Free Republic

ttorney General Eric Holder said Friday that the federal government will recognize about 300 same-sex marriages performed in Michigan before a federal appeals court halted them, despite a decision by Michigan's governor not to recognize those unions. The decision means federal benefits will be extended to those couples -- including the ability to file taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners. "These families will be eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," Holder said in a statement.

Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez will be given the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in April. The honour is given to "artists and media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community". One of the reasons Lopez was chosen for the award by the gay rights organisation GLAAD is her role as producer on "The Fosters", a TV series about a lesbian couple raising a family of biological, adopted and foster children.

Johnny Weir and Victor Voronov have decided to call it quits, the figure skating commentator announced on Twitter. "It is with great sadness that I announce that my husband and I are no longer together. My heart hurts, and I wish him well," he wrote yesterday. Even though this relationship didn't work out, Weir, 29, let his fans know he hasn't given up on love. "No matter what, I am a cheerleader of love and partnership and creation. I am sad yet I am thankful that I was loved and that I could love," he added. Voronov added that he...

“Maybe we can reach a point of reconsideration” on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Kerry said during a forum at the State Department. The Ugandan president committed to meeting with American “experts” on homosexuality to try to change his mind about the Anti-Homosexuality Act signed into law last month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday during a forum at the State Department moderated by BuzzFeed. Museveni claimed to have signed the law, which imposes up to a lifetime prison sentence for homosexuality, after being convinced no one is “born gay.” “I talked personally to President Museveni just a few...

The State Duma has passed a motion suggesting that the US and EU extend the freshly introduced sanctions to all Russian MPs rather than a limited group of officials, defying western pressure just hours before Russia and Crimea signed a federation treaty. The motion was supported by a unanimous vote on Tuesday morning. It was prepared the day before by all four parliamentary parties after representatives of the United States and the European Union said they were slapping sanctions, such as visa bans and asset freezes, on a number of Russian officials who are seen as “key ideologists and architects”...

If you’ve never been to the annual New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, better put it on your calendar for next year. That is, if there is a next year. Time could be running out on the world’s biggest celebration of all things Irish. Why? Because the parade’s organizers have for two decades steadfastly refused to allow gay and lesbian organizations to march under banners trumpeting their sexual orientation. The city’s self-appointed guardians of human rights long ago declared this policy exclusionary and intolerant. But, unlike in previous decades, the effort to paint the parade and its organizers...

I am SICK of hearing about sodomites and their allies in the media...so, WHICH of the beer companies are not bending over to the homosexual agenda?

SAGINAW, MI — As a federal judge weighs Michigan's gay marriage ban, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan issued a statement supporting the overturn of the ban. Bishop Todd Ousley on Thursday, March 13, stated that ending the ban, which U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman may do after hearing eight days of testimony during a trial for a Hazel Park couple's case against the state, would extend “justice and equality to all of God's children.” “My own experiences with same-sex couples and the experiences in communities and congregations across our diocese have show that there is holy...

Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins made his debut in Miami Wednesday since coming out as the NBA's first openly gay player. The Nets took the game against the Heat 96-95. Though Collins did not play, fans in the stands were still dissecting his skills and not his sexuality. "I don't think it's a big deal," said Heat fan Jonathan Pringle. "I think everybody has the freedom to be their sexual preference. So, to me, it's not a big deal."

Really, what more is there to say? Anyone with a brain knew years ago that Timothy Dolan was a craven, politicking imbecile. Presiding at the “gay” Mass at St. Francis Xavier parish in Manhattan and CHEERING the unrepentant sodomite club introduced at said Mass – yeah – that was a SUBTLE CLUE. Inviting antichrist forerunner Obama to the Al Smith dinner and slapping his back while wearing a perpetual ****-eating grin the whole time was another SUBTLE CLUE. But now, ol’ Tracksuit Timmy has officially jumped the shark, and let’s not sugarcoat this, Pope Francis Bergoglio is driving the tow...

As I Have Been Screeching for Years, Timothy Dolan is an Unmitigated Jackass Really, what more is there to say? Anyone with a brain knew years ago that Timothy Dolan was a craven, politicking imbecile. Presiding at the “gay” Mass at St. Francis Xavier parish in Manhattan and CHEERING the unrepentant sodomite club introduced at said Mass – yeah – that was a SUBTLE CLUE. Inviting antichrist forerunner Obama to the Al Smith dinner and slapping his back while wearing a perpetual ****-eating grin the whole time was another SUBTLE CLUE. But now, ol’ Tracksuit Timmy has officially jumped the...

At CPAC this past weekend, Dr. Ben Carson gave a rousing speech to those in attendance in which he defiantly declared his support for marriage despite the "P.C. police" who he says try to silence that point of view. Here's a snippet of what he had to say [emphasis added]: As you know, I am not a fan of political correctness; I hate political correctness. I will continue ... [applause] I will continue to defy the P.C. police [cheers] who have tried in many cases to shut me up. You know, I actually find them pretty amusing. [Laughter] You know?...

Ryan T. Anderson recently lectured at Union University on the nature of marriage and the consequences for redefining it. The lecture begins around the 7:15 mark... Here is his argument in a nutshell: Marriage is based on: the truth that men and women are complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the reality that children need a mother and a father. Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage; it rejects these truths. Marriage is society’s least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children. By encouraging the norms of...

A murder mystery revolving around a severed head discovered by a dog near the Hollywood sign in Hollywood's Griffith Park in January 2012 may have finally been solved. Police arrested Gabriel Campos-Martinez, 38, in San Antonio and charged him with killing his former boyfriend, 66-year-old Hervey Medellin...

Last October Dr. Thomas Ogletree (above), a clergyman in the United Methodist Church (UMC), performed the wedding ceremony for his gay son. UMC pastors are not supposed to marry gay couples, family members or otherwise. They’re instead supposed to believe what their Book of Discipline (which is to the UMC what, say, the Tax Code Book is to the IRS) tells them to believe, which is that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” ....................................................... So guess what happened this morning instead of the trial of Thomas Ogletree? The UMC bishop overseeing the trial dropped all charges against the pastor. And...

The White House put Michael Sam's decision not to be, at least early in his NFL career, perceived as an activist for gay rights to the test, and the former Missouri defensive end passed it. Sam, the NFL's first openly gay draft prospect, declined an invitation to the 2014 White House Correspondents' Dinner, according to his publicist, Howard Bragman.

Pope Francis has said that he could support civil unions between members of the same sex; but could not support same-sex marriage.

Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Wednesday, but suggested in a newspaper interview that it could support some types of civil unions. The Pope reiterated the church's longstanding teaching that "marriage is between a man and a woman." However, he said, "We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." States, for instance, justify civil unions as a way to provide economic security to cohabitating couples, the Pope said in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily. State-sanctioned unions are thus driven by the need to...

Lately I have been confronted by individuals I thought understood the Scriptures, only to learn that they think God did not say what he said, or that Christ changed the rules on sex when he walked with the apostles. Sadly, there are too many false teachers leading many poor souls straight to hell by claiming that Jesus never spoke against the union of two men or two women. Thus they claim that homosexuality is now either condoned by God, or since the day Moses spoke to God, Moses misunderstood Him about what he said about sexual perversion. So until...

Attorney General Lisa Madigan suggested in a letter Tuesday that county clerks across Illinois can allow same-sex couples to marry now, citing a recent ruling in Cook County. Illinois became the 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage when Gov. Pat Quinn signed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act last year, but the law was not scheduled to take effect until June 1. In a letter to Macon County Clerk Stephen Bean dated Tuesday, Madigan wrote that “the protections guaranteed by the Constitution must exist without regard to county lines.”