Free Republic

The U.S. government has awarded permanent residency to the gay Mexican husband of a Coral Gables man, nearly two years after they wed in Washington, D.C, and seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court abolished a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “I’m very excited and very relieved,” said Daniel Zavala, 28, who applied for a green card shortly after he and Yohandel Ruiz, a Cuban-born American citizen, married May 1, 2012. “We feel like we finished the process and got what we’re looking for. We’re going on with our lives as a regular couple.” The couple had...

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal judge has declared in a ruling that applies only to death certificates that Ohio's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. In his decision Monday, Judge Timothy Black orders state officials to recognize such unions on death certificates. Although his ruling applies narrowly, his statements about Ohio's gay-marriage ban are sweeping and expected to incite further litigation challenging the law.

In a game-changer for the legal fight over same-sex marriage that gives credence to opponents’ “slippery slope” arguments, a federal judge has now ruled that the legal reasoning for same-sex marriage means that laws against polygamy are likewise unconstitutional. In his 91-page opinion in Brown v. Buhman, on Dec. 13, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups struck down Utah’s law making polygamy a crime. In so doing, he may have opened Pandora’s Box. As a condition for becoming a state in 1896, Congress required Utah to outlaw polygamy, which is marriage between three or more persons. This case involved a family...

A World War II veteran married his boyfriend of 20 years in a historic ceremony at the Veterans Home of Chula Vista in California. John Banvard, 95, and 67-year-old Gerard Nadeau, who served in Vietnam, said they wanted to have their ceremony among friends, so they chose to have it at the Veteran's Home, where they’ve lived for the last three years. 'I never thought I'll be marrying a man,' Banvard told ABC News. 'It was something we were happy we could do.'

(CNSNews.com) – The Very Rev. Gary Hall, chief ecclesiastical leader and executive officer of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., said in a sermon on Sunday that “homophobia” and “heterosexism” are sins. “In its wisdom, the church came to its senses and labeled both racism and sexism as sinful,” Hall said. “And now we find ourselves at the last barrier—call that barrier homophobia, call it heterosexism. “We must now have the courage to take the final step and call homophobia and heterosexism what they are,” Hall said. “They are sin. “Homophobia is a sin,” Hall said. “Heterosexism is a sin.

A Kansas man whose online lecture about the Bible and same-sex relationships gained considerable attention has gathered about 50 Christians from around the country to delve into his belief that the Scriptures do not condemn homosexuality as a sexual orientation. Matthew Vines, of Wichita, grew up attending a conservative evangelical Presbyterian church in the city and relies heavily on intensive study of the Bible for his presentations. He said liberal and moderate Christian churches have adopted more gay-friendly stances, but conservative churches remain steadfast in their opposition to homosexuality. The 23-year-old Vines wants to bring change with his message that...

Twerking, the rump-busting up-and-down dance move long beloved on America’s hip-hop scene, has officially gone mainstream. It’s got the English dictionary entry to prove it. Britain’s Oxford Dictionaries said the rapid-fire gyrations employed by U.S. pop starlet Miley Cyrus to bounce her way to the top of the charts had become increasingly visible in the past 12 months and would be added to its publications under the entry: “Twerk, verb.” …

A Fine Gael minister has backed the idea of a referendum next year on extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. Brian Hayes, minister of state at the Department of Finance, says he has “no problem” with a poll on the constitutional change, despite some in the Fine Gael top brass being wary of the issue. Mr. Hayes is the most senior Fine Gael minister to come out, specifically, in support of a referendum in 2014. And he joins Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Transport Minister Leo Varadkar in saying he would vote yes in a gay marriage poll. …

<p>A French woman has posted an offer on a website to breastfeed babies of homosexual couples for €100 a day, stirring up media interest just weeks after a divisive same-sex marriage law was passed.</p> <p>The post, which the website said it verified as genuine and legal, reads: "I am a young mother in perfect health, a trained nurse of 29, and I am renting my breasts to milk-feed infants."</p>

