Free Republic

Richard Burr’s favorite judge legalized gay “marriage” in North Carolina around 5:30 PM on Friday. By Tuesday, the Administrative Office of the Courts — the state agency overseeing all those guys and gals in the black robes – had published the ground rules for this brave new era:

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A fight for the soul of the Catholic Church has broken out, and the first battlefield is a document on family values that pits increasingly alarmed conservatives against more progressive bishops emboldened by Pope Francis' vision of a church that is more merciful than moralistic.

In an effort to make classrooms more gender-inclusive, teachers at a middle school in Lincoln, Nebraska were given teaching guidelines advising them not to use "gendered expressions" by calling students "boys and girls." The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the teachers have been advised to use more gender-neutral expressions like campers, readers, athletes or even purple penguins. The teaching handout called "12 easy steps on the way to gender inclusiveness" advised teachers to avoid separating students by gender, but instead by birth dates or preferences. For example, they could ask students whether they prefer skateboards or bikes, milk or juice,...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee threatened to leave the GOP and run for the White House in 2016 as an independent if Republicans “capitulate” and support same-sex marriage. “If the Republicans want to lose guys like me, and a whole bunch of still God-fearing, Bible-believing people, go ahead and just abdicate on this issue—and go ahead and say abortion doesn’t matter, either,” Huckabee told Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, on Wildmon’s “Today’s Issues” radio show. “Because at that point, you lose me; I’m gone.” “I’ll become an independent,” he vowed in an interview on Tuesday. “I’ll start...

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, is making good on his vow to support gay GOP candidates in the name of inclusivity this week when he is expected to stump for openly gay Republican candidates Carl Demaio of California and Richard Tisei in Massachusetts. A report in The Hill says Boehner is expected to raise cash for both candidates despite opposition from conservative groups such as the Family Research Council in a bid to expand the 17-seat majority of Republicans in Congress. The Hill noted that Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage were among...

People in the Bay Area gave a smaller percentage of their income to charity than residents of most large cities, according to a study published Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Among the nation’s largest 50 metro areas, San Francisco and San Jose metro areas ranked 45th and 48th, respectively, in 2012. The only two large cities that ranked below San Jose on the generosity list were Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn. Their residents gave just 1.9 percent of income to charity. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the most generous was Salt Lake City, whose residents gave 5.4 percent...

The nation’s tough anti-pedophilia laws are unfair to pedophiles, according to an op-ed published by The New York Times’ editors. “One can live with pedophilia and not act on it,” says Margo Kaplan, an entrepreneurial assistant law professor at Rutgers University, and a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. Tragically, the roughly 1 percent of “people who are sexually attracted to children] must hide their disorder from everyone they know — or risk losing educational and job opportunities, and face the prospect of harassment and even violence,” she wrote.

he Supreme Court has turned away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay and lesbian unions. The justices on Monday did not comment in rejecting appeals from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The court's order immediately ends delays on marriage in those states. Couples in six other states should be able to get married in short order. That would make same-sex marriage legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia. But the justices have left unresolved for now the question of same-sex marriage nationwide.

Democrats are demanding the Obama administration update its policy to allow gay men to donate blood, tissue and organs. On Monday, a group of lawmakers led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell asking her to change current policy to allow men who have had sex with other men to donate blood, organs and tissue. The lawmakers said the current ban promotes stereotypes that gay men have HIV and discriminates against them.

Lawmakers in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province have passed a law that makes gay sex punishable by caning and subjects non-Muslims to it too. The law passed Saturday says anal sex between men is punishable by up to 100 lashes. Women found guilty of "rubbing" their body parts against each other for sexual pleasure are also liable for caning.

Ever since David Muir was tapped to replace Diane Sawyer when she leaves ABC World News in September, gossip about his sexual orientation has gone into overdrive. Kenneth in the 212 reports Muir is allegedly “openly gay in his day-to-day life.” Another juicy rumor claims that he and field reporter Gio Benitez are an item. Neither of these men are openly gay, but have been linked together after a series of coincidental appearances on ABC World News. Eagle-eyed viewers claim that Gio usually files his reports to Diane Sawyer from the field. But when Muir fills in as anchor, Benitez...

