Free Republic

The New York State Senate held an emotional debate on Wednesday in which there was talk of belief and conscience and eloquent reminders of earlier civil rights struggles. It then took a stand against equality and fairness. By a 38-to-24 vote, lawmakers chose to continue the state’s discrimination against couples who want to get married and simply happen to be the same sex. Like Gov. David Paterson and advocates who pressed for the vote, we had hoped a sufficient number of senators would do the right thing when required to take a stand. In the end, though, not a single...

The State Senate defeated a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage, after an emotional debate that touched on civil rights, family and history. The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson, is effectively dead for the year and destroys the optimism of gay rights advocates. The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure. In a debate that in many...

Do counter-terrorism measures targeting bombers who dress as women offend the rights of transexuals? This is one of the pressing questions addressed in a new United Nations report on "Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism."

The WH Press Secretary: Chai R. Feldblum, Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Chai Feldblum is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where she has taught since 1991. She also founded the Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program designed to train students to become legislative lawyers. Feldblum previously served as Legislative Counsel to the AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In this role, she developed legislation, analyzed policy on various AIDS-related issues, and played a leading role in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, later...

Montclair might be one of New Jersey's more progressive communities, but even in a town known for its tolerance, a working fetish "dungeon" -- complete with a spanking bench, "interrogation cell" and stocks -- doesn't belong on the busy downtown strip. So says the township attorney in a decision that has bitterly disappointed Ed and Karen Dougherty, aka "Master Ed" and "slave Duchess," the owners of Dressing for Pleasure, a Bloomfield Avenue shop that sells fetish clothing and tools of the bondage-and-discipline trade, from flogs and paddles to masks and spiked collars. For years, the couple hosted discreet "play parties"...

This is not the Athenian age for U.S. governors. Just in the past five years we’ve seen Jim McGreevey of New Jersey resign because he put his Israeli boyfriend on the state payroll as a homeland security adviser; Eliot Spitzer of New York resign because he had hired a prostitute, had her travel across state lines to entertain him, and attempted to contravene banking regulations; and Rod Blagojevich of Illinois bounced from office on charges that he had sought to sell a Senate seat. What all these cases have in common is that there were real acts of criminality and...

“Outrage” is the talk of the Tribeca film festival. The documentary by filmmaker Kirby Dick claims that several politicians who vote “anti-gay” on political issues are actually gay themselves, and have had verifiable trysts with men. The documentary contains interviews with men who claim to have had sex with these “anti-gay” politicians. Of course, many liberal media outlets are trying to keep the identities of the politicians “outed” by Outrage a secret. Some claim that sexuality (even for politicians) is a personal issue that should not be made public without consent under any circumstances. That is sheer nonsense. In the...

A park near Amsterdam has unveiled information signs pointing out spots where officials say gay men are known to have sex, so visitors are not taken by surprise. The signs "clearly indicate what is happening in each zone; also those where gay men are known to practice 'cruising'," municipal spokeswoman Manon Koffijberg said. Cruising is a slang word used to describe the act of trawling for casual sex. There had been recent complaints of gay bashing in the Slotervaart area, populated by a large group of immigrants of Muslim origin, with reports of robberies and violence against gay men in...

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire passed the Senate today on a 13-11 vote. The bill, amended on the Senate floor, draws a distinction between civil and religious marriage, and says that any two individuals have a right to join together in a civil marriage. Last week Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Deborah Reynolds, D-Reynolds, opposed the bill and voted with a committee majority that it should be killed. She said voters in her district told her they favor the legislation, and urged the Senate to vote for an amendment that was drawn up Tuesday night. She said...

Vandals spray-painted swastikas on a Catholic church in San Francisco's Castro District Saturday night. It appears the vandals are upset about the Catholic church's support of Proposition 8, which made same-sex marriage illegal in California. But, the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on Diamond Street is gay-friendly. Many parishioners voted against Prop 8 and they are upset their church was targeted. "We're very disturbed by the hierarchy's support of the Yes on Eight Campaign. We've been in conversation with the bishop, which is the way I think we need to handle it. I think Catholic teaching shows us we're all...

The writer Andrew Sullivan sits across the table from you on Chris Matthews' Hardball praising gay-marriage as a symbol of the homosexual community's desire to join the mainstream. He is a Catholic, conservative in many things, and a highly articulate spokesman for his point-of-view. What do you say? The requisite conservative on pundit panels usually falls back on citing heterosexual marriage's 5,000 year history as society's basic building block. Marriage has always been between a man and a woman. 65% of the American people are against homosexual unions. Etc. That's not going to get it. It's a way of brushing...