The annual Gay Pride parade and rally was held in Jerusalem on Thursday evening. Several roads were shut down during the parade, which traveled through the downtown area to a city park. … As usual, the march drew counter-protests. The “pride” march is particularly controversial in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest city, with many Jews and Muslims arguing that it encourages immoral acts and constitute a desecration of the holy city. One counter-protester was arrested for throwing a stink bomb at marchers. …

Same-Sex Couples Flood Immigration Offices For Green Cards By Alana Semuels June 29, 2013 Kori Kirkbride didn't get that immediate feeling of joy and relief when she heard the Supreme Court had struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. Instead, it hit after she talked to her attorney, and found out that the court's decision will allow her Polish wife, Kasia Kurzatkowska, to apply for a green card, putting an end to a heart-wrenching seven years in which the two have been periodically separated by immigration laws. "When we sat with our attorney, it became real," "Waiting for this decision...

Rand Paul shook off an awkward comment comparing same-sex marriage to beastiality and made a trip Friday to the early primary state South Carolina in the early stages of a potential presidential campaign. The Kentucky senator, reacting to a comment from Glenn Beck wondering if the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the bulk of the Defense of Marriage Act could lead to legalized polygamy, Paul extended Beck's logic. "This is a conundrum, and it gets back to what you were saying… whether or not churches should decide this,” Paul said. “And it is difficult, because if we have no...

Record-breaking 100,000 turn out for Pride Parade as Mayor Huldai lauds Tel Aviv as world's most gay-friendly city. A record-breaking 100,000 people from Israel and abroad took part in the annual Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade Friday, which took place as planned despite the arrests made earlier in the week in connection to the 2009 shooting at the LGBT youth center Bar Noar. Thousands of people crammed into Gan Meir park in central Tel Aviv as the festivities got under way with a community "happening," complete with music performances, stalls representing local organizations and speeches from public figures such as...

Kaitlyn Hunt, an 18-year-old high school student in Sebastian, Fla., is facing charges and has been expelled from school for having a same-sex relationship with a 15-year-old classmate, CBS Tampa Bay reports. PICTURES: Fla. teen charged over underage same-sex relationship Hunt is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years of age after the other girl's parents called authorities when Hunt, a senior at Sebastian River High School, turned 18, according to the station.

Duke University plans to raise its student fees in order pay for students' sex reassignment surgery. Duke University recently made the decision to raise student fees in order add sex-reassignment surgery to their healthcare plan. The private university, located in North Carolina, follows Brown and other universities in offering coverage for the controversial operation. Administrators say they will cover the cost of the reassignment surgery up to $50,000 that will be covered with a cause a 0.3 percent increase to overall student fees. LGBT advocates on campus immediately celebrated the university’s decision.

At last some honesty from a moonbat. We all know that the Left is not on the level with its sudden urgent concern that homosexuals have their sexual liaisons sanctified by the government as legitimate marriages. Lesbian journalist Masha Gessen,... spells out what they are actually up to: 'It’s a no-brainer that [homosexuals] should have the right to marry [each other], but I also think equally that it’s a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist. … (F)ighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there —...

GOP strategist Karl Rove says he can imagine a Republican candidate in the next presidential campaign supporting gay marriage. The statement from the former adviser to President George W. Bush appears to acknowledge that opposition to gay marriage has waned in some conservative circles. …

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters present at her weekly Capitol Hill news conference to “get excited” about newly elected Pope Francis. While discussing with Capitol Hill reporters on Thursday her experience watching the selection of the new pope, Pelosi said: “Isn’t it exciting? I think so. Get excited. This is big, this is big.” Earlier in the press briefing, Pelosi said she was happy to hear Pope Francis chose his name based on Saint Francis of Assisi, for whom Pelosi’s home city of San Francisco is named. …

U.S. Congress Files DOMA Brief Senators Mark Warner & Tim Kaine Last Friday, 212 members of Congress signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. The brief also includes 25 members who voted for DOMA back in 1996. “Some States still criminalized same-sex relationships, inviting further discrimination against gay men and lesbians in employment, family relations, and housing,” the brief says. “…As a result, when the question of same-sex marriage arose in 1996, reflexive beliefs and discomfort about same-sex relationships dominated congressional debate. From our perspective—including those of us who voted for...