Free Republic

BOSTON, November 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lawsuit that could nullify the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has received the support of major U.S. corporations, who filed a brief opposing the law in federal court this week. A friend-of-the-court brief filed last Thursday in the case of Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services argues that DOMA, which protects marriage as between a man and a woman in federal law, imposes crippling burdens on employers. Seventy employers are represented in the brief, including Microsoft, Starbucks, Google, NIKE, Levi Strauss and Co., CBS, Aetna, Blue Cross...

In his 46 years on the job, coach Joe Paterno has never quite faced a crisis like the one now hovering over Happy Valley like a dark cloud. Indeed, scandal has hit State College. Retired Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexually assaulting eight boys. Paterno's boss, athletic director Tim Curley, and another school administrator, face charges of perjury and failing to report to state and county officials that a witness told them he saw an alleged instance of abuse in 2002. All at a tradition-rich school which proudly boasts the slogan "Success with Honor." "If...

Embed this VideoxEmailFacebookDiggTwitterRedditDelicious Link Share Modesto school board candidate Mylinda Mason fires up controversy after taking a stand on SB 48, which requires schools to include historical contributions of homosexuals in the curriculum. Read more: http://www.kcra.com/video/29699254/detail.html#ixzz1d3GyPbHb

A proposed anti-bullying policy for West Virginia schools acknowledges that sexual orientation and gender identity are common reasons for harassment. The state Department of Education is taking public comments until 4 p.m. Tuesday about the 75-page student conduct and disciplinary policy that the Board of Education will consider Dec. 14. If approved, changes that specifically acknowledge the targeting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students would go into effect July 1, 2012.

As a transplanted Michigander, I’ve always maintained pride in my home state. I’ve only owned American cars. I believed in the Lions even during the really dismal years. I still point to my hand to show people which part of the state I’m from. But the Michigan legislature is doing its best to make me hang my head in shame. On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled state senate passed an anti-bullying bill that manages to protect school bullies instead of those they victimize. It accomplishes this impressive feat by allowing students, teachers, and other school employees to claim that “a sincerely held...

Microsoft and Starbucks are among 70 corporations, financial institutions, medical centers, and other major organizations that have signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).The organizations are, or represent, major employers who argue that DOMA imposes significant administrative costs, and that it harms their ability to attract and retain talent."Microsoft has joined dozens of corporations, organizations and governments in support of a challenge on constitutionality grounds to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA," the company said in a statement. The amicus brief "points out the significant...

Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young men, state prosecutors said.

Associated Press"The marital union between one man and one woman was universally accepted by civil law as a constitutive element of human society, which is vital to the human family and to the continuation of the human race," Archbishop Dolan said in the decree dated Oct. 18. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Following the spiritual lead of Pope Benedict, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has issued an official statement banning gay marriage in Roman Catholic churches.Supporters of the Marriage Equality Act were left to ponder why and whether his statement was politically motivated. Archbishop Dolan issued a decree forbidding any priest or...

House Democrats File Brief Against DOMA The amicus brief filed by 133 Democrats, including the party’s top leaders, maintains that Congress hastily passed legislation during President Bill Clinton’s presidency to limit who can marry and asserts that the law is unconstitutional. The brief was filed in a consolidated court case being considered in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, although a release said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other top Democratic leaders who oppose the law will file similar briefs in other pending court cases.

House Democrats today filed a brief in support of a legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The amicus brief filed by 133 Democrats, including the party’s top leaders, maintains that Congress hastily passed legislation during President Bill Clinton’s presidency to limit who can marry and asserts that the law is unconstitutional. The brief was filed in a consolidated court case being considered in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, although a release said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other top Democratic leaders...

It has been 47 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and 46 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act. And yet the political leaders of this nation of liberty cannot seem to muster the courage and principle to sweep away one remaining example of institutionalized, government-sanctioned discrimination: The 1996 law that denies the right of marriage to same-sex couples. The law, the Defense of Marriage Act, was passed in the heat of election-year fear and bigotry against men who want to marry other men, and women who want to marry other women. It was a...