Judge Clears Way For Same-Sex Marriages BY DANIELA ALTIMARI | The Hartford Courant 9:54 AM EST, November 12, 2008 NEW HAVEN - A 4-year legal battle for same-sex marriage came to an end this morning in a New Haven courtroom when Superior Copurt Judge Jonathan E. Silbert signed an order. The state Supreme Court last month, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying violates the state constitution. Today's brief hearing was a formality that was needed before gay couples could start receiving marriage licenses. Immediately after the court proceeding, one of the plaintiff couples,...

Barney Frank explains government’s role in bailoutBy Julie Onufrak/GateHouse News Service Tue Nov 11, 2008, 02:54 PM EST Randolph - U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said on Monday that he believes sensible regulations and another economic stimulus package will play key roles in solving the nation’s economic crisis. Speaking at a South Shore Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Lombardo’s in Randolph, Frank said he believed that the root of the current crisis was a trend of pushing people toward home ownership who couldn’t afford it. He lamented what he called excessively negative reactions to the construction of affordable rental housing. Frank...

Video footage from KPSP CBS 2 Palm Spring News shows Proposition 8 protesters surrounding an elderly woman and the reporter trying to interview her, shouting and blocking the camera's view of the woman, ultimately forcing the two to flee from the encircling crowd. Phyllis Burgess, a supporter of true marriage, had been assaulted earlier as she displayed a large cross in front of the protesters. Video footage shows the anti-marriage crowd pushing Burgess, slapping the cross out of her hand and stomping on it as they surround her. When reporter Kimberly Chang attempted to interview Burgess shortly thereafter, she grew...

The same California Supreme Court that created a "right" to homosexual "marriage" earlier this year has now ruled that the state may force healthcare professionals to provide services that support an immoral and physically dangerous lifestyle. California's highest court was unanimous in its decision on Monday that Christian doctors may not refuse to perform artificial insemination for homosexual patients. (See "California court says no religious exemption for doctors") Attorney Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), reacts to the ruling. "This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of individuals to live and practice their faith," he...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court has overturned a gay marriage ban in a ruling that would make the nation's largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings. The justices' 4-3 decision Thursday says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion. The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco's monthlong same-sex wedding march. The case before the court involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law...

Spanking Raises Chances of Risky, Deviant Sexual Behavior Review found physical punishment of kids linked to unprotected, masochistic sex as adults By Amanda Gardner Posted 2/28/08 THURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have uncovered another damaging consequence of spanking: risky sexual behaviors, or even sexual deviancy, when the child grows up. "This adds one more harmful side effect to spanking," said Murray Straus, a spanking expert who was expected to present the findings of four studies at the American Psychological Association's Summit on Violence and Abuse in Relationships in Bethesda, Md., on Thursday. Related News * Video: Health News...

The federal child-pornography charges filed against former radio talk show host Bernie Ward came about after he engaged in sex chats with an online dominatrix and allegedly sent her pictures of children engaged in sexual activity, according to a police report released Friday. The woman, who lives in Oakdale (Stanislaus County), became concerned after Ward allegedly sent her pictures in December 2004 showing children "engaged in or simulating sexual acts with adults or other children," Oakdale police Officer Benjamin Savage wrote in a report. An America Online chat-room user by the name of Vincentlio engaged in sexually explicit chats with...

Children as young as two years of age are in the bull's-eye of coming changes in California's school curriculum, which "gay rights" advocates now admit will alter the very foundation of information presented to public school classrooms. Gov. Schwarzenegger A list of school resources, sponsored by a homosexual-advocacy group called Safe Schools Coalition, suggests that for those who are only two years old, there's "Felicia's Favorite Story," which tells how she was "adopted by her two mothers." The list also promotes a book called "Are You a Girl or a Boy?" by Karleen Jiminez, a resource for children ages...

The Court of Appeals for the U.S. Ninth Circuit upheld this summer an Oakland, Calif., city government declaration that the phrase "marriage is the foundation of the natural family and sustains family values" was inflammatory and promoted harassment based on so-called sexual orientation. The phrase was also deemed to be homophobic and disruptive. It seems a few Christian women working for Oakland's city government formed a Good News Employee Association, and in promoting the club, included the aforementioned phrase on a flier. Later, a lesbian worker complained that the flier made her feel "targeted" and "excluded." Most recently, hate crimes...

