Free Republic

The weekend of October 24 was busy for TFP Student Action volunteers. Their first stop was Scranton, Penn., for a pro-life conference. Lighting the Way for Life was the title of the full-day conference sponsored by the Pennsylvanians for Human Life on October 24. The event brought together hundreds of pro-family leaders from across the Keystone State committed to defend innocent life against the culture of death. TFP Student Action members manned a booth at the event and distributed pro-family literature. What attracted most attention at the busy booth was the TFP petition urging the president of the University of...

First-ever polls comparing conservative and progressive activists are revealing to what degree these groups diverge when it comes to issue priorities, issue positions, and beliefs about scripture. While the majority of both groups say religion is important in their lives, for example, they have strikingly different beliefs about scripture. Nearly half of conservatives (48 percent) believe scripture to be the literal word of God, while only three percent of progressives shared the same view, according to the 2009 Religious Activist Surveys conducted by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in partnership with Public Religion Research.

DETAILS San Diego Pride ParadeWhen: 11 a.m. todayWhere: University Avenue at Normal Street to Sixth Avenue at Upas StreetSan Diego Pride FestivalWhen: From noon to 10 p.m. today, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrowWhere: Balboa Park, Sixth Avenue at Juniper StreetFestival admission: $20 each dayHillcrest Community CleanupWhen: 7 a.m. MondayWhere: Park Boulevard at University AvenueMore information:www.sandiegopride.orgThe hundreds of San Diegans who marched for gay rights in the mid-1970s walked through a city largely indifferent, even antagonistic, to the cause.What strides they have made.Today, up to 9,000 people will take part in the San Diego Pride Parade, including the...

<p>WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- House legislation that would overhaul health care would also expand tax benefits for employer-provided health insurance to same- sex partners.</p> <p>The provision authored by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., was a last-minute addition to a $1 trillion-plus health-care rewrite being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday.</p>

State Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, said Tuesday that fellow Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava would have her support for a congressional bid if the Republican from Gouverneur decides to run for the seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep. John McHugh. “I don’t believe she’s made any kind of huge announcement, but I know that some of us here in the chamber think she would make a great pick,” Sayward said in a telephone interview. Essex County Republican Chairman Ron Jackson said Scozzafava would be an excellent candidate ...

Here is what I consider to be the intellectual conservative dissection of the gay marriage issue: http://conservativebrawler.blogspot.com/2009/06/intellectual-conservatism-and-gay.html

Democrats not expected to allow vote on the D.C. recognition of same-sex marriage Move would make homosexual marriage bill law without members of Congress having to vote The District of Columbia Council has voted 12-1 to recognize homosexual "marriages" from states where homosexual marriage is now legal - Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont and Connecticut. The bill now goes to the U.S. House and U.S. Senate for their approval. If approved by both, it will then go to the president for his signature. If Congress does not act on the bill by June 6, it automatically becomes law. It appears that Democrats...

Tuesday May 26, 2009 BREAKING: California Supreme Court Uphold Same-Sex Marriage Ban 18,000 same-sex "marriages" obtained under Supreme Court ruling allowed to stand By Peter J. Smith SAN FRANCISCO, California (LifeSiteNews.com) - The California Supreme Court has struck down a constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, the voter-approved constitutional amendment to the state constitution that upholds marriage as the union between a man and a woman. However the ruling does not apply to the 18,000 homosexuals who received marriage licenses from the state of California before November 5, 2008. The justices voted 6-1 to uphold the amendment, which effectively bans...

The state House of Representatives passed the gay marriage bill late Wednesday night - codifying the State Supreme Court's controversial decision that legalized gay marriage in Connecticut. The House voted, 100 to 44, several hours after the state Senate had voted, 28 to 7, to approve the codification. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell says she will sign the bill into law. The bill was supported on the House and Senate floors by the two co-chairmen of the legislature's judiciary committee - Rep. Michael P. Lawlor of East Haven in the House and Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford in the Senate.

