Free Republic

The Texas Supreme Court has issued a ruling against a local law allowing transgendered individuals to use the bathroom of their choice. In May 2014, Houston's mayor Annise Parker signed into law the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), an ordinance allowing "transgender" individuals to use the public restrooms designated for whatever sex they sincerely perceived themselves to be, regardless of their biological sex. According to the Houston Chronicle at the time: The measure bans discrimination based not just on sexual orientation and gender identity but also, as federal laws do, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy...

President Obama said that if he could run for a third term he thinks he would win, while calling for African leaders to adhere to term limits during a historic speech before the African Union. “I actually think I’m a pretty good president. I think if I ran, I could win. But I can’t,” Obama said in Ethiopia on Tuesday. ” There’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving, but the law’s the law.”

When the Supreme Court ruling came down in late June, extending the right to marriage to members of the same sex in all 50 states, some observers felt that the Catholic Church was fairly immune to any requirements that it would have to allow same-sex weddings before her altars. Now, though, calls for the Church to allow such nuptials are bubbling up. How far they will get is another question. The issue was raised Tuesday by a report in the New York Times that featured “gay and transgender Catholics” who are making noises with the approaching visit to these shores...

Reason magazine went out on a limb recently and published an article entitled “Privatizing Marriage Is a Terrible Idea,” by Shikha Dalmia. She presented an argument that is boldly counter-intuitive for many libertarians these days: that abolishing state-recognized marriage would increase government interference in our lives rather than reduce it. Dalmia is absolutely correct about this. And it would behoove anyone who truly stands for limited government to consider her points thoughtfully and soberly. The libertarian default position that goes by the slogan “let’s just get the government out of the marriage business” is short on substance. If it sounds...

Quelle surprise. The Boy Scouts of America has faced pressure for decades to end its national policy barring gay men as Scout leaders, finding itself barred from schools and other public venues for its stand even as churches and other civic organizations supported them. Yesterday, BSA’s national office changed its policy to end hiring discrimination within the organization and remove its bar on openly gay volunteer Scout leaders, while allowing church-sponsored troops to make their own leadership choices. Will that end the controversy? Don’t bet on it: The Boy Scouts of America, facing litigation, shrinking membership and sweeping acceptance...

Yesterday, the Nation Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) ended their ban on gay leaders. This brings up concern for churches who host BSA meetings in their facilities. The Mormon Church voiced concern over the new policy and was able to come to an agreement with the BSA and the new membership policy. Under the new policy, any church who hosts BSA meetings and believe marriage is between a man and a woman will be able to choose the leaders for their local units. They can choose leaders who share their beliefs on marriage and can “[restrict]…positions to...

In May 2014, the city council of Houston, backed by the first openly gay mayor in America, Annise Parker, passed an equal rights ordinance that provided special protections against discrimination for certain individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Texas Supreme Court has now ruled that the city must either repeal the controversial measure, or place it on the ballot for the next general election. Critics had argued the ordinance would place an undue burden and risk on religious institutions and pushed back against it by rallying support with a petition to overturn the new law. The city...

SODUS, NY, July 27, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Boys or girls who suffer from gender dysphoria must be allowed to use the bathrooms and change rooms of the opposite sex if they wish to do so, according to new guidance from the New York State Department of Education (NYDE).The document also clarifies that while schools can make “unisex” facilities available to such students, such facilities “should never be forced upon students, nor presented as the only option." Furthermore, schools should generally accept any student's stated preferred gender without question.The advice is just one of the more controversial sections of the document,...

One hundred and twenty-five members of Congress asked Secretary of State John Kerry in a letter Monday to deny visas to diplomats’ spouses if the envoys come from a country that doesn’t recognize same-sex spouses of State Department personnel. House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) led the letter, which got one GOP signature — Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), who has a transgender son. The lawmakers argued that countries not granting accreditation to same-sex spouses of American foreign service...

A Rock Island man has filed suit against the city and three of its police officers alleging that he was beaten up and discriminated against due to his sexual orientation. The suit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court, Rock Island, alleges that Stephen J. Girman, who is gay, called officers to his residence on Sept. 16, 2014, in regards to his partner Jerid Ryder. The suit was filed on behalf of Mr. Girman by Chicago-based attorney Michael Schmiege and David Lowery Jr., founder of the Living and Driving While Black Foundation...