Chris Matthews, opening this afternoon's "Hardball": Idaho Senator Larry Craig, cultural warrior of the right, stands naked tonight, exposed as both a sexual deviant and a world-class hypocrite. View video here. Matthews presumably labelled Craig "a sexual deviant" based not on the mere fact of his presumptive homosexuality, but on his engaging in the kind of public "cruising" to which the senator pleaded guilty in Minnesota. I challenge Matthews to flatly ask the Democratic presidential contenders and other Dem leaders he encounters in coming weeks whether they share his view that all men who engage in such conduct are "sexual...

“It Happens. So it’s Part of What We Are.” Said Robinson Devor on behalf of his new film about bestiality inflicted by men upon horses. Now, I’ve heard every miserable and pathetic excuse in the book. We have successfully defined deviancy down to the bedrock and don’t have a sharp enough drill bit to sink it any lower. Daniel Patrick Moynihan would turn over in his grave, but not if Robinson Devor, the director of the movie “Zoo,” were anywhere near his final resting place. Devor’s decent into the depths of human depravity was unveiled at this year’s Sundance Film...

Separating anatomy from what it means to be a man or a woman, New York City is moving forward with a plan to let people alter the sex on their birth certificate even if they have not had sex-change surgery. Under the rule being considered by the city’s Board of Health, which is likely to be adopted soon, people born in the city would be able to change the documented sex on their birth certificates by providing affidavits from a doctor and a mental health professional laying out why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex, and...

The truth about 'gay' pedophiliahttp://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52330 http://tinyurl.com/n6tcp Posted: October 7, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Olivia St. John Liberals are experts at framing debates in their favor. Since the Foley fiasco hit the news, the emphasis has been on evils lurking within the Republican Party. Incredibly, political editor Brian E. Crowley of the Palm Beach Post opined, "Rumors that Foley is gay have swirled around him for years. … But on Friday, whether Foley was a homosexual or a heterosexual no longer seemed to matter." Really? Why would that be considered inconsequential? Could it be because the Democrat Party embraces legalizing...

Some people have a favorite poem. Not me. I have a least favorite — and I remember precisely the moment when I knew that it was utter rubbish. It happened while I was reading The New Criterion, whose 25th anniversary is now upon us — about which more in a moment. The poem is “Howl,” by Allen Ginsberg — and oh, gentle reader, how it reeks to high heaven. Although it’s vulgar and verseless — or perhaps because it’s vulgar and verseless — “Howl” is routinely hailed as one of the finest accomplishments of the so-called Beat Generation. Earlier this...

Washington Supreme Court has issued ruling upholding Washington State's BAN on Gay Marriage

GLASGOW, Scotland, July 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Glasgow firefighters who refused to participate in a gay pride event may face disciplinary action, the Herald reported today. Ten men from the Cowcaddens fire station are under investigation after they refused orders to man an information stall during the Pride Scotia parade. The men were told to attend the June 24 event in uniform and hand out leaflets on fire safety. The Herald reported that some refused on grounds of conscience, while others were “embarrassed” to attend the event in uniform. Their superior officers reported the men for disobeying orders, said BBC...

The following statement was issued June 21 by the Communist Party USA and Young Communist League in honor of Pride Month. The month of June has been designated as Pride Month in celebration of the struggles and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. This coming weekend marks the anniversary of the uprising that occurred at the Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969, in New York City. The uprising, in response to bar raids and attacks by the police, was led by working-class gay and transgender people, many of whom were Black or Latino, and...

WASHINGTON // Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. fired one of his appointees to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority yesterday after the board member asserted on a local cable talk show that homosexuals lived a life of "sexual deviancy." The termination came a few hours after Metro board member Robert J. Smith, an architect and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the General Assembly from Montgomery County, was publicly confronted by a transit board colleague. Board member Jim Graham, a District of Columbia councilman who is openly gay, called on Smith to disavow his remarks or resign during yesterday's regular meeting of...

WASHINGTON // Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. fired one of his appointees to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority yesterday after the board member asserted on a local cable talk show that homosexuals lived a life of "sexual deviancy."

