Free Republic

An English schoolgirl has been raped while on holiday with her family at a nudist colony in the south of France. The girl, believed to be from London, is alleged to have been attacked by a 19-year-old man in a caravan at the Bélézy camp, one of Europe's biggest for naturists, at Bédoin in the Vaucluse. She is said to be under 15 and regularly attends the colony with her family, who are of Swedish origin. The suspect is described as a ''brilliant" science student who lives locally. He denied the charge when questioned by an investigating magistrate. Michel Roubard,...

John Kerry on Gays in the Military: Senate Floor Statement: It is this simple, Mr. President. Lifting the ban on gays in the military is simply one of those things that we have to do if we are going to continue to make progress toward becoming a more just and honorable society, not because we embrace or like the life style, but because that is the right thing to do in a diverse, pluralistic society. To do less would be to institutionalize and legitimize homophobia. It would be to separate our Armed Forces in an artificial and false way from...

<p>Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said yesterday that Congress "must act and act soon" to prevent a few judges and local officials from redefining marriage for everyone, as lawmakers held the first day of hearings on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a male-female union.</p>