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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1083082/posts Here Comes The Bride, Or Maybe The Groom (Thoughts On Gay Marriage) www.fredoneverything.net ^ | 2/19/04 | Fred ReedAnd so I decided I didn’t give a damn about sexual peculiarities, provided that (a) I didn’t have to watch them and (b) nobody got hurt.     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1072050/posts The Death of Marriage IMensNewsDaily.com ^ | February 5, 2004 | Roger F. Gay     http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1071798/posts One Man, One Woman: A citizen's guide to protecting marriageOpinion Journal ^ | 02/05/04 | MITT ROMNEY     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1081275/posts Rush: Gay Marriage About to Explode as an Election Issue (in the Dems' faces)Rush Limbaugh...

Religious groups demand an end to New Orleans' Southern Decadence Festival NEW ORLEANS -- The wet Jockey shorts contest will be followed by drag queen fashion shows, the Mr. Louisiana Leather 2004 Contest and thousands of gay men drinking a whole lot of alcohol. The Southern Decadence Festival started in the French Quarter for the 32nd straight year on Wednesday and will draw an estimated 110,000 people, mainly gay men, from around the world. To the participants, Decadence is the ultimate Bourbon Street blowout, full of good, not-so-clean fun. But to a growing number of religious leaders, it's a sinister...

SPOKANE -- It's been a year of staggering news for a region that likes to bill itself as a good place to raise a family. The Spokane area seems awash in pedophiles. Local residents were already reeling from months of revelations about pedophile Catholic priests when a judge ruled last week that individual parishes, parochial schools and other church property may be sold to pay off victims and their lawyers. This spring, the local newspaper reported that Mayor Jim West used the Internet to seek dates with young men and allegedly molested boys as a sheriff's deputy decades ago. West...

Q: What's next? A: The bill must go before the Assembly, which rejected an identical bill earlier this year 37-36. Proponents of gay marriage are now fiercely lobbying four Democratic lawmakers – including Assemblyman Tom Umberg of Santa Ana – who did not cast votes when the Assembly rejected the earlier bill. Umberg said he doesn't know what he'll do. "That's a big question. Assuming the bill comes up, my vote will be decided as a matter of conscience. It's a vote of historic proportions. I recognize that. But I'm still reading and thinking about it," he said. Q:If the...

California's Senate has voted to allow gay marriage, making it the first legislative body in the nation to back the idea and setting off a frantic scramble for votes in the Assembly. The 21-15 vote Thursday handed gay rights advocates in the country's most populous state a historic victory. Massachusetts issued marriage licenses to gays and lesbians only after court rulings. "We are so very close," said Assemblyman Mark Leno, a Democrat who wrote the bill. "It would be very disappointing for this body not to be able to stand up for civil rights." Leno said he planned to bring...

FOR A LABOR DAY WEEKEND LOADED with glam, gangsters and girth, New Orleans’ French Quarter is the place to be. The 34th annual Southern Decadence festival, which evolved over the years from a party for a few friends to a six-day street party attended by more than 100,000 people, runs this year from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5. Unofficially dubbed the “gay Mardi Gras,” Southern Decadence is filled with dozens of parties and thousands of uninhibited gay men frolicking in the street in search of beads and brethren. The event culminates with a Sept. 4 parade featuring elaborate and...

<p>In a landmark decision, the High Court ruled Wednesday that current laws on the age of consent discriminate against homosexuals.</p> <p>Justice Michael Hartmann acted in favor of William Leung, 20, who launched a Judicial Review against the government for what he considered unfair laws against gays.</p>

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Some of the biggest bills of the year, including measures to legalize gay marriages, promote solar power, raise the minimum wage and allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses, cleared hurdles Thursday in the California Legislature. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation by Assemblyman Mark Leno that would require the state to recognize same-sex marriages, sending the bill to the full Senate. The Assembly narrowly rejected a same-sex marriage bill by Leno in June, but the San Francisco Democrat amended another one of his measures that was pending in the Senate to legalize gay marriage. If the...

Gay Rights TV Host Welcomes Pat Buchanan Last modified Sunday, August 21, 2005 10:05 AM PDT By DAVID BAUDER NEW YORK - For the second episode of her new talk show, Elizabeth Birch welcomed a guest she knew much of her audience would have preferred shouting at instead of listening to. That was precisely the point. Birch, a veteran gay and lesbian rights activist, had frequently been matched against Pat Buchanan on the kind of cable news debates that favor the quick and the loud. She wanted conversation that promoted understanding. Her hourlong talk with Buchanan can be seen starting...

There is a long-standing debate as to whether the black civil rights movement and the gay rights movement are related. While there are unquestionable differences, one undisputed parallel has yet to be highlighted; there is a current discussion within the Democratic Party as to whether supporting gay rights is politically viable, just as there was a similar discussion about supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (not to mention, acceptance of interracial marriage). The argument can be made (and heavily defended) that the Democratic stronghold in the South began to crumble due to...