Check out the video on the Today show of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, claiming it wasn't about being politically correct but "biblically correct." She said it goes against what she stands for. She said she wouldn't change a thing and that she has a purpose and knows now she can go out to young people about standing out for what you believe in and stand up for what you believe in for anyone or anything even if it is for the crown of Miss USA. http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=a8b115bb-6b53-4cf7-86e0-6439e56bb803

The resurgence of traditional Christian mores and culture that began in the late 1970s has ended.

As much as many of you may be absolutely addicted to that cup-o-joe in the mornings, on April 15, I would strongly advise you not to take your kids in or near a Starbucks. Otherwise you might be stuck explaining a few things that you probably believe they are not yet ready to be confronted with. Because I refuse to give the group doing this exercise any traffic I'll simply show you what's on the page:

A gay Dallas man who married his husband in 2006 when they lived in Massachusetts has filed what is believed to be Texas’ first same-sex divorce petition.

Protesters march down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 during a 'No on Prop 8'' rally. In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court. Hundreds demonstrate outside the Los Angeles Mormon Temple against the Church's support of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that banned gay marriage, in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. Protesters hold signs...

MISSOULA, Mont. — A judge ruled in favor of a woman who sought parental rights to a boy and girl adopted by her former same-sex partner, a decision described as a first for Montana. Michelle Kulstad sought joint custody of two children _ an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl _ adopted by Barbara Maniaci. In his ruling Monday, District Judge Ed McLean agreed. "To discriminate further against Ms. Kulstad because of her sexual preference in this day and age is no different than telling a person to go to the back of the bus because of her skin color,"...

All the familiar trappings, the flamboyant and the tongue-and-cheek, were there. The buff guys in gold sequins. The leather-clad women riding Harley hogs. The vendors hawking necklaces with oversized rainbow-colored beads. The crowd of more than 150,000, piled six deep in some places along the parade route from Hillcrest to Balboa Park, cheerfully ogling the spectacle. Yet more than anything else, the 34th annual San Diego Pride parade and festival yesterday was an emotional celebration – after the California Supreme Court ruling in May that legalized marriage for gay and lesbian couples – of the absolutely ordinary. Of the shared...

A hotel owner’s $125,000 donation to support a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in the state has become a flashpoint, with opponents calling for a boycott of two of his hotels and supporters highlighting the donation in a fund-raising letter. The hotelier, Doug Manchester, donated the money to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative, which would amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, for the November ballot.

In 2003, California held a statewide circus known as the Gubernatorial Recall election. That election actually considered two questions … Yes or No, should their sitting Governor, Gray Davis, be recalled? … And, if Yes, who of the 154 candidates should replace him? The slate of candidates included Actors, a Lieutenant Governor, a State Senator, Business People, a Porn Star, a Comedian, etc., etc. In the lead-up to this election, it seemed likely that Davis would be recalled. This gave the Republicans the opportunity to capture the Governorship of the nation’s most populous State from the Democrats. In my opinion,...

Reduce it to a yes or no answer - was it a good idea for you to be in a class that was all girls this year? Who says yes? Twenty-six hands shoot into the air. A 27th joins with hesitation. And that is every student present in this eighth-grade classroom at the Milwaukee Education Center, known as MEC, a Milwaukee Public Schools middle school in an old Schlitz Brewery building north of downtown. Note the word public in the previous sentence. Single-sex education has long been part of the private school scene in Milwaukee and nationwide. But single-sex classes...

The Maryland General Assembly will soon consider legislation to remove the state's ban on same-sex marriage. We wholeheartedly support the effort. Numerous are the rewards - to the individuals involved and society as a whole - that spring from this vital social institution. The broad range of benefits (and obligations) that come with marriage should not be denied certain people because of sexual preference. That's why we believe the time may be right for Maryland to authorize civil unions for same-sex couples. Admittedly, it is not the same thing as marriage. It would require creation of a separate legal structure...

Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday he wanted to tap into the "core decency" of Americans to fight discrimination against gays and lesbians, and argued that civil unions for same-sex couples wouldn't be a "lesser thing" than marriage. At a televised forum focusing on gay rights, the Illinois senator was asked to explain how civil unions for same-sex couples could be the equivalent of marriage. He said, "As I've proposed it, it wouldn't be a lesser thing, from my perspective. Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, but Obama has yet to go that far. All...

Homosexual agenda on the march. This poll badly needs freeping. I can't excerpt the article do to the dreaded:burlingtonfreepress.com cannot be posted due to copyright complaint.http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/NEWS01/707260314/1009

David Parker addresses 20,000 at massive march and rally in Puerto Rico, with blanket TV coverage, as citizens take to streets over proposed “civil unions” law! "You need a zero tolerance policy," Parker tells crowds.

After the Massachusetts Legislature voted to crush the marriage amendment ballot measure yesterday, the networks largely ignored the story. But ABC’s Web site carried this headline: Gay Marriage Safe in Massachusetts: A Vote to Redefine Marriage as a Union Between a Man and a Woman Was Defeated To ABCNews.com, defining marriage the traditional way is a radical “redefinition” of the institution. Is it any wonder that a majority of the American people, according to the National Cultural Values Survey, believe the news media are a major factor in America’s moral decline? (hat tip to Matt Barber at Concerned Women for...

HARTFORD — Legislative advocates for expanded gay rights withdrew a pending bill Friday that would have provided marriage rights for same-sex couples. The decision came in the afternoon, when lawmakers realized that while the bill might pass the Senate, there weren't enough votes in the House and Gov. M. Jodi Rell promised to veto it. The bill will die on the House calendar. On Monday, the state Supreme Court hears a challenge from gay-rights groups to the 2005 civil union law that provides civil-rights protections for same-sex couples. "We obviously asked leadership not to call the bill," said Rep. Michael...

PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE ALSO: http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/education/ IT’S IMPORTANT WE GIVE LOGICAL THOUGHT FILLED REASONS TO TURN THE THINKING OF THOSE BRAINWASHED.

A new study involving the parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids reveals that—get ready for this!—religion is good for children. LiveScience.com reports: Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development. The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect. John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist and his colleagues asked the parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids, most of them first-graders, to rate...

Gay Rights Bill Passes Oregon House Wednesday, April 18, 2007SALEM, Ore. —  Same-sex couples would receive the same benefits as married couples, and gays and lesbians would be protected against discrimination under bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House. The Senate is expected to pass the two bills and plans to sign both.The first bill would enable same-sex couples to enter into contractual relationships that grant them the same benefits offered to married couples under state law. The bill refers to the relationships as "domestic partnerships."Oregon would join Vermont, Connecticut, California and New Jersey in offering civil unions or domestic...

Instead of lobbying for special rights in the face of growing opposition, the Left is promoting legislation that would quietly usher in their agenda through the backdoor at the state level.Arkansas is facing a powerful challenge by anti-family groups lobbying for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which, until recently, was a largely irrelevant piece of feminist propaganda dating back to the early 1970s. Now, state Rep. Lindsley Smith (D) is dusting off the amendment in a campaign to "protect women," when in fact, the U.S. Constitution already does so. Smith is pushing her state to ratify the ERA, which seeks...

LANSING, Mich. - Public universities and state and local governments would violate the state constitution by providing health insurance to the partners of gay employees, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday. A three-judge panel said a 2004 voter-approved ban on gay marriage also applies to same-sex domestic partner benefits. The decision reverses a 2005 ruling from an Ingham County judge who said universities and governments could provide the benefits. "The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from recognizing same-sex unions for any purpose," the court wrote. A constitutional amendment passed by Michigan voters in November 2004 made the...

Montgomery County - Although Montgomery County school officials have been making controversial new teachings on sexual orientation seem as if they’re optional, the reality is that all 10th-graders must take the class in question in order to graduate, officials said. Schools chief public information officer Brian Edwards explained to The Examiner that the 18-week health course — which includes two hotly contested lessons mentioning transsexuality and bisexuality within a three-week unit on family life — is required. Administrators have emphasized during meetings leading up to the approval of the new sex-ed curriculum that the lessons are “opt-in” — meaning parents...

