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In a historic change, noncelibate gays and lesbians can now lead parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). On a 559-451 vote taken Friday in Minneapolis at their biennial conference, delegates repealed the ELCA ban on gay clergy unless they agree to remain celibate. It makes ELCA, with 4.8 million members nationwide and 830,000 in Minnesota, the largest denomination in the country to welcome gays into the pulpits without restriction.The vote did not surprise Ryan Schwarz from Washington, a member of Lutheran CORE, a group that opposed the motion. Nor did it dampen his interest in running for...

Militiamen are torturing and killing gay Iraqi men with impunity in a systematic campaign that has spread from Baghdad to several other cities, a prominent human rights group said in a report. Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi government to act urgently to stop the abuses, warning that so-called social cleansing poses a new threat to security even as other violence recedes. The bodies of several gay men were found in Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City earlier this year with the Arabic words for "pervert" and "puppy" — considered derogatory terms for homosexuals in Iraq — written...

A decade ago, the idea of staging a gay pride event in the Bronx was unheard of. Today, organizers say a new day is dawning in the borough as neighbors and even some elected officials are supporting the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community's fourth annual Bronx Pride Festival, to be held Saturday at Baretto Point Park in Hunts Point. Along with featured performers and information booths about HIV prevention and gay marriage, this year's Pride Festival will be more family oriented, with booths for cotton candy, clowns making balloon animals and other entertainment. "We are seeing this year's Pride...

Psychologist Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College, Pennsylvania once met a woman who was in a lifelong lesbian relationship and suddenly, with no prefaced desire to leave her lesbian lifestyle, fell in love with a guy at work. She left her lesbian partner and married the man. The American Psychological Association just published a report on whether therapists can make this change happen. In examining change therapy, which claims that people with homosexual desires can switch to heterosexual desires, the report says there is insufficient evidence that the therapies work. But it also found that while...

Do you know how I know you’re gay? You just read this essay in Slate about the rap meme “no homo.” The phrase, in case you’re not familiar with it, is commonly appended to lines in rap that could possibly be interpreted as, well, gay. The essay — which gives a nice primer on the phenomenon, including how it originated as a way for rappers to distance themselves from closeted “down-low brothers” — argues that there’s a possibility that it’s “helping to make hip-hop a gayer place.” Once upon a time, the story goes, rappers would go around telling other...

My philosophy on homosexuality is, love the sinner, not the sin. I don't have a single thread of negativity for those that proclaim themselves to be homosexual, it doesn't bother me at all. What bothers me, are the acts involved in homosexuality, and the idea being forced on us, that those acts are a human rights, morally ok, and we should all be accepting of it. I don't believe that gays should be discriminated against, but I also don't believe that homosexual activities should be accepted by society, and no, those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. It is...

The weapons included mayonnaise, ketchup and salsa –– but also pepper spray, a glass jar and fists. A difference of opinion over gay marriage sparked the incident, and emotions escalated quickly. Punches were thrown. A small group of men visiting Rhode Island this week urging people to support traditional marriage called the police. Offended by the men’s message, four young women now face charges of assault or battery and disorderly conduct. The youngest, 17, also faces a more serious charge — felony assault with a dangerous substance.... ...The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property –– traveled...

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Several of the famous figures President Obama announced today as recipients of the 2009 Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. honor to civilians, have solidly pro-abortion and homosexualist roots."These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds," said Obama of the award recipients in a White House press release. "Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change.  Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way."  One recipient was Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has been fighting brain cancer...

1. In 2001, Kevin Allen Ake was living at a YMCA in Illinois, apparently "so that he could assist an elderly member of his church who lived there." Several months after moving in, he was evicted, in his view because of his "efforts to begin a bible study program at the YMCA." As a result, he left a bunch of messages on the voice-mail of the YMCA's executive director, who was a lesbian; he denies that the messages contained explicit threats, but says he "basically shared what the Bible talked about was -- with that kind of unnatural lifestyle --...

“I introduced an amendment to H.R. 3326, now withdrawn, prohibiting the use of funds in this bill to investigate or discharge our dedicated service men and women on the grounds of ‘telling’ their sexual orientation. The Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces – commonly called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – provides that a service member can be separated from the Armed Forces for stating that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual. Due to pressure from some of my Congressional colleagues and from the White House, I have withdrawn my amendment.

