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Last June, District Attorney David Capeless of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, announced that he was dropping all charges against 44-year-old Bernard Baran, a man who has spent half his life behind bars on child molestation charges that the state no longer has the confidence to retry. Baran was convicted in January 1985 of molesting six children at a pre-kindergarten day care facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was released on bond in 2006 after an appeals court determined that his trial attorney had been incompetent and that the prosecution may have withheld key exculpatory evidence. Baran says that during his jail term...

Ah the good old days. Do you remember when right was right and wrong was wrong? I sure do but it was a long time ago.

A group called Love Honor Cherish launched an Internet-based effort today to collect enough signatures to place a measure repealing Prop. 8, the anti-gay marriage law, on the state ballot by next year. The signature-gathering drive will use social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, organizers said in a statement. “We’re taking names,” said John Henning, who is heading the SignForEquality.com effort launched to collect the signatures. "People throughout California can now help us win marriage back by the simple act of signing and collecting signatures.” Prop. 8 was approved by California voters a year ago, reversing a California...

By MIKE LEE mikelee@star-telegram.com FORT WORTH — The City Council voted 6-3 late Tuesday to expand its anti-discrimination ordinance to include transgender people, capping a marathon debate over a series of gay-rights proposals that were forwarded after a controversial inspection of a gay bar. A majority of council members spoke in favor of the proposal when it was introduced last week. The inspection at the Rainbow Lounge in June left a man injured and sparked protests in the city. Fort Worth officials appointed a task force to recommend ways to mend fences with the gay community shortly afterward. The vote...

It's time for a policy change in the American military. "Don't ask, don't tell" may have seemed like a good compromise in 1993 but makes no sense in a post 9/11 world where the average soldier worries far more about getting fragged by an al Qaeda sympathizer in their platoon than whether their bunkmate is a little light in their government issued boots. This report from ABC news should make your jaw drop: U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials...

The normal routine of the League was interrupted Friday afternoon, when an anonymous caller called to say he owned guns and his next target was the former director of the League, Mike Heath (above). The death threat was apparently related to the recent win on Question 1, which revoked the right of homosexuals to be married in Maine. The caller said the following: “I am calling about Mr. Mike Heath, the Executive of your Christian Civic League of Maine. He thinks that gay people should have our rights revoked that we already have. Well I can tell him this...

I haven't heard this argument before by homosexuals but here it is: "Taxes have everything to do with "no taxation without representation." Why should homosexuals have to pay taxes if they are going to be treated as second class citizens? Why should their tax dollars go to the govt? But if you and I can have our benefits left to our spouses and get tax breaks for filing, then everyone in a domestic partnership should have that right. The govt should support all marriage or no marriage. It should represent all it's constituents. We can't just apply the ideals of...

Carrie Prejean demanded more than a million dollars during her settlement negotiations with Miss California USA Pageant officials -- that is, until the lawyer for the Pageant showed Carrie an XXX home video of her handiwork. The video the lawyer showed Carrie is extremely graphic and has never been released publicly. We know that, because TMZ obtained the video months ago but decided not to post it because it was so racy. Let's just say, Carrie has a promising solo career. We're told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to jettison her demand and essentially walk away with nothing....

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state voters on Tuesday were narrowly approving the state's new "everything but marriage" law that marks a significant expansion of rights for gay couples. With about 50 percent of the expected vote counted, Referendum 71 was leading 51 percent to 49 percent. The measure asked voters to approve or reject the final expansion to the state's domestic partnership law, which grants registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

President Obama has signed into law the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Actually, he signed into law the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act tacked onto which was the hate-crimes legislation. Sen. Harry Reid, our brave Democratic majority leader, slipped the hate-crimes bill into the defense authorization bill to avoid having to have our senators consider the controversial hate-crimes legislation on its own. It's for good reason that our Democratic legislators wanted to hide under a rock while passing this terrible piece of legislation. It may help them with the far-left wing of their party. But weakening and damaging our country is...

