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Pope Francis has sent his blessing to a lesbian author of children's books dealing with same-sex families, wishing her and her wife well in their work, it emerged on Friday. As Vatican officials scrambled to clarify that the message was simply a standard courtesy which did not signal any change in Church teaching on the subject, the author told AFP she had been pleasantly surprised to have received such a positive response. Francesca Pardi, who writes and publishes books such as "Why you have two mummies", wrote to Francis in June after the publishing company she runs with her wife...

Italian book that explores different family types including same sex was banned by mayor of Venice, but pontiff becomes unlikely supporter ... In the book, the egg encounters a pair of gay penguins, lesbian rabbits successfully bringing up a family, as well as other family models, including a single parent hippo, a mixed race dog couple, and kangaroos that have adopted polar bear cubs... Now Pardi has found an unlikely supporter in Pope Francis, who through his staff has written to the author praising her work. “His holiness is grateful for the thoughtful gesture and for the feelings which it...

More than 500,000 Catholics, including many senior clerics, have signed a petition calling on Pope Francis to reaffirm traditional teaching on marriage and the family after months of confusion over his supposed liberal stance on the issue.

The most disturbing aspect of the scandal around Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as secretary of state is not the former first lady’s penchant for secrecy. What’s truly unsettling is that it has been widely taken as read among both the media and the general public that Mrs. Clinton will likely avoid serious legal consequences for her behavior because the Justice Department is ultimately answerable to President Obama – and Democrats will not use the instruments of government to destroy one of their own. Whether that eventually proves true, the sentiment itself reveals a...

Whacking Donald Trump with a stick is big business in San Francisco. You can do it for $14 to the small Trump, or $20 if you splurge for the large Trump. The stick costs $3 extra, and you really need a proper stick, customers say, to bust Trump to smithereens. Those are the economics — a field said to be Trump’s specialty — in the red-hot business of selling Donald Trump piñatas.

He speaks his mind, such as it is. Says whatever he wants. Jumps the rails of the standard narrative, blasphemes right inside the GOP’s own church (Fox News), demeans women and immigrants... This is what his frothing minions love most, yes?... If this were a parallel (and much better) universe, Trump could almost be seen as sort of a dream candidate, the kind of passionate... Alas, we’re nowhere near there. We’re stuck right here. This dream is, of course, more of a nightmare, a loud, vapid, sexist anti-vaxxer/birther egomaniac with about as much personal integrity and humanity as a feral...

On July 31 at the American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award Luncheon, former Justice John Paul Stevens declared that, while the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment establishes a right to “gay marriage,” it does not protect an individual’s right to keep and bear arms.... I marvel at Stevens’ ability to reject an application of the Fourteenth Amendment to a right clearly enumerated elsewhere in the Constitution (viz., “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” in the Second Amendment) while affirming its application to a supposed right not elsewhere even remotely alluded to in the...

Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron of Agana, Guam has posted a message on his archdiocesean website stating that the “true intention” behind the push for same-sex marriage “has always been about the destruction of the family and the imposition of a totalitarian system.” The archbishop also predicted the next step in the process would be to use the education system so “that our children, your children, will be forced to assimilate to this pattern of non-gender.” “It is important to understand that the political pressure to push the agenda for same sex ‘marriage’ has never been about gay rights; the true...

The Nigerian bishops won't budge in their firm stance against same-sex "marriage." That's the latest word from Abp. Ignatius Kaigama, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria and leader of the Jos archdiocese. He told a recent Catholic assembly in his archdiocese, "The culture of same-sex marriage is alien to our understanding of the family and should not be imposed on Nigerians." These words were met with heavy applause. The archbishop then shifted to Nigeria's Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which took effect in 2014. He is an ardent supporter of it, and at the time he lauded Nigeria's president,...

FULL TITLE: Man proposes to his boyfriend in Texas Methodist Church that prohibits gay marriage - and gets a standing ovation from the congregation A Texas man gave his boyfriend a proposal to remember when he got down on one knee in front of the entire congregation at their local Methodist Church – receiving a standing ovation in the process. Trevor Harper, 36, and Davis Covin, 30, who live in Austin, have been dating since 2006 and have been proud and active members of the First United Methodist Church of Austin for the past two years. Mr Harper said the...

