Free Republic

THOSE who seek to put a tight or traditional definition on the meaning of family are out of touch and run the real danger of creating exclusion, division and inequality. This is something which the organisers of the World Meeting of Families have been learning. The fact individuals and groups do not feel welcome at the gathering is a matter of record and something which as a campaigner, activist and a public representative I regret. Next month, my department will publish research showing the notion of the “nuclear family” is outdated and for hundreds of thousands of people does not...

During the handoff between CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time and CNN Tonight on Monday, Don Lemon unleashed his fury as he chastised President Trump and his supporters as “people who will lie, steal, and cheat, lie to their mother.” The tirade came after the President questioned his intelligence on Friday, liberal journalists called Trump racist because of it, and fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo egged him on. After letting Lemon slam President Trump as “the real dummy” between him and LeBron James, Cuomo boosted his guest’s ego as he prepared to read him something. “Now you often on your show point...

NEW YORK, August 16, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Vatican advisor and pro-homosexual Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin claimed in an interview that homosexual sex-abuse of seminarians is not “rampant” in the Church. Commenting on revelations that ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had groomed and sexually molested young seminarians, PBS anchorman John Yang asked the Jesuit priest if this kind of abuse was a problem in the Church. “Do you think there is more to this in the Church with adult seminarians?” Yang asked. “No, I don’t,” said Fr. Martin. “I think that Cardinal McCarrick’s case is really extraordinary. The idea that he would...

Chloe Grace Moretz's new film tackles the controversial issue of gay conversion therapy - an issue that's close to home for the actress. In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Moretz plays a teenager sent away to a Christian gay conversion camp in the 1990s.

In a sweeping, one-hour meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune's editorial board on Monday, the Salt Lake County Republican Party's new communication director made claims about the LGBTQ community that the county health department described as "wildly inaccurate" and Equality Utah said are " deeply irresponsible. " Dave Robinson joined county GOP Chairman Scott Miller, who has been on the job for a little more than a month, for a conversation about where they see the party headed on issues ranging from water to land use and the LGBTQ community. Miller said he's looking to make his party "relevant again"...

I think we can all agree that we want the brightest future for our children, especially children in the foster care system. The essence of being pro-life is preserving life of the innocent by all means necessary. By giving these children a chance at a good life, we need to support and cherish them through their development. One continuing conversation that arises is whether or not same-sex couples are fit to foster and adopt children; these extra examinations are often based on misconceptions and biases towards same-sex couples. This slows down the process of adoption, adding extra hurdles to the...

Letter from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich to the People of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Response to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report August 17, 2018 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Anger, shock, grief, shame. What other words can we summon to describe the experience of learning about the devastating revelations of sexual abuse — and the failures of bishops to safeguard the children entrusted to their care — published in the Pennsylvania grand jury report, released Tuesday? This catalogue of horrors comes on the heels of news accounts of deeply disturbing sexual-abuse and harassment allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who recently...

Cardinal Raymond Burke has called for "open recognition" of the Catholic church’s homosexual culture in light of recent revelations of sexual abuse. "I believe that there needs to be an open recognition that we have a very grave problem of a homosexual culture in the Church," Burke said in an interview Thursday, "especially among the clergy and the hierarchy, that needs to be addressed honestly and efficaciously." The former head of the church's equivalent of the Supreme Court said it was already "clear after the studies following the 2002 sexual abuse crisis that most of the acts of abuse were...

The Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and was vindicated by the Supreme Court earlier this year is mounting another legal challenge this week after refusing to bake a gender-transitioning cake. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in June that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission discriminated against baker Jack Phillips for his religious beliefs, an attorney requested he create a cake that was pink on the inside and blue on the outside to represent a gender transition from male to female. As a Christian, Mr. Phillips would not make the cake since it...

Disney's forthcoming film The Jungle Cruise will include a prominent gay character, a first for the company. Sounds like a progressive milestone, right? Not according to the intersectional left: Jack Whitehall, the actor cast in the role, is straight—and, gasp, white—which is very problematic. The CW fared little better in casting Ruby Rose to portray Kate Kane in its upcoming Batwoman show. The character is a Jewish lesbian; Rose is gender fluid and part of the LGBT community, but not Jewish, which isn't good enough for those who think the actor must check off all the same boxes as the...

