Free Republic

SOMETIMES tragic occurrences force us to stop and think – those are the moments that crystallize our perceptions of human relations. I found myself in such a state with the passing of a constituent, friend and fellow conservative who also happened to be gay. Our conversations convinced me that my beliefs in limited government can be shared across the chasms that liberals and conservatives perceive to separate us – ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. That conclusion is not popular on either side of the left-right spectrum: Liberals don't believe gays should be conservative and conservatives don't believe gays can be...

The elections this month were a blow to the religious right in America. The most prominent advocate of their policies of banning all abortion, all legal recognition of gay couples, and embryonic stem cell research was Rick Santorum, a senator for Pennsylvania. He was the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, a rising star of the theocratic right, and still lost by a staggering 18 points. The other champion of the religious right, Senator George Allen, also lost his race in Virginia, after he blurted out a racist comment at a campaign stop. Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas remains an option,...

TRENTON, Oct. 25 — New Jersey’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples, but ordered the Legislature to decide whether their unions must be called marriage or could be known by another name.

TALLAHASSEE - Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist told a radio talk-show host on Friday that civil unions between gays are "fine." Crist, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, added that he has not decided whether Florida should lift its long-standing ban on allowing gays to adopt children. He hasn't yet "reached a conclusion," he told Miami radio talk-show host Jim DeFede.

Sexual orientation should not define us, say gay politicians CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006 MONTREAL -- Openly gay politicians want to be known for their competence and not just for being gay. This was one of the observations made by seven elected officials during workshop Friday at an international conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights being held in Montreal in conjunction with the first World Outgames. The challenges, pitfalls and pluses of being a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender politician were discussed, as was the decision making process on when to come...

PHOENIX -- Foes of a constitutional initiative to ban same-sex marriage filed suit Wednesday to keep the measure off the November ballot. Attorney Chuck Blanchard said his client, the Arizona Together Coalition, has no problem with voters deciding whether marriage should be constitutionally defined as being between one man and one woman. But Blanchard said the proposal, if approved by voters, also would bar courts or lawmakers from recognizing civil unions as an alternative to marriage, and would outlaw the benefits that some cities and at least one county provide to the domestic partners of their employees and, in some...

Gay couple jailed for abusing their foster children Two homosexual men who sexually abused young children placed in their foster care were jailed yesterday. Ian Wathey, 41, and his partner Craig Faunch, 32, were found guilty of a string of offences against four boys aged between eight and 14. The pair used the boys for sexual gratification within months of being approved as foster carers by Wakefield council. A mother of eight-year-old twins raised concerns about them with social services after finding a photograph of one of the boys as he used the lavatory. The authorities chose to take no...

by Mark Finkelstein June 23, 2006 Let me share a little trade secret. Any time I'm on the prowl for something to write about, I go to the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times. Almost invariably the journey is rewarded with a remarkable liberal morsel. Take this morning's editorial - 'Battling over Bishops' - in which the Times decides to wade into the controversy roiling the Episcopal Church. Here's the kernel of the Times' argument "What both controversies [over homosexual and female clergy] have in common is not only a fixation on sex and gender but also the challenge...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The largest U.S. Presbyterian Church body approved a measure on Tuesday that would open the way for the ordination of gays and lesbians under certain circumstances. The new policy was approved on a vote of 57-43 percent among 500 church representatives at the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It gives local church organizations more leeway in deciding if gays can be ordained as lay deacons and elders as well as clergy, provided they are faithful to the church's core values. "It permits local governing bodies to examine candidates on a wider criterion than sexual...

I’m rarely lifted by some occurrence under the Capitol dome, but 48 members of the Senate provided an exception this week: They spared us the protracted and dangerous distraction of a federal battle over gay marriage. That even five minutes was spent on this issue — let alone all the words poured out about the need for a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage — illustrates how far our nation is from getting its priorities in order and its act together. You know, the act we need to perfect so we can seriously deal on the global stage with real political,...

Same-Sex Marriage: Hijacking the Civil Rights Legacy The indiscriminate promotion of various social groups' desires and preferences as "rights" has drained the moral authority from the civil rights industry. THE MOVEMENT TO REDEFINE MARRIAGE to include same-sex unions has packaged its demands in the rhetoric and images of the civil rights movement. This strategy, though cynical, has enormous strategic utility. For what reasonable, fair-minded American could object to a movement that conjures up images of Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellows campaigners for racial justice facing down dogs and fire hoses? Who is prepared to risk being labeled a...