Clergy in New Jersey cannot be required to unite gay couples in civil unions, the state attorney general said in a decision that quieted the fears of some religious groups opposed to same-sex ceremonies. Attorney General Stuart Rabner's legal opinion, sent Thursday to the state registrar of vital statistics, came less than a month after the state became the third to approve civil unions for gay couples. The unions offer the legal benefits of marriage, but not the title. Couples may begin applying for licenses in New Jersey Feb. 19 and can be united 72 hours later. Under the law,...

Members of the state Senate on Sunday followed through on what their counterparts in the House of Representatives did last week, continuing to advance two bills to fight employment benefits for partners of gay state employees. Facing a Jan. 1 deadline imposed by the Alaska Supreme Court to ensure employees in same-sex relationships get the same benefits as their heterosexual colleagues, the Senate Finance Committee approved on Sunday evening two bills aimed at thwarting that. The Senate was meeting in a special session called by Gov. Frank Murkowski to deal with the controversial issue. The House already has approved the...

Tell the legislature in New Jersey how to vote on gay marriage by freeping this poll "Should gay couples in New Jersey have the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples?" - not that the legislators pay attention to what the people want anyway......Poll is about two-thirds of the way down the page on the right hand side Link

Earlier this morning there was a debate on two ballot initiatives here in Colorado, the 'Domestic Partnerships', Referendum I and the 'Marriage Amendment', Amendment 43. Mike Rosen of 850am KOA radio here in Denver was host and moderator. Mike Rosen is FOR 'Amendment 43' and UNDECIDED on 'Referendum I'. Mike is not a social conservative. He is a fiscal conservative and pro-military. --- Before the debate I thought "Ref I" was going to allow same sex couples visitation rights at hospitals, ability to will death benefits and a few other "rights". It is WAY WAY beyond just that. It will...

Columbia’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship congregation has gone on record as opposing a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. The Heyward Street congregation adopted the resolution Sunday, saying passage of the amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot “will jeopardize the physical, emotional, legal and financial well being of same-sex couples and their children.” Noting that constitutional amendments have historically expanded human rights, the congregation’s resolution warned the amendment would relegate homosexuals to second-class citizenship and “further polarize us as a community.”

Washington DC, Sep. 26, 2006 (CNA) - The next great frontier in law and culture, stemming from the same-sex marriage debate, is the legal redefinition of parenthood, says a new report issued by U.S. and Canadian family and law think tanks. The Revolution in Parenthood: The Emerging Global Clash Between Adult Rights and Children's Needs explores how the rights-based same-sex marriage movement places adult rights over the rights and needs of children. The report also explores the status of parenthood in society and the ways in which natural parenthood — the biological mother-father model — is being legally challenged and...

I guess I'm not politically correct if this makes me LMAO: Oh, yeah, while I'm at it: Stop the "Pride" parade in Jerusalem!!

Liberal Christianity is paying for its sinsOut-of-the-mainstream beliefs about gay marriage and supposedly sexist doctrines are gutting old-line faiths.By Charlotte Allen, CHARLOTTE ALLEN is Catholicism editor for Beliefnet and the author of "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus." July 9, 2006The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn't simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity. Embraced by the leadership of...

A lesbian suing for parental rights over a daughter she had with a former partner is entitled to those rights if she meets several criteria for determining legal motherhood, a state appeals court ruled. The woman must have been integral in planning the conception, raising the child, treating the child as her own and accepting the responsibilities of parenthood, the Court of Appeal panel in San Francisco decided Friday in a 3-0 ruling. State law prefers for a child to be raised by two parents, and the child and parent are entitled to a relationship even if the parents are...