Volunteers from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) were assaulted by pro-homosexual activists yesterday [July 28] in Warwick, Rhode Island, as they peacefully held signs in support of traditional marriage. Volunteer Rex Teodosio described the scene: "We were at a busy intersection, getting strong support for traditional marriage. Three women approached us -- one threw mayonnaise, while the other two grappled with our photographer." "Then we were sprayed with mace. Finally, a burly woman got out of a car and punched our photographer in the face. They shouted obscenities the whole time." "It happened...

Google has finally given its reason for blocking the MassResistance blog, but it took a call from Fox News in New York to get it. And it seems to be more political - and frightening - than anything else. Since 2005 the MassResistance blog has been hosted on Google's blogspot blogging site with few problems. As we reported in a recent posting, for the last several weeks Google has been blocking the MassResistance blog with a warning screen alleging "objectionable content", (see above) and requiring readers to click through to get in. The block was put on almost immediately after...

Apostasy is a strong word. It is a word with a direct correlation with the Anti-Christ. Hence, it should not be used lightly in connection with a person, church, or denomination. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 says: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come (the second coming of Christ) unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (NASU). The...

After complaints from gay political groups, AAA of the South has announced it will treat married gay couples as families when determining rates for memberships in the auto club.

It's now more than 50 years since the revolution began. Sexual "liberation" has been endlessly ballyhooed by the national media, promoted in the movies, embraced by Playboy guys and Cosmo girls as a freedom more delicious than Eden's apple. No American under 40 can honestly remember a time when sex on TV was taboo, when "living together" meant married, when "gay" meant happy, and when almost every child lived with both parents.   If truth be told, the revolution has been a disaster. Before the push to loosen America's sexual mores really got under way in the 1950s, the...

Men Kicked Out of Restaurant for Kissing (El Paso Times cannot be posted)

Lithuania MPs ban gay ‘promotion’ AFP/Vilnius Lithuanian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly yesterday to overturn a presidential veto of a child-protection law that bans what supporters say is the promotion of homosexuality. The law, due to come into force in March 2010, bars the “public dissemination” of information favourable to homosexuality, claiming it could harm the mental health and physical, intellectual and moral development of youngsters. The legislation - which also covers bisexuality, polygamy, images of heterosexual intercourse, death and severe injury, the paranormal, foul language and bad eating habits - does not specifically define public dissemination nor set down the punishment...

  Council removes Christian paediatrician from adoption panel A paediatrician has been removed as a medical adviser to Northamptonshire County Council after asking to abstain from making recommendations on the placement of children with same-sex couples. by Jenna Lyle Posted: Sunday, July 19, 2009, 10:15 (BST)  Dr Sheila Matthews, who has been a medical adviser to the Council’s adoption panel for five years, said she believed it would be “inappropriate” to place children in a household with same sex parents.“Using my professional judgement and having done a lot of reading around the subject, I am satisfied that there are...

Durham, N.C. — Duke University has fired an employee who faces federal child sex charges. Frank M. Lombard, 42, of 24 Indigo Creek Trail in Durham, was let go from his position as associate director of the Center for Health Policy at Duke, a spokesman said. Duke Vice President for Public Affairs Michael Schoenfeld said Lombard was placed on unpaid leave at the time of his arrest June 24 and was fired Monday. Schoenfeld added that the university was cooperating with the investigation. Lombard faces extradition to Washington, D.C., to face charges that he solicited an adult to have...

In which CNN totally redeems itself for the other mom-themed political video they foisted on us today. Watch closely here and you’ll see the tweet that was sent to me last night — and which I linked in our post about The One throwing out the first pitch — flash by for a second or two. Good lord: Did Hot Air launch the Obama “mom jeans” meme? Behold my proudest moment as a blogger, my friends.

Homosexual Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson. (UPPA) In defiance of the majority of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. has voted in favor of ordaining homosexual bishops. The unilateral action by the Episcopal Church, courtesy of a vote by its General Convention, moves the deeply divided Anglican Communion closer to formal schism. The Los Angeles Times reports today: Bishops, clergy and lay leaders voted overwhelmingly at the denomination’s General Convention in Anaheim to open “any ordained ministry� to gays and lesbians. The liberalized policy represents a reversal from guidelines adopted by the church at its last convention in...