This Wednesday and Thursday, July 29-30, the appeal hearing for Dr. Paul Church will take place. It will include lawyers, “evidence”, and witnesses, as his hospital attempts to seal his firing. On March 30, Dr. Church, a well-respected urologist, was expelled from the medical staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a major Harvard-affiliated hospital in Boston. Dr. Church’s crime? He voiced concerns to his colleagues and hospital staff about the unhealthy nature of homosexual behavior and objected to the hospital’s aggressive promotion of “gay pride” activities. As we’ve reported, for years the hospital has been aggressive in its...

Health Minister Leo Varadkar is the overwhelming favorite among the public and Fine Gael supporters to be the next leader of the party. A poll for The Sunday Times shows 34 percent of people would like to see Varadkar, who came out as a gay in January, take over from Taoiseach Enda Kenny. “It’s always nice to get positive feedback from the public, but there is no vacancy. Enda is the leader and I have my hands full in health and a lot of work to do,” Varadkar said. …

The governing body of the Boy Scouts of America voted Monday to end its decades-long ban on gay scout leaders. The organization's national executive board, meeting in Texas, concluded that the policy of excluding gay adults "was no longer legally defensible." The decision was approved by 79 percent of the board.

ADDIS ABABA, (CAJ News) – UNITED States President Barack Obama’s visit has been met with contempt by the majority in the continent owing to his country’s recent endorsement of same-sex marriages. The leader of the most powerful nation in the globe will only make a low-key appearance at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in a continent where such marriages are taboo. He will meet mostly Western diplomats and representatives. “How can we celebrate a man who advocates a man to marry another man? If it was the president of China, maybe, we would attend because they...

“Bill Donahue of the Catholic League was invited onto the Smerconish show on CNN in order to defend a decision by a private Catholic school to fire a teacher who had revealed herself to be gay and in a gay marriage. Halfway through the interview, Michael Smerconish affirms the lesbians’ view that they are the ‘real embodiment’ of Catholic teaching. Cuz that makes a lot of sense. Of course, people who get their understanding of Christian doctrine from making fun of televangelists while smoking pot in college and from snarky criticisms on the Daily Show aren’t the best scholars when...

The BSA does NOT know what they are getting into My Interview with Reparative Therapist David Pickup By Bill McIntosh, CiR Contributing Writer David Pickup is licensed in California and Texas as a Marriage and Family Therapist whose 2 private practices involve those undergoing authentic Reparative Therapy. After having great success with Reparative Therapy in his own life, Pickup is now an experienced therapist who facilitates treatment for men that works to reduce or dissipate homosexual feelings, helping them experience their heterosexual potential. David Pickup’s website is www.davidpickuplmft.com Coach is Right, Q: David-The Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee unanimously...

OBAMA COMPARES KENYA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS TO JIM CROW President Obama and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta clashed at a joint press conference in the African state during his official visit on Sunday: Obama harshly criticized Kenya’s record on issues related to homosexuality. “When you start treating people differently not because of any harm they are doing to anybody, but because they are different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode,” he said. “Bad things start to happen.” The President also compared Kenya’s laws to Jim Crow-era segregationist policies.

... bringing dignity to his high office by acting presidential ... again!

“Son of Kenya,” Barack Obama, proved once again that his patience with people, nations, and world leaders that disagree with his view of the world registers a big fat zero on the liberal Tolerance Meter.  When Obama finds out anyone (other than a Muslim) disagrees with his social policy focus, it becomes his personal mission to convince them otherwise. And if the mere awesomeness of his presence fails to change minds, Obama will attempt to humiliate his ideological adversaries into submission by getting in their face. For example, after Barack ‘LGBTQ’ Obama was specifically asked by the Evangelical Alliance...

On Sunday morning the American Flag on top of City Hall in Downtown Reno was replaced by the LGBT Flag following a gay pride celebration this weekend. By Sunday evening, the LGBT flag was taken down and now the American Flag is back up. The decision to replace the flag has been controversial. Many locals have expressed concerns over the American flag's removal. Around 9:00 p.m. our Channel 2 News crew was able to confirm the LGBT flag was taken down around 9:00 p.m. Sunday, and the American Flag was put back in its place. The City of Reno released...