It's been more than three decades since Paul Barwick and John Singer walked into the King County auditor's office and, amid the glare of news cameras, requested — and were refused — a marriage license. In the annals of the gay-rights movement, the men were revolutionaries: Thirty-four years ago this month, they became the first gay couple in the state, and the second in the country, to sue over the right to marry. A King County Superior Court judge and later the state Court of Appeals rejected their claim that state law denying them the right to marry was unconstitutional....

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three men have been arrested on charges of performing castrations on apparently willing participants in a sadomasochistic "dungeon" in a rural house, authorities said Friday. "It's extremely bizarre," District Attorney Michael Bonfoey said in a telephone interview. "It's incredible the amount of ways that people can find to run afoul of the law." Sheriff's investigators said Richard Sciara, 61, Danny Reeves, 49, and Michael Mendez, 60, admitted performing at least eight surgeries, including castrations and testicle replacements, on six consenting clients over the past year. None of the three is licensed to practice medicine, officials said. The...

In an eagerly awaited landmark decision, the state's highest court ruled today that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had the authority to invoke a 1913 state law that Massachusetts used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying here when same-sex marriage became legal in 2004. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law when it was used to block same sex-couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, because gay marriage is prohibited in those states. The court, however, did not rule on the claims of the couples from New York and Rhode Island because state...

The Marquis de Sade: The Left’s Man of Diverse ‘Sexual Orientations’ Sunday, March 05, 2006 America is undergoing an extreme makeover and the wrecking crews are Leftists. They believe that everything about our civilization is an illusion—including our created condition as either man or woman. In other words, because they do not believe that God exists or the Bible is true, our civilization and condition are merely social constructs. To the wreckers we are but plastic figures that can be melted down and remolded. The wrecking crews conceal their insane ambitions behind deceptive code words such as diversity, multiculturalism, sensitivity,...

Researchers find it shocking that 11 percent of American girls between 15 and 19 claim to have same-sex encounters. Clearly they’ve never observed the social rituals of the pansexual, bi-queer, metroflexible New York teen. Alair is wearing a tight white tank top cut off above the hem to show her midriff. Her black cargo pants graze the top of her combat boots, and her black leather belt is studded with metal chains that drape down at intervals across her hips. She has long blonde curls that at various times have been dyed green, blue, red, purple, and orange. (“A mistake,”...

NEW YORK -- It was quite a sight in front of a multimillion-dollar Manhattan townhouse: a bloody-bearded Santa, holding a knife and the severed head of a doll -- blood gushing from its eye socket. The eerie display popped up outside Joel Krupnik and Mildred Castellano's East 18th Street home. The couple and their three children said they are protesting the commercialization of Christmas. Krupnik and Castellano's 16-year-old daughter, Darla, came up with the idea for the bloody Santa. The family is Jewish and non-practicing, but they say they like putting up decorations for their kids. The girl said she...

By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds. That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week. "What I...

President George W. Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers. In June, the State Department listed 14 countries as failing to adequately address trafficking problems, subjecting them all to possible sanctions if they did not crack down. Of those 14, Bush concluded that Bolivia, Jamaica, Qatar, Sudan, Togo and the United Arab Emirates had made enough improvements to avoid any cut in US aid or, in the case...

Efforts to push Western pansexual attitudes and behavior onto African Anglican provinces, is meeting with vigorous resistance and has stalled in at least two jurisdictions. Ugandan archbishop Henry Luke Orombi has vigorously opposed attempts to allow the openly American Lesbigay organization Integrity into his province, and told VirtueOnline when he was in Philadelphia recently, "While Integrity has a beach head in Uganda we have cut off Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo for organizing the group here. He has been banned from preaching and we will not let him function with us." Other African archbishops including Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola and Kenyan Archbishop...

BOSTON - The governor's office has instructed hospitals to cross out the word "father" on birth certificates for children of same-sex parents and substitute "second parent," angering municipal clerks. Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Gov. Mitt Romney, said Thursday that the certificates are perfectly legal. But municipal clerks, who register and store birth records, say the cross-outs could leave the documents open to challenges by passport agents, foreign governments and other officials. "They should not have a birth certificate that has crosses on it," said Barnstable Town Clerk Linda E. Hutchenrider, a past president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association....

