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Will Smith gave a backhanded slap to a male Ukrainian television reporter who tried to kiss him on the mouth at the Men in Black III premiere in Moscow. The reporter from channel 1+1, Vitalii Sediuk, often kisses celebrities as part of his routine. Smith was not amused. 'What the hell is your problem buddy?' he said when the reporter's back-patting hug turned into an attempted kiss

Culture Challenge of the Week: Poll-Driven “Principles” The American people are not stupid. Recently, President Obama announced he’d discovered a new conviction in favor of homosexual marriage (conveniently timed to maximize his standing at a $15 million Hollywood fundraiser among the liberal glitterati). It was nothing more than a blatant attempt to fire up his base, particularly young liberal and independent voters: If they don’t vote, Mr. Obama loses big-time. But the American people are not buying into his pandering. A CBS/New York Times poll found that 67 percent of all Americans think Mr. Obama’s announcement was “mostly for political...

It was one thing for President Obama to call for the legalization of same-sex marriage. But it was quite another to say that it's Jesus who causes him to embrace this position. This reminds me of what he said a few months ago, on the issue of ObamaCare and the like: Jesus made him do it. I addressed that issue in another recent column. On May 9, 2012, President Obama told Robin Roberts of ABC News that his position on gay relations has now evolved to the point that he thinks "same-sex couples should be able to get married." Speaking...

President Barack Obama’s embrace of same-sex marriage was a major moment for gay-rights advocates — historic, emotional, a cause for celebration and more praise for an administration with a strong record on these issues. But they’re already starting to ask what’s next. There’s no shortage of items on the wish list: Repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. Extending Social Security benefits for gay partners. Changing regulations on deporting immigrants in same-sex marriages. There’s the one that’s sparked the most anger and confusion because it’s seen as an easy fix — an executive order banning LGBT workplace discrimination. There’s a new...

A newly republished 1995 commentary of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger linked the breakdown of marriage to the rise of the acceptance of homosexuality, warning of the rise of “pressure groups” that could manipulate public opinion on such issues. The future Pope Benedict XVI said it is not a coincidence that the growing social acceptance of homosexuality should be “accompanied by a serious crisis in the area of marriage and the family.” Societal changes in the wake of the 1960s “sexual revolution” resulted in sexuality being more detached from marriage, and rejection of Catholic teaching on homosexuality made the pastoral care for...

TORONTO (AP) -- The first-ever transgender contestant to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant has lost her bid to win the title. Jenna Talackova, 23, competed with 61 contestants Saturday night. She was among the final 12 contestants.

NAACP backs gay marriage By DONOVAN SLACK | 5/19/12 5:35 PM EDT CAMP DAVID – The board of the NAACP, one of the nation’s oldest and largest African American advocacy organizations, has passed a resolution supporting gay marriage in the wake of President Obama’s public endorsement of same-sex unions. “The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” board chair Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement following passage of the resolution on Saturday. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.” The chairman emeritus, Julian Bond,...

Fighting broke out as protesters attacked marchers, tearing up placards, and police made several arrests. "How can you promote such a thing in the streets where there are children?" a priest told AFP news agency. A march organiser said they had expected a "negative reaction" but not to be attacked physically. .. Some priests approached nearby police officers asking them "to stop this indecency" but an officer responded that the police could not "ban them from [marching]", according to the Civil Georgia website. "Then we have to do that," the priest reportedly replied.

For just one day, Christine Quinn wasn’t the speaker — she was the bride. Quinn tied the knot with her longtime partner Kim Catullo just after 7 p.m. tonight in a lavish, private affair just 10 days after President Obama announced his support for gay marriage. It was the city’s highest-profile same-sex nuptials since they were legalized here last year. The speaker, 45, a likely candidate in next year’s mayoral race, wed corporate lawyer Catullo, 45, in Chelsea before a megawatt gallery of political superstars, ranging from Mayor Bloomberg to Gov. Cuomo.

A historic Christian university in Rome, Georgia has received record resignation letters from staffers after mandating that its employees sign a “personal lifestyle statement.” Reports indicate that nearly sixty out of the two hundred employees at Shorter University have decided to leave the educational institution rather than sign the statement, which outlines a moral code that staff are required to live by.

