which they were treated was "disgusting". The couple, from Brighouse, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, decided to go on...

(CNN) -- In the very early hours of this morning, "don't ask, don't tell" ceased to be U.S. policy. As a result, today is the first day I can write about being the partner of a gay military serviceman without fear that he will lose his job. ... The battle has only been half won. Gay servicemen or servicewomen can no longer be discharged simply for being gay, but they are still treated inequitably. Only by using their newly won free speech can they hope to reap the same benefits as their straight colleagues.

In January of last year, I appeared on Global Television talking about the blatant conflict of interest arising from the recent election of 21-year old Paul Marai, given that he was also an openly gay, homosexual activist, and his newly appointed Catholic School Board Trustee position. A few seconds (literally) after the interview was shown, I received an e-mail via Facebook entitled “F*%&$ Yourself”. “Gain some rationality”, the author said. “You’re embarassing (yes, he spelled it that way) your intellect on TV. Learn a thing or two in school before you call homosexuality a disorder. You’re officially the joke of...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Night-long celebrations will mark the final countdown to the historic end of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay troops, and even more partying will take place once it is lifted Tuesday. But in many ways change is already here. Countless subtle acts over the past months have been reshaping the military's staunchly traditional society in preparation for the U.S. armed forces' biggest policy shift in decades. Supporters of repeal compare it to the racial de-segregation of troops more than 60 years ago. For some gay service members, the fear of discovery and reprisals dissipated months...

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,...

Openly gay Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin says her bid for a Senate seat won't be about her sexual orientation, gay weekly the Washington Blade reported. Baldwin on Tuesday became the first Democrat to formally declare her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Herb Kohl. She is the first openly gay Senate candidate with a viable shot at winning. During a conference call on Wednesday, Baldwin insisted she's always been open about her sexual orientation, but added that the race will focus on other issues. “I have always since the beginning of all my adult life...

This one’s sure to have gay marriage proponents buzzing. Here Comes the Bride, a bridal store in Somers Point, New Jersey, is feeling the heat after allegedly refusing to sell a wedding dress to a lesbian. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Alix Genter visited the store with six of her closest family and friends. After the woman tried on a number of dresses, she purportedly chose the one she wanted and placed an order for it. But, when she filled out the associated form, she crossed out the word groom and wrote “partner” instead. Then, she wrote the name of...

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old’s honorable discharge under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base. Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the western South Dakota police department, claiming the officers violated her privacy when they informed the military about her sexual orientation. The case also highlights concerns over the ability of third...

(CNSNews.com) - Chai Feldblum, the Georgetown University law professor nominated by President Obama to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has written that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs,” including religious beliefs, that may negatively affect homosexual “equality.” Feldblum, whose nomination was advanced in a closed session of the Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on December 12, published an article entitled “Moral Conflict and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion” in the Brooklyn Law Review in 2006. “Just as we do not tolerate private racial beliefs that adversely affect African-Americans in the commercial arena, even if such...

Houston elected an openly gay mayor. Inauguation live on C-Span. She was just sworn in with a female at her side.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Hollywood elite and abortion promotion have long been synonymous but Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon is quickly becoming one of the leading pro-abortion voices in Tinseltown. Nixon followed up her Planned Parenthood fundraising letter earlier this year by wading into the health care debate.Nixon is joining abortion advocates who want to ensure taxpayer funding of abortion remains in the Senate government-run health care bill.Just one week after returning to the United States from filming the sequel to the popular television franchise's first feature film, Nixon is bashing a congressman's ban on abortion...

Thursday, March 12 PITTSFIELD — A woman who allegedly intended to artificially inseminate her wife with her brother's semen has been charged with domestic assault and battery. Pittsfield police responded to a call shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the city's Morningside neighborhood, where the assault allegedly occurred. Stephanie K. Lighten, 26, was released on personal recognizance after denying the allegations in Central Berkshire District Court Wednesday morning. Jennifer A. Lighten, 33, told police that Stephanie Lighten, her wife, was "all liquored up" when she returned to their Lincoln Street apartment, where the defendant then allegedly tried to use a...

Minnesota’s next U.S. Marshal will be Minneapolis’ openly gay Assistant Police Chief Sharon Lubinski. Her confirmation by the U.S. Senate was announced Monday morning by Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who recommended her. Lubinkski was formally nominated for the post in October by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in a flurry of pre-holiday legislative activity last week.

The southern city of Houston has become the largest US metropolis to elect an openly gay mayor when Annise Parker, an open lesbian, claimed a solid victory over her rival. "I know what this win means to many of us who thought we could never achieve high office," she said in her victory speech, at which she introduced her partner Kathy and their three children, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I understand, because I feel it, too. But now, from this moment, let us join as one community," said Parker, 53. According to local election data, Democrat Parker won about...