Free Republic

New York (AFP) - One of the large digital billboards dotting New York's iconic Times Square briefly caught fire Saturday, before the blaze was extinguished with no reported injuries, officials said. Flames started bursting out of the billboard around 3:00 pm (1900 GMT). Social media users posted images and video showing the blaze burning on one side of the sign as it displayed an ad for SKYY vodka as sponsor of New York's WorldPride celebrations next month, marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall gay rights uprising. The ad featured drag queen Trixie Mattel. Other ads were also displayed on...

The House on Friday for the first time approved legislation banning anti-LGBT discrimination in a 236-173 vote. The Equality Act would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to ban discrimination in employment, housing, jury selection and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “This legislation will provide members of LGBTQ Americans protections from being denying medical care or being fired or thrown out of their homes,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on the floor ahead of the vote. He said the bill would expand the definition of “who is understood...

PBS Kids decided to drop a bombshell on unsuspecting viewers. During the 22nd season of Arthur, the episode rolled out a sociopolitical shocker: Mr. Ratburn is gay. But the shock drops didn’t end there, PBS decided to push even further… Mr. Ratburn got married to his gay partner. The news has gone viral online following an article from TVLine.com, which recounts how the moment occurs, writing… "[…] the gang spots Mr. Ratburn having lunch with an uptight woman (voiced by special guest star Jane Lynch), who tells Mr. Ratburn that he’s “too soft” and needs to “toughen up.” They decide...

LANSING, Michigan, March 15, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Michigan’s lesbian attorney general and the state’s Department of Civil Rights director are investigating organizations the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has deemed “hate groups.” One such group in their state is Catholic news service Church Militant, which reports on clerical sexual misdeeds and advocates adherence to the teachings of the Catholic Church. The SPLC has labeled Church Militant “anti-LGBT.” The law center lumps pro-life, pro-marriage, and Christian organizations in with neo-Nazis and the KKK as “hate groups.” Its “hate map” inspired a man to attempt a shooting rampage at the Family...

Guidance about the compulsory lessons from age five is published tomorrow The lessons mean pupils will be taught about gay and transgender relationships Parents' rights to remove children from sex education aged 15 is also planned Primary school children from the age of five are to be taught about gay and transgender relationships as part of compulsory lessons. Guidance about the new lessons, which will be rolled out nationally next year, will be published tomorrow. It will also outline plans to withdraw parents' rights to remove their children from sex education aged 15 from 2020. New curriculum will bring an...

The National Parks Service is convening a group of scholars who will examine lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history and identify prominent locations from the LGBT civil rights movement for nomination to the agency’s registries of historic places and landmarks, the agency announced Friday. “One of the objectives of the park service is to tell the story of America,” Sally Jewell, secretary of the Department of the Interior, told a crowd of about 150 supporters in a speech outside the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan’s West Village on Friday. “The contributions of women, minorities and members of the LGBT community...