Free Republic

President Obama is poised to declare the first-ever national monument recognizing the struggle for gay rights, singling out a sliver of green space and part of the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood as the birthplace of America’s modern gay liberation movement... Protests at the site, which lasted for six days, began in the early morning of June 28, 1969 after police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was frequented by gay men. While patrons of the bar, which is still in operation today in half of its original space, had complied in the past with these crackdowns, that time it sparked a...

President Obama will reportedly mark Pride Month by designating a part of the Greenwich neighborhood surrounding the Stonewall Inn as the nation’s first gay-rights national monument.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a candidate for president of the United States, appeared on a live town hall on Good Morning America on ABC. Among the various issues that the senator discussed, a caller brought up the subject of same-sex marriage and religious liberty. The caller, a gay man named Todd Calogne, who identified himself as a registered Republican, owner of a pizza parlor, and married to his partner asked Cruz how he proposed to protect the rights of gay Americans from so-called religious liberty laws that he suggested discriminate against gay people.

More than 60 businesses including some of Missouri's biggest corporate names joined a coalition opposed to state legislation that would protect businesses objecting on religious grounds to same-sex marriages, the latest sign of a backlash against such proposals across the country. Agricultural giant Monsanto, prescription drug benefits manager Express Scripts, and pet food maker Nestle Purina are among employers to join the recently formed Missouri Competes, according to gay rights advocacy group PROMO, which released the list just hours before a House committee heard testimony from business, sports and religious groups. Dozens crammed in the Capitol basement for the late-night...

Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, whose state has been the subject of withering criticism since he signed legislation limiting bathroom access for transgender people and eliminating anti-discrimination ordinances based on sexual orientation, announced Tuesday that he would strengthen workplace protections for state employees and urge the General Assembly to modify part of the law.... He also said he would urge lawmakers to reverse course and allow people to bring discrimination cases in state court.... Since the measure became law, North Carolina has faced a barrage of criticism from business interests and warnings of boycotts and canceled investments. PayPal, an...

Just as it seemed America was resigned to -- if not applauding -- gay and lesbian marriages, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has rocked the LGBT boat by ordering his state's probate judges to not honor same-sex marriage licenses. "Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act," Moore wrote in his order that was issued Jan. 6. The phrase "ministerial duty" refers to a July 2015 directive in which Moore argued "public officials are ministers of God assigned the duty of...

Hillary Clinton, speaking at ABC presidential primary debate in New Hampshire Saturday night, warned that gay rights, funding for Planned Parenthood and "Obamacare" would be reversed if the Republican Party takes the White House. She also attacked GOP frontrunner Donald Trump over his remarks against Muslims. "This is a watershed election. I know how important it is that we have a Democrat succeed President Obama in the White House," Clinton said in the debate at St. Anselm College, in which Democratic candidates Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley also participated. "From my perspective, we have to...

Tim Cook accepting an RFK award yesterday: "Today, more than half the states in this country still don’t offer basic protections to gay or transgendered people, leaving millions of people vulnerable of being fired or evicted because of who they are or who they love. Today some in our country would turn away innocent men, women, and children seeking refuge from prosecution and violence regardless of how many background checks they submit to, simply based on where they were born. Victims of a war, and now victims of fear and misunderstanding." Full Speech: http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2015/12/09/what-tim-cook-had-to-say-about-rfk-and-human.html Am I supposed to feel good...

American Christians have become a lot more tolerant of homosexuality over the past eight years, according to a landmark study released by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday that showed big gains in acceptance since the last time the study was conducted in 2007. The 2014 Religious Landscape Study, a survey of more than 35,000 Americans, examined a vast array of religious and social issues, including immigration. The study concluded that nearly all major religious groups have become significantly more accepting of homosexuality -- and almost all Christian groups are more accepting than they were in 2007. It holds true...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Ben Carson, frontrunner in the struggle to become Republican presidential candidate, said on Wednesday that his support for gay rights initiatives when he was a director at major companies does not clash with his opposition to gay marriage. But some leaders in the social conservative movement that has backed Carson say his more than 15-year record on the boards of retailer Costco Wholesale and food manufacturer Kellogg could pose a challenge for him as he seeks the nomination. Carson supported various initiatives at both companies, such as barring discrimination based on gender identity, providing health insurance for...