ROWAN COUNTY, KY, August 27, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- A federal appeals court has ordered Christian clerk Kim Davis to provide same-sex “marriage” licenses, but she’s refusing to give in. Davis, a Democrat, says that her Christian beliefs will not allow her to issue licenses for same-sex “marriages.” Despite pressure from Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear, a lawsuit from the ACLU, and two federal court rulings, Davis has refused to issue any licenses while the matter is still working its way through the courts. However, the Sixth District Court of Appeals said Davis must issue the licenses. While critics say Davis must follow the law as a...

DURHAM, NC, August 27, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Christian freshmen at Duke University are refusing to read an assigned graphic novel depicting masturbation and homosexual intercourse. The university says the assignment was optional and won’t discipline the holdouts. Brian Grasso emerged as the spokesperson for the dissenters after he posted his decision on the Class of 2019’s closed Facebook page. Opponents have done their best to mock and deride the holdouts as ignoramuses who don’t belong at Duke, but Grasso has addressed all their jibes, first to Duke’s student paper and then in an op-ed in the Washington Post, intelligently...

The Telegraph is given exclusive video and pictures showing the Virginia gunman's home, with cat urine all over the kitchen floor and the discovery of sex toys ... revealing details of the gunman’s life in the days before he murdered Alison Palmer and Adam Ward. [Snip] He left behind an apartment filled with his personal effects, including photographs of himself during his days as a television journalist and posters that appear to be of male pin-ups. In a raid on the apartment on Wednesday, police reportedly confiscated a gay pride flag. They also found "many" sex toys, which may have...

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...

A Kentucky clerk's office on Thursday again refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple, in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage across the country two months ago. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has refused to issue any marriage licenses, citing her Christian faith and constitutional right to religious freedom, since the landmark decision in June. On Thursday morning, a deputy clerk in her office refused to issue a marriage license to William Smith Jr. and James Yates. It was their third attempt to get a license. They said they will not give...

Early Wednesday morning, Vester Lee Flanagan II, reportedly upset over being fired from Virginia news station WDBJ7 in 2013 as well as the June church massacre in Charleston, S.C., targeted two of his former colleagues and fatally shot them during a live broadcast.

The St. Mary's Academy board voted Wednesday night to change the school's policy on hiring gay employees after facing backlash over the administration's decision to rescind a job offer to a gay counselor. Students and high-profile donor Tim Boyle, CEO of Columbia Sportswear, had earlier condemned the choice not to employ 27-year-old Lauren Brown. In response, administrators brought the board together and recommended members vote to expand the hiring policy. . . . In July, the Roman Catholic high school reversed its plans to make Brown an academic adviser after learning she was gay, the job applicant said. Friedhoff said...

For some gay activists, it had shades of bathhouse raids and gay-bar roundups from decades ago. On Tuesday, federal authorities burst into the Union Square office of the gay-escort website Rentboy.com and arrested the chief executive and several employees on prostitution charges. Rentboy, which federal authorities called the biggest male-escort website, had been around for almost two decades, allowing escorts to pay to advertise themselves. It was well known in the gay community, hosting pool parties, dances and awards shows throughout the country. ... Mr. Walls said: “As the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE is responsible...

Dinesh D’Souza, conservative author, movie-maker, columnist and pundit, took to Twitter to do some trolling on left-leaning pages and post some counter-views on the widely reported shooting deaths of two white television crew members by a black man – even suggesting President Obama better stand on the side of blind justice, not race-based politics. In reference to Vester Flanagan, the black former television journalist whose on-air name was Bryce Williams, D’Souza tweeted: “When a black gay guy goes nuts and kills white people, is it safe to call it a DOUBLE hate crime?” Flanagan, prior to killing himself, was believed...

Classes to help transgender individuals alter their vocalization are slated to be offered this fall at the University of Connecticut. The Transgender Voice and Communication Group offers “an opportunity to use new vocal and communication qualities in a safe and confidential environment” and includes “role playing” and other activities. This semester’s group launches Sept. 14 and runs through Nov. 30 at the public university, an online campus calendar and description states. The University of Connecticut did not respond to multiple requests from The College Fix seeking comment on how much it costs taxpayers to facilitate the group. The campus does...