Free Republic

President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday mangled his rollout of Pete Buttigieg as the “first” gay Cabinet nominee — using a female name for Buttigieg’s husband and omitting mention of President Trump having named the first gay Cabinet-level member. Biden noted his fondness for Buttigieg’s husband “Kirsten” during a speech in Wilmington, Del., as he formally named the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor as his nominee for transportation secretary. Biden also snubbed Ric Grenell, who Trump celebrated this year as the first gay Cabinet member when he worked three months as acting Director of National Intelligence.

A government watchdog group revealed Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was advised by senior FBI officials to seek Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s advice prior to testifying before “any congressional committee” about President Donald Trump’s campaign and its alleged collusion with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to new emails obtained by Judicial Watch. Comey was also advised to seek Mueller’s counsel on the circumstances surrounding his firing by Trump before providing testimony to Congress, the Department of Justice emails obtained by Judicial Watch reveal. It is the first time evidence reveals there was coordination between the...

Fired FBI Director James Comey has reportedly hired former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to be one of his personal lawyers. Fired FBI Director James Comey has retained former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as one of his personal attorneys, bringing in a heavy-hitting former prosecutor, close friend and longtime colleague to help him navigate his dramatic role as a potential witness in the investigation of President Trump’s campaign and potential obstruction of justice. Two Capitol Hill sources independently confirmed to TPM that Fitzgerald was serving as a lawyer for Comey. Comey and Patrick Fitzgerald go back decades as buddies.

Video footage from KPSP CBS 2 Palm Spring News shows Proposition 8 protesters surrounding an elderly woman and the reporter trying to interview her, shouting and blocking the camera's view of the woman, ultimately forcing the two to flee from the encircling crowd. Phyllis Burgess, a supporter of true marriage, had been assaulted earlier as she displayed a large cross in front of the protesters. Video footage shows the anti-marriage crowd pushing Burgess, slapping the cross out of her hand and stomping on it as they surround her. When reporter Kimberly Chang attempted to interview Burgess shortly thereafter, she grew...

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Philadelphia City Council voted yesterday to end a nearly 80-year-old lease held by the Boy Scouts local branch over the group's adherence to a national policy banning actively homosexual leaders. The ongoing dispute pitted the Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council against homosexual activists over the organization's refusal to adopt an official policy welcoming homosexuals into leadership. The City, under pressure by activist groups, wants the Scouts to either alter the organization's policy or start paying market rent for the use of the historical Beaux Arts building, where the Scout headquarters has been...

In an eagerly awaited landmark decision, the state's highest court ruled today that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had the authority to invoke a 1913 state law that Massachusetts used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying here when same-sex marriage became legal in 2004. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law when it was used to block same sex-couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, because gay marriage is prohibited in those states. The court, however, did not rule on the claims of the couples from New York and Rhode Island because state...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday it was unconstitutional to bar benefits to the same-sex partners of public employees. In overturning a lower court's ruling, the state high court said "the public employers' spousal limitations violate the Alaska Constitution's equal protection clause." Nine gay or lesbian government workers and their partners joined the Alaska Civil Liberties Union in 2002 in appealing the lower court ruling. It stemmed from a 1999 lawsuit filed against the state and the city of Anchorage after voters passed a constitutional amendment blocking state recognition of gay marriage. In the 2001 Superior Court...

Nearly a dozen detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba told FBI interrogators that guards had mistreated copies of the Koran, including one who said in 2002 that guards "flushed a Koran in the toilet," according to new FBI documents released today. The summaries of FBI interviews, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union as part of an ongoing lawsuit, also include allegations that the Koran was kicked, thrown to the floor and withheld as punishment and that guards mocked Muslim prisoners during prayers. The release of the new FBI documents comes in the wake of an international...

LINCOLN, Neb., May 12 (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday struck down Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage, saying the measure interfered not only with the rights of gay couples but also with those of foster parents, adopted children and people in a variety of other living arrangements. The amendment to the state's Constitution, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters in November 2000. The Nebraska ruling is the first in which a federal court has struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage, and conservatives in the United...

(CNSNews.com) - A group of homosexual activists plan to protest Mass at Catholic churches nationwide Sunday in opposition to the church's stance on homosexuality. The group, Rainbow Sash, explained on its website that they "stand opposed to homophobia at the Eucharistic table" and "make no apologies for God's gift of our sexuality." The group encourages its members to wear the Rainbow Sash in a parish or cathedral as "an act of faith in the Lord, who works through weakness." "This year, Rainbow Sash has upped the ante," Catholic League President William Donohue said in a statement. He pointed to a...