The Episcopal Church Self-Destructs over Homosexuality Episcopalians Defend the Consecration of a "Gay" Bishop By Allan Dobras The Episcopal Church has been flirting with a disastrous schism for the last thirty-five years, and now a formal breakup seems inevitable following an unapologetic June 17–22, 2005, appearance before the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Nottingham, England. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the church's defense of its consecration of "gay" Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Over the years, the denomination continued to hang together as it blundered through several divisive issues while causing its rolls to plummet by about 1.3...

Just breaking...

SAN FRANCISCO -- At least three corpse exhibits touring the country are drawing large crowds, including grade school students. The exhibits are forcing some to ask whether displaying spliced human bodies is art, exploitation or science. Some ethical experts said the shows commercialize death and are unnecessary for scientific education. But some viewers at an exhibit in San Francisco disagree. There medical students and massage therapists said they were seeking a deeper look at the human body. And one 9-year-old who took in the same exhibit said she would go see another. She said "It's amazing to see things you...

The Montgomery County public school system has changed parts of its new sex education curriculum after parents criticized it as favoring a homosexual agenda and encouraging promiscuity. 'It's a teeny little step in the right direction,' said Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for Responsible Curriculum. Educators have removed a sentence in the curriculum that said: 'Sex play with friends of the same gender is not uncommon during early adolescence.' In addition, the school system has removed a statement that said students would 'discuss how you develop your sexual identity.' Curriculum coordinator Russell Henke, who reports to the school board, is...

International gay leaders are planning a 10-day WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem in August, saying they want to make a statement about tolerance and diversity in the holy city... [L]eaders of the three faiths -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- are making a rare show of unity to try to stop the festival... "They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable," said Shlomo Amar, Israel's chief Sephardic rabbi, "...We are all against it." ..."That is something new I've never witnessed before, such an attempt to globalize bigotry," said Hagai El-Ad, the executive director of Jerusalem Open...

The fall, 2004 issue of the APA's Division 44 newsletter, includes an essay by Judith M. Glassgold, Psy.D. urging her colleagues to think of psychology as a liberationist tactic to fight against social oppression and for social justice. Writing in "In dreams begin responsibilities': Psychology, agency and activism," Glassgold suggests that therapists must make psychology " a liberation experience, to be among those who offer solutions to problems of social justice." She urges gay psychologists to adopt the philospohy of Liberation Psychology (Martin-Baro, 1994), which is rooted in ideologies from Latin and South American countries. Psychologists must reject seeing individual...

Topics include ‘queer families’ ‘gays’ in sports and ‘heterosexism.’ Students in Newton, Massachusetts, will be treated to an entire day of pro-homosexual propaganda on December 15. “To BGLAD Day” features workshops and speakers who will make students feel good about homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism. “This is so incredibly objectionable,” Brian Camenker, who heads the Article 8 Alliance and the Parents Rights Coalition, said of To BGLAD Day. “The parents are so outraged that this is being pushed on their kids that they don’t know what to do. To use children’s minds this way without even letting the parents know is...

The Mullahs' Killing Fields By Donna M. Hughes FrontPageMagazine.com | December 14, 2004A former political prisoner and the daughter of two slain parents vowed to make sure the voices of Iranians who have suffered under the Islamic fundamentalist regime heard. The two women said they stand by other activists who continue to be arrested, tortured, and executed in Iran for supporting freedom and democracy. On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (Friday, December 10), the torture and execution of political prisoners in Iran was the focus of a briefing in New York hosted by the non-governmental organization Women’s...

PAKISTAN has tried, without much success, to crack down on the madrasses, religious schools, which are often subsidized by Islamic conservatives from Saudi Arabia. Now a weakness has been found; child abuse. Many of the madrassa students are children under 14, and its common knowledge that some of the clerics and teachers running the madrasses will sexually molest their students. In the past, not much attention was paid to this, because it was so shameful. In the province of Punjab (the largest in Pakistan), there have been 500 complaints about such abuse in the last six months. The government decided...

Civil liberties and homosexual rights advocates have renewed their push for community programs to bolster support in schools for homosexual youths, just weeks after voters repudiated same-sex unions in 11 state referendums.     But in northeastern Kentucky, parents and students have defied the Ashland-Boyd County school district's "mandatory anti-harassment workshops," part of an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to allow the Gay-Straight Alliances student group to meet in school buildings. Hundreds of students opted out of the tolerance training video, and another 324 students did not show up for school the day it was shown. The ACLU has...