Some members of a gay rights group were thrown out of the Fort Worth City Council meeting Tuesday night after interrupting the proceeding. An overflow crowd attended the meeting to protest the June 28 raid on the Rainbow Lounge in which one man was seriously injured. Several members of Queer LiberAction didn't want to wait until the the end of the meeting to comment and interrupted the mayor. Commenting on the Rainbow Lounge incident, one man shouted they shouldn't have to wait until the end of the meeting to be heard. "It's been over two weeks," one person said. "We...

Friday July 10, 2009 India Supreme Court Accepts Challenge to Legalization of Homosexual Sex By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiNEW DELHI, July 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - India's Supreme Court has agreed to consider a petition seeking to repeal a recent lower court ruling that effectively decriminalized homosexual sex among consenting adults.Last week the Delhi High Court ruled that homosexual acts between consenting adults are not criminal and that the 150 year-old law, section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," is a violation of "fundamental rights" and must be amended in accordance with...

Saskatchewan marriage commissioners should be allowed to refuse to perform same-sex unions if it violates their religious beliefs, the state government says. The province's Saskatchewan Party government is seeking a legal opinion on whether its proposed legislation is in compliance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday. Provincial Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan told the CBC the state government will propose two options to the court -- one that would allow existing marriage commissions to refuse to perform same-sex marriages and another in which a religious exemption would be granted to...

MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - Sexual minorities have dropped plans for a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow during President Barack Obama's visit, citing security concerns, Russian media reported on Monday. Activists had intended to gather near the embassy on Tuesday, the second day of Obama's visit to Moscow, to protest against bans on gay pride parades in the Russian capital and to demand that same-sex unions be made legal in the country. Organizers cited heightened security measures during the American leader's first visit to Moscow on July 6-8 as a reason for calling off the action. Moscow...

In response to a question about statements made by those affiliated with the president’s administration, President Obama offered his position on homosexual rights with regard to the Church. “For the gay and lesbian community in this country, I think it’s clear that they feel victimized in fairly powerful ways and they’re often hurt by not just certain teachings of the Catholic Church, but the Christian faith generally,� said the president. “And as a Christian, I’m constantly wrestling with my faith and my solicitude and regard and concern for gays and lesbians.� “To the extent that I weighed into these debates,...

(Ephesians 2:10; Acts 4:12 ) King Obama became the first President to celebrate GAY PRIDE MONTH at the White House Monday night, warmly welcoming more 250 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans "to your White House." As I told you prior to the election, this would be the most gay friendly President ever, a man who will help to advance the radical homosexual agenda in this nation. During his 18 minute talk, he spoke openly of his full support to help the radical homosexual movement gain all of the special rights they are seeking as they force society to accept...

A black evangelical Christian pastor and former NFL linebacker says there was "absolutely no truth in anything" President Obama said in his speech to homosexuals in the East Room of the White House Monday. President Obama promised LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) supporters Monday at a White House "gay pride" celebration that he "will continue to be an ally and a champion" for their agenda, once again vowing he will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. (Related article: Obama White House not appealing transgender ruling) Ken Hutcherson, senior pastor of Antioch...

At a White House celebration, the president chastises those who "still hold fast to worn arguments" about God's design for human sexuality. President Barack Obama opened the White House to hundreds of gay activists Monday, promising them that by the time he leaves office they would "have pretty good feelings" about his administration. During an event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of what gay activists consider the launch of their political movement – several nights of violent riots in and around a New York gay bar – Obama rattled off several policies he plans to implement to please his homosexual...

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips sympathized with an outed homosexual army officer on Tuesday’s Newsroom program. Phillips questioned Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach about his recent meeting with President Obama, and asked, “What else did you tell him, because I know this has weighed heavily on your heart for a very long time....What did he tell you that gives you...hope...that he is going to get rid of this?” [video of interview available here] The anchor’s interview with Fehrenbach occurred a day after he attended a “celebrating LGBT Pride Month” event at the White House. He was the guest of the homosexual activist...

President Obama on Monday celebrated the 1969 homosexual riots at a seedy Mafia-run bar known as the Stonewall Inn by repeatedly calling them "protests." Only once, during his speech to the homosexuals and their supporters assembled in the White House East Room, did he refer to them accurately as the riots they were. Several police officers trying to enforce the law at the sleazy establishment were injured by violent homosexuals. Ironically, homosexuals still celebrate their violent actions at the Stonewall Inn while demanding federal legislation protecting themselves from violent "hate crimes." Obama acknowledged the attendance at the event of homosexual...