A federal judge Thursday struck down Nebraska's ban on gay marriage, saying the measure interferes not only with the rights of gay couples but also with those of foster parents, adopted children and people in a host of other living arrangements. The constitutional amendment, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters in November 2000. U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon said the ban "imposes significant burdens on both the expressive and intimate associational rights" of gays "and creates a significant barrier to the plaintiffs' right to petition or to participate...

New York's Gov. Al Smith not only opposed Prohibition, but in 1928 he became the first Roman Catholic ever nominated by a major party to be president. This resulted in some of America's worst anti-Catholic expressions of bigotry – including a rumor that Gov. Smith was planning to invite the pope to make an extended visit in order to supervise the conversion of this nation to a Roman Catholic country. When Gov. Smith lost to Herbert Hoover by 444 to 87 electoral votes, he had the good sense of humor and sportsmanship to announce that he had just sent a...

The Montgomery County public school system has changed parts of its new sex education curriculum after parents criticized it as favoring a homosexual agenda and encouraging promiscuity. 'It's a teeny little step in the right direction,' said Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for Responsible Curriculum. Educators have removed a sentence in the curriculum that said: 'Sex play with friends of the same gender is not uncommon during early adolescence.' In addition, the school system has removed a statement that said students would 'discuss how you develop your sexual identity.' Curriculum coordinator Russell Henke, who reports to the school board, is...

Homosexual Advocacy Group Criticizes New Pope(CNSNews.com) - Not everyone had words of praise for the selection of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope. A homosexual advocacy group expressed "concern" that Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, "does not present a hopeful vision of the future or inspire optimism for affirming language, policies or outreach." Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) noted that Ratzinger "authored a Vatican document condemning marriage and adoption by gay men and lesbians in July 2003." The Washington Blade described the document as a "battle plan for Catholic politicians." According to PLFAG, the document...

(WTNH, Apr. 18, 2005 11:20 PM) _ A meeting between six Episcopal priests and Connecticut's Bishop has ended with no decision being announced. The six have been in the spotlight ever since they took a stand against the church's first openly gay bishop. The six are Reverend Christopher Leighton, rector of St. Paul's Church in Darien, the Reverend Mark Hansen of St. John's Church in Bristol, the Reverend Ronald Gauss of Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, the Reverend Gilbert Wilkes of Christ and the Epiphany Church in East Haven, the Reverend Don Helmandollar of Trinity Church in Bristol and the...

WHEN U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (above) spoke Tuesday night at NYU's Vanderbilt Hall, "The room was packed with some 300 students and there were many protesters outside because of Scalia's vitriolic dissent last year in the case that overturned the Texas law against gay sex," our source reports. "One gay student asked whether government had any business enacting and enforcing laws against consensual sodomy. Following Scalia's answer, the student asked a follow-up: 'Do you sodomize your wife?' The audience was shocked, especially since Mrs. Scalia [Maureen] was in attendance. The justice replied that the question was unworthy of...

An Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq wants a chance to remain in the military as an openly gay soldier, a desire that's bringing him into conflict with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Sgt. Robert Stout, 23, says he has not encountered trouble from fellow soldiers and would like to stay if not for the policy that permits gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret. "I know a ton of gay men that would be more than willing to stay in the Army if they could just be open,"...

It was a shocking—yet not unexpected—decision by the Supreme Court. Speaking for the 5-4 majority, Justice Kennedy wrote that laws barring same-sex “marriage” infer “that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected.” Thus—by the stroke of a pen—the Court struck down state laws banning gay “marriage.” Okay, it hasn’t happened—yet. But if the words sound familiar, it’s because they come from Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion in Romer v. Evans. That’s the ruling in which the Court overturned a democratically enacted Colorado law barring special civil rights protections based on sexual orientation. While the Supremes...

Connecticut is seriously considering giving gay couples the ability to have their relationships legalized in civil unions. A civil union bill took a critical step toward passage when it was approved, 25 to 13, by the Legislature's powerful Judiciary Committee recently, and supporters believe they have the votes in the House and Senate. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she supports at least the concept of civil unions. Gay rights advocates have mixed reactions, since they had hoped for a law that would give them the same rights and privileges as any married couple, and call it a marriage. Love...

“Man and Woman”, “Wife”, “Husband”, “Widow”, “Widower” Banished From all Ontario Law Terms, when referring to spouses, are banned from all government programs, services, documentsToronto, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the obscenely rapid, three-day introduction and passage of its same-sex “marriage” Bill 171, the Ontario government has advanced a revolutionary change in the way all laws and government programs and institutions refer to marriage and married persons. Everything referring to spouses must now be gender neutral. No longer can a married couple be referred to as “husband and wife” or “man and woman”. The terms “Widow” and “widower” are...