An organisation representing LGBT Catholics around the world has been denied permission for a stall at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, which Pope Francis is attending on 25 August. The Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, which represents 60 organisations, has been told that due to “logistical considerations” it has not been allocated a booth in the gathering’s exhibition hall. The WMF, an international event held by the Roman Catholic church every three years, opens in Dublin next Monday. Pope Francis will spend 36 hours in Ireland attending events. The GNRC was told only in the past few days...

Within the past quarter-century, sexual abuse by clergy has been a high profile scandal within the Catholic Church. Most recently, the detestable accusations against Cardinal Theodore “Uncle Ted” McCarrick have rocked the Church and re-opened the discussion on how to handle cases of clerical abuse. Cardinal McCarrick posing with one of the young men who has accused him of sexual abuse While it may be tempting to encapsulate clerical abuse as a modern phenomenon, fallen human nature and sin have existed since the Garden of Eden, along with it those who would use their position within the Church to...

When the topic of “conversion” or “ex-gay” therapy comes up, it invokes images of sad, lonely, and desperate gay men and women praying to cease being who they are. It can conjure the image of a domineering religious figure shouting to the heavens of hell and demons over a terrified child. Others, especially in the LGBT media, revel in the anticipation of catching well-known ex-gays in sexually compromising positions. But for the most part, the practice seems like a relic from another time, and only a small number of the religiously devout ever encounter it. In 2014, only 8 percent...

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Pro-homosexual dissident 'Catholic' groups see in Pope Francis' ‘changing’ of the Church’s teaching on the death penalty the hope that the Church will one day also change its teaching against homosexuality. New Ways Ministry called the change in the Catechism proof that "Church teaching can change." "It's important for Catholic advocates for LGBT equality to take note of this change because for decades Catholic opponents of LGBT equality argued that it is impossible to change church teaching. They often pointed to the fact that condemnations of same-sex relationships were inscribed in the Catechism, and so were not open...

FULL TITLE: ‘Dumb and DUMBER.’ Cory Booker interviews Alyssa Milano about ‘these dark times’ and we can’t stop laughing Holy cow this is dumb. Cory Booker interviewed Alyssa Milano about these dark times in our country … because apparently a successful economy, job growth, lower taxes, the denuclearization of North Korea, and ISIS being on the run makes things DARK. And honestly, the jokes write themselves. Watch:

Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters have rallied in Tel Aviv against a law denying surrogacy to gay couples and single fathers. Demonstrators held their gathering in the central Rabin Square, and at one point briefly blocked a major motorway. At least one person was arrested. Israel's parliament on Wednesday allowed surrogacy for single women and women unable to bear children. Previously, only heterosexual married couples were granted the same rights. The legislation also envisaged state funding for surrogacy. "We came here today (Sunday) to say to the government 'No more'," demonstrator Oz Dani in Rabin Square was quoted as...

Director James Gunn has been dropped from Disney’s Marvel franchise “Guardians of the Galaxy” over old tweets. “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,” said Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, in a statement. Gunn, the writer-director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, apologized late Thursday after a series of old (now deleted) tweets resurfaced in which the filmmaker made what he admitted were “offensive” jokes about taboo topics like rape and pedophilia. More to come…

A TV adaptation of Batwoman is to become the first live-action superhero series with an openly gay lead character. The show is being developed for the US channel, the CW, adding to the network's collection of shows based on DC comics characters. Batwoman was introduced in the 1950s as a love interest for Batman to dispel rumours of his own homosexuality. The character was reintroduced in 2006 as a gay woman called Kate Kane. She has since become the highest-profile openly gay character of any DC comic. The show's synopsis describes Kate Kane as an "out lesbian and highly trained...

When The Naked Farmer came to town looking for people to get their kit off for a good cause, dairy farmer Kerry Wilson was approached to take part. He and his partner Paul Wilson agreed, though Kerry had reservations about not having the right body type. "Gee whiz, I'm 56. Does it matter?" Kerry asked. It didn't. The cause, which raises awareness about the mental health of Australian farmers, hit a personal chord with the couple. Kerry and Paul are fifth-generation farmers who live and work together near Nimbin in the northern rivers of New South Wales. "You carry a...

Six LGBT activists have found a way to fly the Pride flag in Russia - by wearing football shirts in the rainbow colours. The country has had a law banning the spreading of "gay propaganda" among under-18s since 2013. The Pride flag is a symbol celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, but displaying it in Russia can get you arrested. The group got together and wore their nations' football tops around Moscow. It meant the shirts of Spain, the Netherlands (who weren't in the World Cup), Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia collectively made the colours of the stripes of...