Free Republic

John Oliver took a week off from breaking down President Donald Trump's latest outrages by focusing his fire on Vice President Mike Pence and his ultra-conservative views. The Last Week Tonight host began by describing Pence as an "ashen weasel," which he called the "opposite of whatever a silver fox is,” and then ran through his public statements on issues such as abortion rights, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, gays in the military and even women in the military — all of which fell towards the more extreme, conservative end of the spectrum. Oliver reminded the audience that Pence is the only...

Adam Rippon is back in the news, this time from rumors that he is producing a reality show with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. The news is likely to ruffle some feathers, as Rippon has become a polarizing figure — perhaps unfairly. Rippon, 28, is a 2018 Winter Olympics athlete and medalist. He received significant attention for being one of the first openly gay athletes to represent Team USA at a Winter Olympics and the first openly gay male athlete to win a medal in a Winter Olympics. But throughout the Olympics, it seemed as though Rippon made headlines just...

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said he is concerned Irish whiskey could be targeted as part of the escalating trade war between the US and the EU. Speaking on the first day of his week-long visit to the US, Mr Varadkar said when he hears the EU threaten to put import tariffs on US bourbon, it concerns him that Irish whiskey could also be hit with tariffs. “When I hear bourbon whiskey I think the next response could be tariffs against Irish whiskey,” he said. Speaking at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Mr Varadkar warned that a cross-Atlantic...

It has been four years since Disney’s Frozen took over the universe, and yet to this day, many fans are still pleading for Disney to add some much-needed LGBTQ representation to their films with Frozen 2. Speculation has been swirling around the Internet since the film’s initial release that Elsa, the film’s protagonist, is a queer character. This theory left many fans calling for Disney to give Elsa a female love interest in the film’s sequel, which is expected to hit theaters in November 2019. Idina Menzel previously said that she was “excited” by the online discussion, but offered no...

A US couple got an incredible surprise when they proposed to each other at the same time. Tori, from Texas, had been plotting with her girlfriend's mum to pop the question, not knowing girlfriend Berkley was doing the same. "She basically set us up," the 20-year-old fine arts student told Newsbeat. A video of the surprise proposal has gone viral, with 4.8m views at the time of writing. They've been together for a year and Tori tells us it's the first gay relationship either of them has been in. "Berkley's family are our biggest supporters but my family have had...

FORMER President Mary McAleese said she was concerned the Pope’s visit would see the LGBT community marginalised after images of same-sex couples were removed from a booklet sent to parishes. The Pope is expected to visit Ireland during the World Meeting of Families (WMF) event in Dublin in August. But it has emerged that the WMF office in Dublin removed an image of a same-sex couple from a booklet on the family – the new edition of ‘Amoris: Let’s talk Family! Let’s be Family!’ Originally, the pamphlet, which was issued by Catholic publisher Veritas, contained a photo of a same-sex...

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A California judge has ruled in favor of a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order filed on Wednesday against Cathy Miller, the owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California. According to a press release sent by The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, the order would have compelled "Miller to create wedding cakes for LGBT persons, even though doing so would violate her sincerely held religious beliefs."

A lesbian police officer might have helped save his life, but House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is still planning to speak at a conference for an anti-gay group. Scalise will address the Family Research Council’s annual Values Voter Summit on Oct. 13 in Washington, D.C. The FRC is an anti-abortion, anti-gay conservative group and lobbying organization. FRC’s President Tony Perkins wrote a memo about the upcoming appearance, referencing the June shooting at a Virginia baseball field where Scalise and other Republicans were practicing for an upcoming charity game. The congressman was shot in the hip. “There were times...

American artist Macklemore sang in support of gay rights at one of Australia's biggest annual sporting events during the country's vote on same-sex marriage. The singer performed a set ahead of kick-off in the National Rugby League (NRL) grand final in Sydney. Opponents had called for the song Same Love to be left out of the show to stop the event becoming "politicised". But Macklemore said it "was one of the greatest honours of my career". Australians are in the middle of a postal vote on whether gay marriage should be introduced. The poll is non-binding for the government, but...

Two men have become the first gay couple to marry in Germany, on the day gay marriage became legal there. Karl Kreile and Bodo Mende, a couple for 38 years, exchanged their vows at the town hall in Schöneberg, Berlin. Registry offices in several German cities were opening, unusually, on Sunday to allow couples to wed on the first day it was legally possible. Getting married will give gay couples the same tax advantages and adoption rights as heterosexual couples. Germany has allowed same-sex partners to enter into registered partnerships since 2001, but these did not give couples exactly the...

