Free Republic

In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, pastors and church members are experiencing a wave of anxiety over what many of them deem the “nightmare scenario”: lawsuits or government action designed to force them to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. While there are — so far — no meaningful judicial precedents that would permit such dramatic interference with churches’ core First Amendment rights, lawsuits challenging church liberties are inevitable. Indeed, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has declared that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity “sometimes” apply to churches and has stated that a “church...

Mexico’s supreme court has ruled it is unconstitutional for Mexican states to bar same-sex marriages. But the court’s ruling is considered a “jurisprudential thesis” and does not invalidate any state laws, meaning gay couples denied the right to wed would have to turn to the courts individually. Given the ruling, judges and courts would have to a

The Pentagon will permit military chaplains to perform same-sex marriage as long as such ceremonies are not prohibited in the states where they reside, it said Friday. Defense Department guidance issued to military chaplains said they may participate in ceremonies on or off military bases in states that recognize gay unions. Chaplains are not required to officiate at same-sex weddings if doing so is counter to their religious or personal beliefs, the guidance said. And regardless of the Pentagon guidance, military chaplains will still need to take cues from their religious order, said Gary Pollitt, spokesman for the Military Chaplains...

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...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 8:08 p.m. ET TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- In what is believed to be the first ruling of its kind, a judge on Wednesday upheld the federal law letting states ban same-sex marriages, dismissing a lawsuit by two women seeking to have their Massachusetts marriage recognized here. Attorneys for conservative groups hailed the ruling by U.S. District Judge James S. Moody as an important first step, but the plaintiffs promised to appeal. ``This is a legal shot heard 'round the world,'' said attorney Ellis Rubin, who filed the lawsuit on the women's behalf. ``But we...

Today marks the beginning of legal same-sex “marriages” in America. It begins in Massachusetts: the result of the state Supreme Court's ruling in the Goodrich case which said, “barring an individual from the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution.” Once again, courts are out of control. What is happening in Massachusetts today threatens to redefine and, ultimately, permanently damage our society’s most basic institution. That being so, you would expect a huge public outcry. Unfortunately and surprisingly, that isn't happening. Congress is seeing...

State Senate OKs putting gay marriage ban to a vote By John Cheves HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER FRANKFORT - As expected, the Senate overwhelmingly voted yesterday to put a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages on the Nov. 2 ballot. Senate Bill 245 goes to the House, where leaders say they are not inclined to send the controversial proposal to the House floor for a vote. "We already have a law that bans same-sex marriages, and we have recently passed a resolution urging Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution against same-sex marriages. In my opinion, the House has pretty well expressed...

Fox news alert.

New York's conservative Republican Governor George Pataki wants gay marriages being performed in a local city stopped dead, but his Democratic attorney general Eliot Spitzer refuses to act. The conflict between the two state officials was sparked by New Paltz Mayor Jason West who began marrying gay couples Friday, despite state laws prohibiting same sex nuptials. Last week, Pataki's Health Department sent an urgent request to Spitzer asking that he "enforce state law by seeking an injunction" against West and obtain a court declaration ruling that all his "purported" marriages were "null and void." Spitzer, who has gained national fame...

The American Family Association was recently embarrassed when their Internet survey results came in showing that most respondents favor allowing same-sex marriages. Here's a chance to not let it again! A group called Coral Ridge Ministries has an online poll on this and a whole host of other issues: http://www.coralridge.org/specialdocs/SSOTN04.asp?id=ttt Note that this survey only allows you to take it once from the same email address.

WASHINGTON - The Senate majority leader said Sunday he supported a proposed constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage in the United States. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the Supreme Court's decision last week on gay sex threatens to make the American home a place where criminality is condoned. The court on Thursday threw out a Texas law that prohibited acts of sodomy between homosexuals in a private home, saying that such a prohibition violates the defendants' privacy rights under the Constitution. The ruling invalidated the Texas law and similar statutes in 12 other states. "I have this fear that this...

Gay Pride Parades Celebrate Court RulingBy TERENCE CHEA The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Sunday for Gay Pride parades, energized by the Supreme Court's ruling that struck down laws against sodomy and a decision by Canada to allow gay marriage. In New York, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco and other cities, revelers marched, danced and carried banners congratulating the Supreme Court for its landmark ruling as rainbow flag-waving crowds lined the streets. ``There's such a resonance, such a sense of movement,'' said Marty Downs, a community organizer with the New York...

U.S. Supreme Court rewrites Constitution and 3,000 years of history WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court today rewrote the U.S. Constitution and 3,000 years of legal history by striking down the Texas sodomy law in a 6-3 decision. The court overrode the Constitution, the history of American law, and its own precedent by declaring in Lawrence v. Texas that there is a right to privacy to protect private, adult consensual sexual activity. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, and only Justices Scalia and Thomas and Chief Justice Rhenquist dissented. The majority reasoned, unbelievably, that because of the trend in state...

SCOTUS sided with the perverts.

Pope Warns on 'Inauthentic' Families The Associated Press VATICAN CITY January 26, 2003 - Pope John Paul II warned Sunday against "inauthentic" versions of the family, stressing that a union between a man and woman was the only true one in God's eyes.The pope made the comments after the conclusion of the Roman Catholic Church's world conference on families in the Philippines a meeting dominated by exhortations from Church officials against divorce, abortion and same-sex marriages.The pontiff, speaking from his studio window above St. Peter's Square, said the meeting reaffirmed that the family based on union between man and woman...

I have not heard anything yet? How is it going?