Clement’s career is cresting just as the momentous legal crusades of a radicalized Republican Party are reaching the appellate level. His ability to strip the politics out of a contentious argument, the goodwill he engenders from Democrats, and his chumminess with the justices�these are all qualities that would appear to be anachronistic in contemporary, hyperpartisan Washington. But the case of Paul Clement suggests that, at least in one corner of the capital, they are very much in demand. Clement disputes this political interpretation. �Look, I get it, I hang out in this town, I understand how people are looking at...

NAACP Endorses Same-Sex Marriage Peter Wallsten 05/19/2012 The NAACP’s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage rights – adding the influential voice of the country’s leading black civil rights organization to a debate that has divided the African-American community. The decision has political implications for President Obama, who needs an enthusiastic turnout from black voters to help him win reelection in November but angered some African-American church pastors with his announcement this month that he believes gays and lesbians should have the right to marry. The NAACP now presents itself as a counterbalance to the influence of the...

MORALS and SOCIAL MESSAGE CANDIDATES America has a dilemma; as Americans we need to start thinking. We need to think about where we are; where we came from; and where we are going. As many have stated, we are about to have the most important election in our history. Which way we vote is an important factor; many say we desire a form of socialism; and many say we like the idea of free trade/ old fashioned earn it ourselves policies. I believe we need to take a good look at the policies of where we came from; and where...

A lesbian couple who claimed they were victims of a hate crime have been arrested after police determined they staged the incidents. On Oct. 28, Aimee Whitchurch, 37, and Christel Conklin, 29, called police and reported the words “Kill the Gay” were scrawled in red spray paint on the garage door of their Parker, Colo., home. The next day, the couple told deputies they found a noose hanging on the handle of their front door. The women told officers they believed the incidents were retaliation from their neighbors and homeowner’s association, who had complained the couple did not pick up...

A Northern Jutland daughter was stunned but had to accept a decision by a Lutheran vicar in North Jutland, who refused to bury her 74-year-old mother because she had lived in a lesbian relationship. “I thought – can this really be possible that we have to be ashamed? I looked at my mother’s partner and she was silent. I was upset for her. What a terrible situation to put her in,” Kirsten Østergaard told DR1. The mother’s partner was 80 years old and the couple had lived in a registered partnership for some 20 years. The Aalborg diocese vicar has...

President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage is an election-year boost to his liberal base that comes with some risks. The move is likely to hurt him in the South. One in three Southern swing voters are strongly opposed to gay marriage, a recent Pew Research Center poll found. Just this week, North Carolina, which Obama carried narrowly in 2008, approved one of the toughest bans on same-sex unions in the country. If the switch on same-sex marriage ends up costing him states in the fall, North Carolina will be the first place to look. More central to his reelection will...

Last week, I wrote a piece suggesting that Mitt Romney's path to the presidency wasn't necessarily narrow. Rather, the breadth of that path will depend on "environmental" factors that could ultimately push him well past the 286 electoral vote ceiling that has seemingly been imposed upon the Republican party since 1992. On the other hand, Ron Brownstein suggests that this ceiling is an outgrowth of demography and changing coalitions, and is largely etched into our electoral map. This has created a “blue wall” consisting of “the 11 states from Maryland to Maine (except New Hampshire); the three West Coast states;...

Since President Obama declared his support for marriage equality last week, many politicos (including myself) have speculated about whether black voters, who are divided on the issue, will abandon him. The consensus among gay rights supporters and foes alike is a resounding "no." Sure, some black clergy are outraged, but even they admit this issue is no deal breaker. And the ongoing debate over an unlikely black backlash eclipses what promises to be the most profound impact of the president's "evolution." President Obama has single-handedly dismantled the "don't ask, don't tell" policy within the black church -- that silent disdain...

According to modern dogma, homosexuals are like sprinters: born and not made. Thus, even though psychology’s longstanding nature-nurture debate has concluded that many traits are the result of both factors, it isn’t politically correct to consider even this possibility with respect to homosexuality. But does this biology-is-destiny theory hold water with respect to same-sex attraction? And, if so, what does this say about the behavior’s moral status? Let’s examine the matter. When discussing same-sex attraction’s cause, the first thing usually mentioned is the much touted “homosexual gene” theory. In fact, the idea has been repeated so often that many today...

Last October, news broke that Shorter University, a Christian college in Rome, Georgia, had decided to ask its employees to sign a controversial pledge that affirms that they are not engaging in homosexuality, among other forbidden activities. Now, after scores of employees refused to sign the document, the college, which is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention, has reportedly received a massive number of resignations