In 1964, just one congressman from the Deep South, Atlanta's Charles Weltner, voted for the Civil Rights Act. For all practical purposes, his righteous leadership on civil rights — he also supported the Voting Rights Act — cost him his congressional career. In 1966, he resigned his seat rather than sign an act of loyalty to the segregationist Lester Maddox, as Georgia Democrats insisted. But some analysts believe he would have lost the race for re-election. Doing the right thing is difficult because it often means losing. And the typical politician is willing to lose anything — honor, integrity, dignity...

Wanted: 1,000 gay brothers Large new study that seeks to find evidence of linkages to sexual orientation requires many participants Researchers are attempting to discover a genetic linkage to sexual orientation by studying one thousand pairs of gay brothers. This five-year study being conducted by researchers from Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago will be the largest study of this kind and is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. This study follows a similar genetic study, conducted in the 1990s that found some genetic correlation for sexual orientation. That original study was conducted...

A split may be imminent for the Church of Scotland over differing opinions regarding whether ministers should be allowed to conduct same sex partnerships. The Kirk’s General Assembly is most likely to conclude that the decision will be left up to individuals, according to the BBC. An evangelical group has intervened and threatened that such a decision could threaten the Church of Scotland. The group deny being homophobic, but claim that such a departure from clear biblical teaching is a severe step, which "endangers the unity of the Kirk", and called for ministers to be forbidden from conducting ceremonies. A...

The American Debate Gay-marriage ban a no-win deal for Bush By Dick Polman Inquirer Political Analyst The religious conservatives who worked hard to reelect President Bush in 2004 have long anticipated that the White House would reward them by pushing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. But that's not happening. Too many other issues predominate, everything from Iraq to immigration. As a result, Bush seems ill-positioned to spend dwindling political capital on a social crusade - especially at a time when a nod toward greater religiosity might turn off secular Republican voters and thus imperil the moderate Republicans in...

The lesbian daughter of US Vice President Dick Cheney hit out at President George W. Bush's support for a constitutional amendment proscribing gay marriage. Mary Cheney, 37, told Fox News Sunday that the idea, which was backed strongly by Bush's Republican Party during his 2004 re-election campaign and continues to be promoted by many conservatives today, was "a bad piece of legislation". "I think that is what the federal marriage amendment is, it is writing discrimination into the constitution. "It is writing discrimination into the constitution and, as I say, it is fundamentally wrong." "I would also hope that no...

Would the state of California "out" Abe Lincoln, now that a controversial biography has suggested that he not only changed the course of a nation but also shared a bed with men? Would Eleanor Roosevelt be singled out not just for her seminal work pursuing the New Deal and fighting for human rights, but for her relationship with a woman? Would Renee Richards, the tennis player who underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1975 and fought successfully to compete as a woman, merit mention in a history book? On Friday, a day after the state Senate voted to require that the...

She says she considered quitting her role as campaign adviser over the issue of gay marriage, but Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney tells ABC News "Primetime" anchor Diane Sawyer her sexuality has never created problems within her family. Mary Cheney discussed the campaign, her feelings about President Bush, life with her partner of 14 years, and what it was like to come out as gay to her parents. "I struggled with my decision to stay on the 2004 campaign," Cheney told "Primetime." Her personal challenge came when President Bush said the nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.

AT FIRST glance, they could be any ordinary family, enjoying an evening stroll on the beach at sunset. But to one-and-a-half-year-old Anna, the two women holding her hands are Mummy and Mama. She will never know more than a few details about her father, a sperm donor - and her lesbian mothers believe the happy and loving childhood they are providing for her is enough. Helen and Leanne, from Edinburgh, paid £350 to conceive Anna through donor insemination. It was a difficult and emotional process but they are delighted with the results and are planning another baby soon. Their joy,...

A bill requiring students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society and that would remove sex-specific terms such as "mom" and "dad" from textbooks has passed another hurdle on the way to becoming the law of the land in California. Having already been approved by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, SB 1437, which would mandate grades 1-12 buy books "accurately" portraying "the sexual diversity of our society," got the nod yesterday of the Senate Education Committee. The bill also requires students hear history lessons on "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to...