Islamic seminary Deoband's condemnation on Monday of moves to repeal Section 377 of IPC to legalise same sex liaisons -- by calling it a wish of an "ungodly few" -- set off fears that conservative religious opinion could dilute the resolve of the government to "decriminalise homosexuality". The seminary, reacting to statements from government circles that there was a case for scratching Section 377, called it a "contemptible move likely to corrupt the gullible in society". The strong criticism may well increase the wariness that has marked the reactions of ministers after initially signalling a preparedness to legalise homosexuality. While...

When hundreds of leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gathered in the East Room of the White House Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the gay rights movement, President Obama worked to assuage concerns that his administration has not made much progress in addressing gay issues. Democratic activists in the LGBT community have said that President Obama's campaign promises to end the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy and to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act do not seem to be top-tier priorities. When a legal brief, filed earlier this month by the...

LONDON, JUNE 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- New gay rights legislation in Great Britain has forced one of the oldest adoption agencies in the nation to cease providing key services. The Catholic Children's Society of the Archdiocese of Westminster announced last week it will cease placing children with adoptive and foster parents due to the enactment of the Sexual Orientation Regulations -- part of the 2006 Equality Act -- that stipulates that same-sex couples should be given equal consideration as prospective parents. The agency, founded in 1859, said complying with the new regulations would go against Church teaching on marriage and the...

Please forgive the accurate but inflammatory headline. I just wanted to get your attention. Did I do that? Good. Because we have another Duke Rape case. And this time it’s probably not a hoax. About the author, Professor Mike Adams: ... In his writing he examines the seamy underside of Liberal campus culture. Well, here's a seamy underside that is not going to get much sunlight in the MSM. Nowhere nearly as much attention as the trumped up Duke Lacrosse Rape case. According to Adams, it seems that ... Duke University has another rape case on its hands. This one...

Who cares what you think? I mean really...who cares. It does not matter that you and 60+ percent of America see marriage as sacred, important to the fabric of society and to children especially...WHO CARES. Obama does not, and this is a certainty. Under the FALSE pretense of supporting an invented right the Obama Administration has directed all department heads to extend all priviledges to same sex couples as we do to married couples. Now, keep in mind this will NOT be extended to un-married couples but ONLY to SAME SEX couples. They do NOT Have to be married, tis...

MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - Moscow authorities have turned down the request of city gays to hold a picket near the U.S. embassy during the Russian visit of U.S. President Barack Obama. "The prefecture of the Moscow central administrative district informed the organizers of the gay picket near the U.S. embassy on Monday that they were denied the action," Moscow gay pride parade organizer Nikolai Alexeyev told Interfax. He said the ban "once again confirmed that Moscow authorities would not allow any public actions of sexual minorities in the city." The gays applied for holding the picket near the U.S....

A paedophile ring has been smashed after eight men were found guilty of a horrifying catalogue of more than 50 child pornography and abuse charges.Among the crimes was a shocking sexual attack carried out on a three-month-old baby boy by an executive adviser on child sex issues. James Rennie, chief executive of a publicly-funded gay rights group, was one of the men exposed yesterday as members of Scotland's biggest paedophile ring.   Rennie, 38, molested the toddler son of unsuspecting friends - a little boy he had been trusted to babysit - recording the abuse and sharing it with other...

San Francisco celebrates diversity with the 39th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade & Festival this weekend. Dozens of pride-related events take place throughout the Bay Area during the week to entertain the thousands of celebrants making the pilgrimage to San Francisco, but the big weekend party at Civic Center Plaza has been known to draw vast crowds in the hundreds of thousands. This year's event theme keeps the recent struggle for the legalization of same-sex marriage at the forefront of the celebration, drawing the theme concept “In Order to Form a More Perfect Union” from the Preamble to...

First, let’s begin with some terminology. The term “fifth column” generally refers to a group within a larger community which intentionally and covertly collaborates with an outside enemy so as to weaken that group from within and undermine its leadership and effectiveness. The expression seems to have originated with the Spanish Civil War but has now been expanded to refer to a strategic use of covert activity and dissent within a State, or, as in this instance, even within a Church. I use the phrase “fifth column” in reference to people within our Church, fellow Catholics. These folks have rejected...