Legislation Now Hits Governor’s Desk SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Legislation designed to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in political campaigns is one critical step away from becoming law – a signature by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Today, the Senate approved Assembly Bill (AB) 866, authored by Speaker pro Tem Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/Daly City) on a 21-12 vote. The Governor now has 12 days to sign or veto AB 866. The legislation, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA), would prohibit the use of any negative appeal based on prejudice against LGBT people by candidates or campaign committees...

“The American Worker” is a series of papers developed around worker issues relative to the moral decline in America over the last 50 years. There is no better recent illustration of the importance of this issue then the story of “American Worker” J. Matt Barber. His dismissal from the Allstate Insurance Company for his opposition to same-sex marriage and his stand for one-man, one-woman marriage is a true indicator of where America stands in the cultural war today. Our culture has become loud, profane, disrespectful and in your face. In 2005, America now offers legalized on demand murder through abortion,...

The famous and historic Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto has joined a growing number of Canadian Hotels to start offering what are know as "Pride Packages" to attract gay clientele. In a sign of changing times, "Romance" or "Honeymoon" or "Family Vacation" packages meant to attract recently married (heterosexual) couples or young families are now being replaced by explicit invitations to gay "couples". A recent press release by the Sutton Place Hotel reads: The Sutton Place Hotel’s “Pride Package” is the perfect choice for leisure travellers seeking luxury accommodation just steps away from the city’s Gay Pride Parade Route. Toronto’s...

[...] With crystal-blue eyes, wavy hair, and freshly scrubbed faces, the boys look as though they stepped out of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. They are 7-year-old twins. I'll call them Thomas and Patrick; their parents agreed to let me meet the boys as long as I didn't use their real names. Spend five seconds with them, and there can be no doubt that they are identical twins - so identical even they can't tell each other apart in photographs. Spend five minutes with them, and their profound differences begin to emerge. Patrick is social, thoughtful, attentive. He repeatedly addresses...

[This article is key to understanding what children in public schools might be taught as normal and acceptable. Of course, we're already seeing some of it. If you're remotely interested in this topic you'll want to read the article in its entirety. ] Gay Cornell University Professor Ritch Savin-Williams argues that teenagers are rejecting gender categories in their pursuit of satisfying sexual relationships. And, he's encouraged by the trend. Reviewed by Frank York Professor Rich Savin-Williams in The New Gay Teenager, presents the premise of his book in the first page of his Preface. He observes: "Gay people have historically...

SACRAMENTO, August 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The California Supreme Court said Wednesday that it would not hand down a ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex “marriage.” The decision means the issue remains open – a ruling welcomed by a pro-family group that is pushing for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex “marriage” for the state.Executive Director of Campaign for California Families, Randy Thomasson, told the Associated Press, “It's very good that the high court declined to hear this case.” Thomasson had asked the court not to rule on the issue. “The high court should never turn marriage upside down...

It's been two weeks since my last Starbucks coffee. Admittedly, I am one of those who don't think twice about dropping $4 for a cup of coffee that costs less than $.50 to make. I am a self-proclaimed coffee house junkie and need that wonderful yuppie, intellectual "atmosphere" and freshly brewed aroma as much as the caffeine. When I moved to D.C. right out of college, I encountered my first Starbucks drink, or should I say "experience"? Growing up in a military family, I loved chain restaurants because of the sense of familiarity they offered in every new town we...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today voted 3-8 against a resolution urging the San Francisco Congressional Delegation to support the permanent berthing of the USS Iowa as a museum at the Port of San Francisco. The congressional delegation secured $3 million in 2000 to move the USS Iowa, which was present at the signing of the treaty between Japan and the U.S. in 1945, from Rhode Island to the Bay Area, the proposed resolution says. A study commissioned by the Port of San Francisco concluded that the ship would attract more than 500,000 people during its first year at...

Worker's censure ignites debate Thursday, July 21, 2005 WAYNE - A William Paterson University employee censured for calling a film on lesbian relationships a "perversion" has sparked a debate over where free speech ends and discrimination begins.Jihad Daniel, 68, of Hackensack said he was simply expressing his Muslim religious beliefs in the e-mail to a WPU educator advertising the film. But university administrators contend he violated the university's anti-discrimination policy. And the e-mail's recipient said she felt the e-mail qualifies as harassment, not free speech.The dispute began in March when Professor Arlene Holpp Scala of the women's studies department sent...

Canada Legalizes Gay Marriage Posted: July 20, 2005 at 3:10 p.m. Updated: July 20, 2005 at 3:15 p.m. TORONTO (AP) -- Canada legalized gay marriage Wednesday, becoming the world's fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the legislation making it law, hours after it was approved by the Senate late Tuesday night despite strong opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders. The bill grants same-sex couples legal rights equal to those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada's 10 provinces and in...