"Groundbreaking." "Memorable." "Big." "Remarkable." "Intimate." [?] "Wonderful." "Great." "History-making." "Go Coco!" The above statements were made by various media outlets upon learning of Conan O'Brien's intention to preside over the wedding of a gay couple during the taping of his show "Conan" in New York this week. O'Brien, who is celebrating his first year at TBS, is back in New York this week (for 16 years his previous show, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" was filmed in New York City). He announced last week that he was going to officiate a gay wedding because same-sex marriages are now legal in...

NEW YORK — When Timothy Dolan arrived in New York nearly three years ago to take over the state's Catholic Archdiocese, his "brother bishops" had a bleak warning to deliver."We've got a bruising battle coming up over same-sex marriage," he remembers being told in his first meeting with local clergy. "We are not going to relent, we are going to give it everything we've got. But you need to know that the fortune-tellers are telling us that we ain't gonna win."The Roman Catholic Church had long been at the forefront of the fight over defining marriage in the Empire State,...

BOSTON – The oldest Roman Catholic newspaper in the United States has retracted an opinion column suggesting the devil may be responsible for gay attraction. The column, which appeared Friday in the Archdiocese of Boston's official newspaper, The Pilot, was titled "Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction." It was written by Daniel Avila, an associate director for policy and research for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In the column, Avila says "the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil." It also says "disruptive...

Shorter University in Rome, Ga., is requiring its employees to certify that they are not gay as a condition of employment. All 200 employees of the Baptist university, located about 65 miles northwest of Atlanta, received a "personal lifestyle statement" last Wednesday, which they must sign or risk being fired. Employees must pledge to be "active members of a local church" and to abstain from, among other things, drug use, premarital sex and homosexual behavior. "I reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality," the statement...

Gay Couples To Be Allowed Civil Ceremonies In Church Homosexual couples will be able to take part in civil partnerships in church and other places of worship from next month, it will be announced. It is estimated that about 1,500 civil partnerships a year would take place in religious settings once the ban is lifted. By Andrew Porter, and Martin Beckford 01 Nov 2011 Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, will say that the ban on the ceremonies in religious surroundings will be lifted on Dec 5. The move has been championed by David Cameron but is likely to be opposed...

A group of married gay current and former military personnel sued the federal government on Thursday, seeking equal recognition, benefits and the same support as married heterosexual couples who serve in the military. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston says the government's Defense of Marriage Act violates their constitutional rights and asks the military to recognize their legal marriages. "This case is about one thing, plain and simple," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which filed the suit. "It's about justice for gay and lesbian service members and their families in our...

Adrian Smith, a 54-year-old father of two, posted on his private Facebook account that he disapproves of gay marriage because of his Christian beliefs. He wrote that allowing homosexuals to wed would be "an equality too far." It is important to point out that the comment could only be viewed by Mr. Smith's confirmed friends on Facebook, and was not public. Instead of being allowed to voice his right to free speech, he was brought in front of his employers, the Trafford Housing Trust in Greater Manchester. They declared that he was guilty of "gross misconduct." As a consequence, they...

A block thrown through a home window. Cars vandalized. Hate-filled anonymous phone calls at home and work. Swastikas scrawled on houses of worship. Physical assaults. Dismissal from employment because of political views. Are these examples of retaliation against civil-rights activists in the South in 1954? Attempts by an authoritarian government to quash dissent? No, this is the sort of intimidation that Americans who support marriage as the union of a man and woman can face today. Persecution of opponents is becoming a tool of the trade for some gay-marriage activists, who -- ironically -- seem to view themselves as beacons...

Who can say "gay" isn't okay in New Jersey? Judging by Gov. Chris Christie's actions, teachers can't. Christie told CNN's Piers Morgan on June 15 that he doesn't think homosexuality is a sin even though his religion does. To be sure that the citizens of New Jersey are aware of Christie's beliefs, the interview and transcript are posted on the official New Jersey website. Okay, that's his opinion. But read on. New Jersey high school teacher Viki Knox may have been inspired by Christie's comments to think that it was okay for a New Jersey public employee to express an...