Free Republic

In an impassioned and tearful testimony this week, Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones pleaded with his colleagues to vote against the state legislature’s controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, known to its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Like other LGBTQ+ advocates, Jones, who is the state Senate’s first openly gay member, argued that the bill, which prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity that is not “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” for children, would likely force LGBTQ+ students further into the closet and stigmatize the experiences of people who are not heterosexual or cisgender.

The man who voices the puppet of Elmo on Sesame Street has taken leave amid allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. Kevin Clash, 52, has taken a leave of absence from the popular children's show after the programme's lawyers were contacted by a 23-year-old man who claims he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer seven years ago, when he was aged 16. TMZ, who reported the allegations, said that Mr Clash had admitted he had a relationship with the man, but only after the accuser was an adult and said the accusations were both false...

Not all grown men are suave, sexy, progressive George Clooney/Viggo Mortensen/Colin Farrell lookalikes with sharp blue eyes, stubbly outgrowths and abs like World Cup forwards, all hearts of gold, full heads of hair and perfectly sculpted genitalia custom designed to satisfy a small harem, make birds sing and goddesses purr. Not all adult men are strong and dependable, loyal and true, able to make you laugh, sigh, moan, buy you a drink, jump start your Mini in the rain, smell good all over, build a deck, parallel park a tractor-trailer, and feel sufficiently secure in their masculinity and humanity to...

Did anyone punch anyone? Was there any actual blood? I think I might've missed it. Did Pelosi kick John Boehner in the testicles and then run away laughing before a screeching Virginia Foxx grabbed her by the hair, pulled her to the floor and punched her in the kidneys? Did just about everyone on the House floor bitch-slap Bart Stupak--who should right now vanish of the face of the earth forevermore, you simpering mealworm--while Rahm Emmanuel head-butted Harry Reid, even as both burned a sneering Newt Gingrich doll in effigy? I might've been dreaming. Did Obama finally strut in like...

Hey, kids! Here's something I bet you didn't know: Black people? Back in 1800 or whenever? They liked being slaves. True! Many savvy, industrious Negroes actually volunteered for that fine, desirable position. It was a completely balanced, fair, hugely successful system, until those damn liberals came along and ruined everything. I know, right? What a shame. Do you know what else? America was wholly victorious in Vietnam. It's a fact! Kicked some serious enemy butt! Mission accomplished! Sure it was a little bumpy for awhile, but President Nixon, that great and wronged American hero, put us on the righteous path...

It's a question which has troubled science since Darwin: if homosexuality is, at least in part, inherited, how are those genes being passed down to new generations? Canadian researchers say they have found the first evidence to back up the theory that gay men have the evolutionary advantage of being "super uncles", a way of enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives and -- indirectly, at least -- making it more likely their genes are passed on. Paul Vasey, associate professor in the University of Lethbridge's department of psychology, said his research found evidence that gay men may be more...

Hard-charging CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper was so moved by the suffering from the earthquake in Haiti, he's decided to adopt a Haitian orphan, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively. The silver-haired journalist and his hunky boyfriend, Ben Maisani, plan to raise the child together in their recently purchased home, a former firehouse they're renovating in New York's West Village, pals say. "The death and destruction in Haiti made Anderson realize what's really important. He and Ben have decided to become dads," a longtime friend told The ENQUIRER. "Ben has been the best thing that's ever happened to Anderson. They both feel...

Ah, but even Rush can't match the genuine lump of crazy that is the latest bearded lady to step onstage at the Fox News freakshow, Glenn Beck, a truly inaane hunk of weirdness who's fun to watch not for any attempt at O'Reilly-esque pseudo-intelligence, but because of how he endears himself to viewers by acting exactly like your crazy uncle Ernie, the one who eats Miracle Whip straight from the jar and hears voices in his armpits and stares just a bit too long at any 18-year-old within range. Weep on, Glenn! But weep not for Miss California, who's happy...

Well, the big secret about Yasser Arafat's death is out, thanks to his lifelong comrade-in-terror, Ahmed Jibril. Jibril droolingly revealed that Arafat died of AIDS. According to Mark Steyn, this was "...pretty much an open secret in diplomatic circles. ... it prompted many knowing chortles among political types I mentioned it to today, along with fond reminiscences about Yasser's corps of hunky blond Scandinavian bodyguards - an odd bunch of chaps to find in Ramallah, but presumably they were doing the jobs Palestinians won't do." What's most important is that (a) Neither the vaunted "news media" nor any governments in...

"Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies seized the materials from the home of Allan Douglas Winters of Vienna, Va. Mr. Winters, 35, teaches social studies and music at the Nysmith School in Herndon." -----snip----- "Mr. Winters asked to speak with his mother when agents asked for permission to search his computer..." -----snip----- "Some of the boys in the material were as young as toddlers, agents said. Many of the recovered images showed children -- mostly young males --..."