Tim Cook: I think that ... the business has the responsibility ... of within the communities that they operate ... to be ... a ... great service ... and then we're global company and so I think we have a responsibility to be of great global service ... and so it as I look it that when we don't ... we don't get into ... the whole ... set of issues that we ... don't bring and expertise or ... for a i am ... or have had some knowledge of or write whoa the things that that we're focused...

Powerful and well funded, 1199 SEIU has unprecedented reach into city and state government. ... Medicaid is one of the primary sources of funding for the hospitals employing workers from 1199 SEIU, the powerful hospital and nursing-home employees’ union. ... The union’s clout can be assessed by several measures: the sheer size of its membership, its spending on campaigns and lobbying, and the depth and breadth of its connections with New York’s ruling elite. With well over 300,000 members in Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York (where over half of that total resides), 1199SEIU is the largest union...

After a month of deliberation following a vote by the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay Scout leaders, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that they will go forward with the faith's 102-year association with Scouting, according to a statement released Wednesday morning. The statement came from the church's Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who said the BSA assured the church it would be able to appoint Scout leaders based on the faith's values. "In the resolution adopted on July 27, 2015, and in...

The month of June was a depressing one for conservatives. The Supreme Court’s 50-state mandate for gay marriage and the upholding of Obamacare were a disaster for religious liberty, and social conservatism seemed to be in retreat.But an encouraging new poll shows that by a margin of 4 to 1, Americans favor religious freedom and liberty over gay rights in the current culture war.The poll, conducted by Caddell Associates, asked questions regarding legal cases where religious liberties have been under assault.Via the Washington Examiner: “Suppose a Christian wedding photographer has deeply held religious beliefs opposing same sex marriage. If...

In 1939, a young German exile wrote a book about how the Nazis took over his country. The manuscript was placed in a drawer and forgotten until his death 60 years later, when it was found by his son and became a best-seller under the title Defying Hitler. It was an amazing discovery because the author, Sebastian Haffner, had by then grown into one of Germany's most popular journalists. The narrative is also a gem of social commentary, showing how historical circumstance, political inertia and moral cowardice combined to produce one of humanity's greatest disasters. This article will follow his...

The Boy Scouts of America is expected to end its ban on gay adult leaders on Monday, dismantling a policy that has deeply divided the membership of the 105-year-old Texas-based organization. The Boy Scouts National Executive Board will consider a resolution that was unanimously approved by the organization’s executive committee on July 13. The organization is urging an end to the ban because of "sea change in the law with respect to gay rights."

There is now near certainty that Houston's controversial equal rights ordinance, known as HERO, will appear on the November ballot, as Texas Supreme Court has suspended it, ruling that City Council must repeal it by August 24 or put it to popular vote. "We will now get to vote on Mayor Parker's personal, liberal, LGBT agenda this November!" Jared Woodfill, former Harris County Republican Party chief and ones of the plaintiffs, wrote in a blog post. The gay rights ordinance, which, among other things, allows members of the opposite sex to use each other's restrooms, hit the headlines after a...

NAIROBI, Kenya – President Barack Obama and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta sparred over support for gay rights here Saturday, with Obama urging fast changes and Kenyatta saying it was not something Kenyan culture or society would “accept.” Linking LGBT discrimination in Africa to the history of Jim Crow laws in America, Obama said ensuring gay rights must be a priority on a continent — and in a country — where bias against gays is accepted, and violence against gays is common. Standing by Obama’s side at a joint press conference here in front of the Kenyan state house, Kenyatta repeated...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama voiced strong support for gay rights in Africa on Thursday as he began a trip to the continent, bucking calls from some African leaders to keep his views on such controversial issues to himself. Obama, who departed Washington late Thursday for a trip to Kenya and Ethiopia, had faced criticism from rights groups and growing calls to press the issue aggressively while in a region known for a bleak record on human rights. In an interview with the BBC, Obama said he had been "blunt" with African leaders about gay rights in the past...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- President Barack Obama heads to Kenya this week for a global economic summit. It will be Obama's first visit as president to his father's homeland. While some hope the trip will bring closer ties between our two countries, there's one subject many Kenyans don't want the president to talk about: gay rights and same-sex marriage. The streets are already buzzing in anticipation of his arrival, with polls showing Obama enjoys widespread popularity among Kenyans. "I think this is a guy who really appreciates his roots," said one resident of the capital city. "Because he is our brother,...