It is almost too bizarre and disturbing to know that this sort of thing goes on in North America in modern times. A Connecticut Church, Manifested Glory Ministries, posted a video on Youtube of what can only be described as a gay exorcism. The video drew massive outrage on the site and was quickly removed, but not before someone recorded a partial copy (see below). A 16 year old boy, allegedly gay, appears in the video with members of the church and congregation and you can hear people yelling as they try to cast homosexual demons from the boy’s body....

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut church has outraged gay rights advocates by posting a video of members performing an apparent exorcism of a teen's "homosexual demons." The 20-minute video was posted on YouTube before it was taken down. Gay youth advocate Robin McHaelen (mih-KAY'-lehn) says the video appears to show abuse. She says she plans to report it to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The boy confirms he is 16 but otherwise has declined to comment. The Rev. Patricia McKinney of Manifested Glory Ministries in Bridgeport says he is 18 and came to the church on his...

It is difficult to gain attention in an era that uses superlatives to describe dishwashing liquid and mayonnaise. Perhaps speaking simply and directly might prove such an oddity that words may again have their proper power. And so, here it is: The greatest moral crisis is now upon us. I don't mean the continual, factory slaughter of thousands of babies a day; or the endless parade of carnal innovations mincing across the public square, howling for recognition; or even the redefinition of marriage to include the indefinite union of anything. These are effects, more or less, of the real moral...

Readers of Catholic Online are familiar with the group which calls itself the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” They claim international membership. One of their most active chapters is located in San Francisco, California. They summarize their mission as “Defining San Francisco Values Since 1979” on their outlandish San Francisco web site. In an editorial in 2007 entitled “Scandal in San Francisco”, I wrote an account of their sacrilegious activities during Holy Mass on October 7, 2007 at the Most Holy Redeemer Parish in San Francisco, California. They hate the Catholic Church because she stands for the truth concerning the dignity...

This week, tens of thousands of gay people will converge on New York City for Pride Week, and tens of thousands of residents will come out to play as well. Some of us will indulge in clubbing and dancing, and some of us will bond over our ineptitude at both. Some of us will be in drag and some of us will roll our eyes at drag. We will rehash arguments so old that they’ve become a Pride Week staple; for instance, is the parade a joyous expression of liberation, or a counterproductive freak show dominated by needy exhibitionists and...

Dear UNC-Wilmington Students: It’s getting close to time to start another semester. That means that it’s time to lay down the rules for all of my classes. I’m going to continue to use all the rules I’ve used before, which can be found in my syllabus. But, starting this semester, I’m adding three more rules. Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered students (GILBERTS) need to pay especially close attention. First of all, GILBERTS will not be allowed to mention their status as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or trans-gendered. A few semesters ago, a gay student in one of my classes said –...

Why a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity “Hate Crimes” Law Is Bad for You Part 3: Inroads against personal freedom already made in the United States by homosexual and transsexual political activismby Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D. June 18, 2009  To print a clean copy with proper formatting and pagination go to the pdf version here.  Many proponents of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” legislation contend that “sexual orientation” legislation will not endanger civil liberties in the United States—in Europe, Canada, and Brazil, but not in the United States. The evidence to date suggests otherwise. An example of hate-speech prosecution in Philadelphia In Part 2...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Mayor Sam Adams could lose two homes in north Portland after falling behind on his mortgage payments. The homes in question sit side-by-side on North McClellan Street in the Kenton neighborhood and both are now in pre-foreclosure. KATU obtained a copy of two notices of default against the properties, showing the mayor has not paid a mortgage payment on either home for five months. With late fees, that adds up to over $10,000 in back payments. Adams said Tuesday his financial problems stemmed from the fact that he had to pay up front for legal bills...

The United States Senate is poised to approve hate crimes legislation within the next couple days by way of an amendment attached to an unrelated bill on tourism. According to the Washington Blade, a D.C.-based homosexual news journal, the Senate leadership plans to attach the hate crimes bill, S. 909, also known as the Matthew Shephard Act, to The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (S 1023). The Blade quoted its source as saying “we're thinking that the vote will happen probably [Tuesday] or Wednesday.” LifeSiteNews reported last week that Senate officials were looking to smuggle controversial hate crimes legislation into...

President Obama will announce tomorrow that he is extending federal benefits to include unmarried domestic partners of federal workers, including same-sex partners, White House officials said tonight. Obama will sign an executive order implementing the change in the Oval Office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president's announcement. The move would give partners of federal employees access to health care and financial benefits such as relocation fees for moves. The State Department announced a similar extension of benefits last month, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling it "the right thing to do."...