Anti-gay baker Melissa Klein openly cried at the Values Voter Summit last week over the forced closing of her business due to backlash stemming from her refusal to make a cake for a lesbian couple's wedding. In January 2013, Sweet Cakes By Melissa refused service to a lesbian couple looking for a wedding cake. The subsequent fallout included national media attention and a state investigation for anti-gay discrimination -- perpetuated by the Kleins' continued actions, such as baking cakes for an "ex-gay" group. The couple is now reportedly fighting a $150,000 lawsuit from the state, a reality that made Klein...

I came busting out of the closet in 2009 in a desperate attempt to finally find some peace in my life. Some happiness. Some joy. Some freedom. But as most of you already know, the "freedom" that my coming out and adopting a gay identity bought me was a freedom that only brought me into more bondage. But, even so, I would do it all over again. Coming out, that is. I really do believe that finally letting the people around me glimpse into the secret parts of my life was a necessary step in my God-led journey toward the...

The deed is done - George Clooney is a bachelor no more, having married stunning Amal Alamuddin in Venice. 'George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin were married today in a private ceremony in Venice, Italy,' a rep for the silver fox confirmed. And the news comes as all eyes have been trained on the glamorous Grande Canal, which was flanked by a cavalcade of police boats and photographers as he travelled to his lavish wedding reception.

Redskins fans are mad at Phil Simms for his stated desire to avoid using the team name on Thursday night. Some of them took out their anger by bringing anti-Simms signs to FedEx Field. Simms is part of the CBS broadcast team working Thursday’s Redskins-Giants game.

The jockeying among the titans of the Supreme Court bar for a place at the lectern when the justices hear the next same-sex marriage case is as understated as it is unmistakable. In a half-dozen briefs filed in recent weeks, some of the best lawyers in the nation spent many pages arguing that their case was the right one in which to establish a nationwide right to same-sex marriage. They pointed out the attractive features of their own cases and the shortcomings of others. In legal jargon, streamlined cases without procedural pitfalls are said to be good vehicles. That made...

The public is evenly divided over whether businesses that provide wedding services, like catering or flowers, should be required to provide services to same-sex couples despite religious objections to same-sex marriage. Half (49%) say that wedding-related businesses should be required to provide services to same-sex couples just as they would to all other customers, while 47% say that these businesses should be allowed to refuse services to same-sex couples for religious reasons.

Before I get started with my question (and boy, do I need ideas!) I want to note that I'm a *secular* Conservative, and do not identify as a Christian. So any forthcoming ideas from y'all that are based strictly on Bible teachings, etc. are not going to be terribly useful to me. My problem: Our twin boys are 7 (pushing 8) and homeschooled. They probably know more about history than any other seven-year-olds in town, but I'll admit I've skipped over some areas of education so far. One of those "skipped over" areas is the concept of homosexuality. I wanted...

A GROUP OF well-dressed college-age men and women apparently dined at an upscale Center City restaurant Thursday night before some of them brutally assaulted two gay men on the sidewalk just two blocks away. Internet sleuths Tuesday joined Philadelphia police and reward-givers in a hunt for the group of clean-cut 20-somethings linked to the shocking assault.

FULL TITLE - Top Obama Bundlers Funded LGBT Attack on San Francisco Archbishop for Traditional Marriage Stance A leftist group funded by top gay activist bundlers for Obama’s 2012 campaign coordinated both a “well planned and financed” attack against San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone for his decision to speak during the March for Marriage in Washington, D.C. in June, says Catholic San Francisco. Faithful America is an organization that claims to be “the largest and fastest growing online community of Christians putting faith into action for social justice.” According to Valerie Schmalz writing at Catholic San Francisco, there is...