A leaflet available at UKIP's conference has compared the "alternative lifestyle" of gay people to that of Hitler and the Yorkshire Ripper. The leaflet, titled 'Homosexuality - the real alternative', was available on a stand this morning for the Support 4 The Family group at UKIP's annual get-together in Torquay. The conservative group did not write the leaflet, but does oppose gay marriage and transgender rights, and campaigns against what it calls "homosexual activism and gender bending at school." Signed by two Belfast clergyman, the leaflet says: "The phrase 'abusers of themselves with mankind' in the Bible... refers to the...

On Dr. Drew's show, Ben Shapiro confronts Zoey Tur, a man who thinks he's a woman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI2ew31oXTg

Columbia University students recently voted against a proposal that would make all restrooms on a dorm-floor “gender inclusive.” Students living in at least five of the elite school’s residence halls voted floor-by-floor to determine whether their male- and female-designed restrooms would be made “gender inclusive,” a practice made possible under a new Columbia University Residence Life Policy.

A facial recognition experiment that claims to be able to distinguish between gay and heterosexual people has sparked a row between its creators and two leading LGBT rights groups. The Stanford University study claims its software recognises facial features relating to sexual orientation that are not perceived by human observers. The work has been accused of being "dangerous" and "junk science". But the scientists involved say these are "knee-jerk" reactions. Details of the peer-reviewed project are due to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. For their study, the researchers trained an algorithm using the photos of...

ITV show Good Morning Britain has faced an angry backlash for giving a platform to an advocate of "gay cure" therapy. Dr Mike Davidson, who claims he was “cured” of homosexuality through prayer, took part in a heated argument with presenter Piers Morgan on the programme on Tuesday morning. While Morgan openly challenged Dr Davidson on the programme, many viewers vented their anger that the controversial doctor was even featured. Viewers on social media slammed his outing as “irresponsible”, while LGBT rights charity Stonewall said his appearance was "dangerous” as it gives "validity to the debate". Labour MP Wes Streeting...

Just over one in five schools in Northern Ireland have said they cover lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) issues with pupils. That is one of the findings of a Department of Education (DE) survey of more than 420 schools. Schools were asked whether they covered LGB issues in relationship and sex education (RSE) or other parts of the curriculum. More than half - 59% - said they did not. Just over 21% said they did cover LGB issues with pupils and 19.4% preferred not to answer the question. Additionally, almost seven out of ten respondent schools said they were not...

Five transgender people in the US military have launched a legal bid to block a ban announced by President Trump on Twitter last month. The anonymous plaintiffs from the army, air force and coast guard are suing Mr Trump and several officials. They say thousands of transgender troops have declared themselves since the military said they could serve openly and now face uncertain futures. Mr Trump said transgender people would "disrupt" the military. However it is not yet clear whether formal steps to enforce the ban have yet been taken or how it will affect serving personnel. One of the...

Things could have been worse for the gay rights community under a Republican president. President Trump tried to court them during the campaign, and he seemed to go out of his way to avoid limiting their rights when he signed an executive order underscoring religious freedom. That dynamic changed drastically Wednesday. Trump announced on Twitter an unequivocal ban on transgender people serving in the military, reversing a groundbreaking decision set in motion by the Obama administration. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890193981585444864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-fix%2Fwp%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-just-eviscerated-his-claim-to-being-an-lgbt-ally%2F https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890196164313833472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-fix%2Fwp%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-just-eviscerated-his-claim-to-being-an-lgbt-ally%2F https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890197095151546369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-fix%2Fwp%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-just-eviscerated-his-claim-to-being-an-lgbt-ally%2F It's a major attack by the president on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and advocates say it's a big...

This morning Donald Trump tweetedhttps://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890193981585444864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhurryupharry.org%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-bans-transgender-soldiers%2F https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890196164313833472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhurryupharry.org%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-bans-transgender-soldiers%2F https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890197095151546369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhurryupharry.org%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-bans-transgender-soldiers%2F I assume this means that all transgender persons currently serving in the military will be hunted down and kicked out. That’s not good. Ah, but there must be some mistake: https://twitter.com/Scaramucci/status/827613680539992065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhurryupharry.org%2F2017%2F07%2F26%2Ftrump-bans-transgender-soldiers%2F This appears to be an effort to fight a culture war that fewer and fewer Americans want to fight. Perhaps the president imagines that laid-off factory workers in the Rust Belt won’t care so much that his Trump-branded products are produced overseas and that the manufacturing jobs he promised to save are disappearing anyway – as long as he keeps the trannies...

Tear gas and rubber pellets marred Pride rallies in Istanbul Sunday as LGBTQ supporters took to the streets in defiance of a parade ban. The Istanbul governor's office enforced the ban for the third year in a row, citing security concerns.