Free Republic

In 2014, I attended Matthew Vines’s conference on the Bible and homosexuality. His stated goal was to “promote inclusion of LGBTQ people by reforming church teaching.” The organization he started, The Reformation Project, teaches that homosexual sex and same-sex marriage are biblically permissible, and its goal to mainstream this theology into the church is overt and clear.Fast-forward to last month, when I attended the Unconditional Conference put on by Embracing the Journey (ETJ). Hosted by nationally known pastor Andy Stanley and held at his church, which boasts a weekly attendance of nearly 40,000 people, the event sought to create a...

While California is known as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly states in the nation, hate crimes are rising and other troubling trends persist, according to a new “State of Pride Report” issued by California’s Attorney General. The report, which was released Tuesday and coincides with Pride month, looked at data and surveys on issues ranging from mental health to public policy. Between 2021 and 2022, there were over 391 reported hate crime events motivated by sexual orientation bias in California, an increase of 29% over the previous period, the report states. The Attorney General’s report also says LGBTQ+ children are...

The UK’s armed forces are considering a proposal to remove gender-specific terms like rifleman or guardsman from the titles of its various ranks and to replace these with less masculine ones, according to measures being appraised by British army chief Patrick Sanders. The potential switch, which would uproot centuries of army tradition, comes amid a review into “terms and terminology” and has reportedly come under consideration after some female soldiers expressed to Sanders that they felt excluded by male-dominated phraseology in the army.

“I don’t feel like Texas is my home anymore,” Lewis said simply. He ended up selling his home through a real estate service launched last summer by the Dallas-based broker, Bob McCranie, who sought to help LGBTQ+ people list their homes in Texas and then connect them with an agent in another state or even a different country where they’d like to go next. McCranie initially called it “Flee Texas,” but soon changed the name to reflect a broader group of people expressing interest in the service. “What we discovered was we got so much response from other states that...

Transgender Americans are in large numbers relocating to other parts of the country over Red state laws that curtail their rights and make it harder for them to access sex-altering drugs, new research suggests. An opinion poll released this week found that 8 percent of trans adults have already left their neighborhood or state due to the new rules affecting them, and another 43 percent are thinking about making a move. That would amount to some 104,000 trans adults moving home, and another 559,000 considering it, based on an estimate that there are 1.3 million trans adults in the US....

From advancing same-sex marriage to blocking “bathroom bills” to opposing attempts to legalize discrimination, corporate America has been among the most consistent and vocal supporters of LGBTQ equality over the last several years. But now, as an unprecedented wave of legislation targeting transgender people blankets much of the country, many of the same companies that engaged vigorously in earlier battles are taking a quieter and more restrained approach.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to “Gay Days” events at Disney in defiance of the theme park’s legal row with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legal crackdown. A sea of red shirts — many emblazoned with “Say Gay” or “Don’t say DeSantis” — descended on Orlando from Saturday for the half-week of pool parties, rides and drag bingo to mark the start of Pride Month. It was a clear stand against presidential nominee DeSantis, whose legislation and legal feud with Disney sparked LGBTQ+ rights organizations to issue travel warnings on the Sunshine State. ...