California homosexual activists' assault on schoolchildren -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 17, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Benjamin Shapiro -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2006 Creators Syndicate, Inc. On May 11, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 1437. The bill demands "no teacher shall give instruction nor shall a school district sponsor any activity that reflects adversely upon persons because of their ... gender ... sexual orientation." Current California law already prohibits discrimination in teaching based on "sex, color, creed, national origin or ancestry." The addition of "sexual orientation" means that condemnation of homosexuality by public school employees would now be punishable by law....

"Several years ago Gary Glenn came to Midland as a conservative political activist... Soon thereafter he rekindled the American Family Association of Michigan, based in Midland. Since that time, the AFA has been on a non-stop campaign to deny basic freedoms, safety and dignity to (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) people. The American Family Association claims to be a 'pro-family' organization, but a recent study by the (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force) Policy Institute showed that the AFA and similar groups do little for families, but instead spend their time trying to outlaw abortions, stop equal rights for gay...

What proportion of [Homosexual] people choose to marry, when the option is legally available? This research report offers estimates of [same-sex] marriage rates based on the best available data. The highest estimate to date of the proportion of [homosexuals] who have married in any jurisdiction where it is available is 16.7% (Massachusetts). More typically, our survey of marriage statistics from various countries that legally recognize same-sex unions suggests that today between 1% and 5% of [homosexuals] have entered into a same-sex marriage. In the Netherlands, which has had same-sex marriage as a legal option for the longest period, between 2%...

Press Release April 12, 2006 Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays Launch the "Change is Possible Campaign" Virginia - Today, Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays ("PFOX") kicked off their joint "Change is Possible Campaign." Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm with offices in Florida and Virginia and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all fifty states. PFOX is a national organization that supports families touched by homosexuality, advocates for the ex-gay community, and educates the public on sexual orientation. In the past several years, as "tolerance" and "diversity" have...

With amendment, state would uphold rights of traditional family. As published in the Johnstown Tribune Democrat. “Only marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized in this Commonwealth, and neither the Commonwealth nor any of its political subdivisions shall create or recognize a legal status identical or substantially equivalent to that of marriage for unmarried individuals.” That’s the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment before the Pennsylvania state House and Senate. The bill and the amendment deserve our support. Let me tell you why. First, same-sex union contradicts the nature of marriage; It is not based...

Gay-rights opponents predict that a ruling from the Massachusetts high court barring out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying here could reinvigorate efforts in a handful of states that do not expressly prohibit such marriages. Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group based in Florida, said the high court's ruling could strengthen opposition in states that now do not have either a law or a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. "I think that was already in process, but I think that this was just an extra impetus for a state to get a Defense of Marriage Act or a...

The consternation and controversy over gay marriage intensified Monday as the Minnesota Senate twice turned back attempts to force a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as only the union of one man and one woman. The votes, both on procedural motions, came the day before a rally that is expected to bring thousands of amendment supporters to the Capitol. And the votes were only hours after Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson strongly denied there was any truth to disputed comments Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson made about the court's position on the 1997 law...

Just as many conservatives predicted, the arguments being used by liberal politicians and judges to legalize same sex unions are now being used to support polygamy. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

So now, jump fast forward to last Friday. That’s when the Spanish government announced a ministerial order that new births would have to be registered at the State Civil Registries in the Family Book under the headings of Parent (progenitor) A, and Parent (progenitor) B. In other words, the terms "Father" and "Mother" were to be no longer used. In Spain, marriages, births and deaths are all recorded at Civil Registries, with most of those actions being noted in a Family Book (Libro de Familia). While the example isn’t perfect, think of the Family Book as an extended birth certificate....

ANDOVER – As controversy grows over the United Church of Christ's support of same-sex marriage, New Hampshire congregations are being urged not to defect, but to become involved in a movement to reshape the church. "It is a crisis of lost churches, lost funds and lost unity brought on by the actions of our national leadership," the Rev. Dr. Bob Thompson of Corinth Reformed Church, a UCC congregation in Hickory, N.C., told a group of about 50 gathered last night at Andover Congregational Church. "It is wrong, unbiblical, and at best, divisive . . .," Thompson said of the non-binding...