Free Republic

Sometime in the near future, a transgender teenager in Texas will attempt suicide — and maybe succeed — because vilifying people for their gender identity remains politically acceptable in America. The hateful rhetoric of leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is the latest, ugliest example. Mr. Patrick was ebullient on Tuesday night after it became clear that Houston voters had decidedly rejected a broad equal rights ordinance that opponents maliciously and misleadingly characterized as a boon for cross-dressing sex offenders. [Snip] As opponents of the ordinance celebrate their victory this week, transgender people across...

Guardian columnist Zach Stafford, a self-described gay man, says that since masculinity has been “central” to “centuries of war, pillaging, and violence”, the very concept of manhood in modern society should be eliminated. “There is a ‘manhood in crisis’ trend story to match each one pondering whether women can have it all. But manhood isn’t in crisis; it is the crisis,” Stafford wrote in his Thursday column, “It’s time to do away with the concept of manhood altogether.” …

I don't know what the proper etiquette on this is so I'm just going to say it in a way that actually makes sense. Chaz Bono is the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono. Until a few years ago Chaz was Chastity before having a sex change from female to male (or man to woman, because apparently they're not the same thing) So, Chaz is having trouble hookin' up with the girls.The New York Daily News reports, “I seem to repel women that I am attracted to,” Bono told Confidenti@l at the Les Girls charity fund-raiser in Los Angeles.” He...

Report says Obama's Justice Department requires Christians to verbally affirm homosexuality regardless of beliefs. A brochure emailed to Department of Justice employees requiring them to verbally affirm homosexuality regardless of their personal beliefs has sparked accusations of religious intolerance and viewpoint discrimination, Todd Starnes reported at Fox News Tuesday. "The brochure was created as a resource from DOJ Pride, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of the DOJ," Starnes wrote. According to Starnes, Liberty Counsel, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty, is representing an unidentified female DOJ worker who received the brochure, called “LGBT Inclusion...

The Southern Poverty Law Center continues to indoctrinate the children of this country with a radical, anti-Christian campaign. No longer a civil rights activist group, the SPLC now uses its power to program children into a pro-homosexual agenda using identity politics, social justice and socialist collectivism. The “Teaching Tolerance” curriculum teaches second graders that they should ignore their parents and cross dress if the feel like it. The book 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert is a text recommended by the SPLC to teach tolerance and promulgated by activists. In the book, Bailey, a boy dreams of dresses, and is told...

Melissa and Aaron Klein of Oregon, who were ordered by a state agency to pay two women $135,000 after they refused to take part in their same-sex wedding plans, may now face seizure of their assets. An administrative judge fined the couple after they declined to bake a cake for the lesbian couple, citing their religious objections. The fine was ordered by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which had accused the Klein couple of violating the Oregon Equality Act of 2007. According to reports, the agency is docketing the judgement and is exploring various options for collection.Docketing the...

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, a longtime Democrat, says she is switching to the Republican Party because she feels abandoned by Democrats in her fight against same-sex marriage. Davis' made the announcement while in Washington, D.C., to attend the Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, said Charla Bansley, a spokeswoman for Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis in her legal battles. "I've always been a Democrat, but the party left me," Davis said, according to Bansley.

Two sources close to Kentucky country clerk Kim Davis tell Breitbart News that the gay men whose demand for a marriage license started her on a path to jail for five days are again trying to get her locked up. ........ It is as if the two men believe the Supreme Court ordered Davis specifically to issue marriage licenses rather than simply guaranteeing that someone will issue marriage licenses to them. This sets up yet another challenge for Davis and almost certainly for Judge David Bunning. Davis will without a doubt refuse. Bunning may determine that the men must be...

Politicians who may have thought they wouldn’t have to say much at all about gay marriage once the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized it now must answer a different question: Do you support Kim Davis? The Rowan County clerk, who has become a darling of many conservatives despite being a Democrat, cited “God’s authority” and religious liberty in choosing jail time over issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Some social conservatives have cast Davis as a hero, shifting the gay marriage debate from one about civil liberties—a matter that appeared to have been settled—to one about religious liberty. …

When is it OK to break the law? When can you disobey the authorities? Should you be punished for meaning well? Before reflexively answering, let’s imagine some possibilities. Say the government came looking for spies hiding in your house. Is it OK for you to have allowed the spies to hide there? Isn’t it even worse if you cover up by denying the spies are hiding? Should you compound your treason by helping the spies escape? Next hypothetical: Should you disobey a law legitimately enacted and legally upheld by the highest court in the land? Last hypothetical: Do you think...

Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has announced that she has signed the Commencement Order for the Gender Recognition Act 2015. It will enable transgender people to be formally recognized in their preferred gender for all purposes by the State for the first time. The Tánaiste said that from next Tuesday, it will be open to any transgender person to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate and subsequently to obtain a new birth certificate that reflects their preferred gender. …

Not only is jailed Kentucky clerk Kim Davis citing her religious beliefs for denying marriage licenses to gay couples... In other states, according to USA Today:  In Alabama, as many as 10 counties have stopped issuing licenses altogether as of Wednesday. State law says that probate judges "may" issue the licenses rather than "shall."And in North Carolina, more than 30 county magistrates have refused to perform gay marriages under a law that says officials can refrain from conducting marriage-related activities.

ASHLAND, Ky. — Following yesterday’s jailing of a county clerk for stating that it is not possible for her to obey an order to issue marriage licenses to homosexuals against God’s law, it is now being noted that the same federal judge also once ordered Kentucky students to be re-educated about homosexuality despite their objections. In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—the same group that filed suit against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis—sued the Boyd County Board of Education to force it to agree to allow a “gay-straight” alliance club to meet at Boyd County High School. A number...

Did our founders, after drafting a Declaration of Independence, fighting a war with England, and then sitting down to pen a national governing document (the Constitution) put in that document the right of a majority of federal judges to make laws for the entire nation? Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis is testing the claim that five unelected Supreme Justices have the authority to overrule a state constitution that she took an oath to uphold and a federal Constitution that says nothing about same-sex marriage. Robert Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of The...

When a transgender high school student in Missouri received backlash for her request to use the girls’ bathroom and locker room, she found one very important ally: the school board, which granted her permission to use the facilities. According to Kelli Hopkins of the Missouri school board’s association, 17-year-old Lila Perry has been granted her request because of recent guidance issued by the US Department of Education. While there is no “policy per se on transgender students use of bathrooms”, Hopkins said, there is a policy that says “districts cannot discriminate against students based on their gender”. “The Office of...

Dr. Sudi Namir, who was fired from the Israel Medical Association Ethics Committee for controversial comments he made about homosexuals on an internet forum, has defended his comments in an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva.

The Denver City Council has stalled a deal to renew the lease of a Chick-fil-A restaurant at Denver International Airport, citing the company's reputation as an opponent of same-sex marriage. The Business Development Committee on Tuesday stalled the seven-year deal with a new franchise of the popular chicken chain for two weeks. "I think the airport also has a question about our reputation," said Robin Kniech, a Denver City Council Member, during Tuesday's meeting. "It has been the corporate philosophy [of Chik-fil-A] to use the dollars they earn to fund discriminatory lawsuits and to fund discriminatory political rhetoric. So that's...

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky County Clerks Association will propose removing clerks’ names from the document in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage has prompted Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and two others to deny licenses to all couples, drawing a federal lawsuit against Davis as well as calls to change the licensing process. Leslie County Clerk James Lewis, chairman of the association’s elections committee, told reporters Tuesday that his group is drafting “a simple solution” to the matter. “You would have the county and the county seat listed...

By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS June 28, 2015 GOP Gov.: "Time To Move On" From Same-Sex Marriage Possible Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich believes it's "time to move on" from the same-sex marriage issue in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling. "I do believe in traditional marriage and the court has ruled and it's time to move on," Kasich said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, adding that there's "so many other things now that we have to focus on." Gov. John Kasich talks issues ahead of possible 2016 run Kasich, who has not yet...

DES MOINES — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and actress Ellen Page, of “Juno” fame, got into a testy and free-wheeling discussion Friday over gay rights here at the Iowa State Fair. “I’m happy to answer your question but not to have a back-and-forth debate,” Cruz told Page, as she pressed him about discrimination against LGBT citizens, approaching him as he flipped pork chops over an open grill. But the two then proceeded to have a spirited exchange over gay rights and whether private businesses — florist companies, for example —can refuse to cater gay weddings in the name of their...