Recently at a town hall meeting, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass) was in rare form. He normally is snide and arrogant, but that day he was downright abusive. He will no doubt say he was being reactionary, cashing in on the convenient excuse that apparently every town hall grouping is full of nothing but angry mobs carrying torches and pitchforks. He asked someone what planet they were from when they asked him questions about the health care bill. He was not only condescending, he was utterly full of contempt for the audience. I saw the video clips, and I think he...

A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama. The Senate approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 68-29 on Oct. 22 after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan. Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and...

The calendar has been produced by the Madrid Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual collective COGAM Controversy in Madrid with the launch of a 2010 lay calendar which shows images of ‘transsexual virgins’ recreating religious scenes decorated with crowns, condoms and phallic symbols. The lay calendar takes the religion out of the dates of the year, so Christmas Day becomes the day you eat the traditional Spanish turron to mark International Democracy Day, for example. The images are all based on famous Catholic images and iconography. The Venezuelan photographer who assembled the calendar, Juan Antinoo, had been commissioned by COGAM, the...

The Left, champions of strict separation of church and state, have come out in support of an American theocracy. How can this be? Could this possibly be the same political machine that ritualistically goes from town to town scanning courthouses for explicit references to God, or even worse, the Ten Commandments? Or the establishment telling little Susie she cannot pray at school? Or the organization forbidding the reading of scripture, even on a purely non-sectarian, academic basis? Surely we can't be talking about the same ideologues. But there is no mistake. The Left supports theocracy, as long as it is...

(CNN) -- Voters in Maine will decide next week whether to overturn the legislation signed by Gov. John Baldacci nearly six months ago that allows same-sex couples to wed. Baldacci, who originally opposed the legislation, said upholding the bill comes down to a fundamental understanding of equal protection and constitutional responsibility. "Initially, I had the opinion for several years that civil unions were the limitations of what I was willing to support," Baldacci said. "But, the research that I did uncovered that a civil union didn't equal a civil marriage." On May 6 when Baldacci signed the legislation, he did...

Students at the College of William and Mary have elected a transgender homecoming queen. Jessee Vasold took the field Saturday at halftime of the Williamsburg school's football game against James Madison. The junior and other members of the homecoming court were introduced to the crowd and posed for pictures. Vasold identifies as "genderqueer," a term for those who don't adhere to either strictly male or strictly female gender roles.

SNIPPET: "A hate crimes bill sent to President Obama for his signature raises a red flag for Christians." SNIPPET: "Barber explains that Liberty Counsel intends to challenge the constitutionality of the hate crimes legislation."

Do counter-terrorism measures targeting bombers who dress as women offend the rights of transexuals? This is one of the pressing questions addressed in a new United Nations report on "Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate passed groundbreaking legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The expanded federal hate crimes law now goes to President Obama's desk. Obama has pledged to sign the measure, which was added to a $680 billion defense authorization bill.

  President Barack Obama has nominated a Georgetown University law professor, Chai R. Feldblum, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Council. Feldblum, a lesbian activist lawyer, formerly worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and in the mid-1980s clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun, the author of Roe v. Wade.   Feldblum faces Senate confirmation hearings before she can assume her post at the EEOC. The significance of her nomination for Catholics is underscored by the EEOC's recent ruling that Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college, must provide coverage for contraception in its insurance plans for...

President Barack Obama has nominated a Georgetown University law professor, Chai R. Feldblum, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Council. Feldblum, a lesbian activist lawyer, formerly worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and in the mid-1980s clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun, the author of Roe v. Wade. Feldblum faces Senate confirmation hearings before she can assume her post at the EEOC. The significance of her nomination for Catholics is underscored by the EEOC's recent ruling that Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college, must provide coverage for contraception in its insurance plans for employees. Feldblum's record...

This comes from that bastion of conservatism.... Yeah, yeah, I know.... Newsweak: Gay Rights Gain Ground Around The Globe In China, the trend goes back to the climate of economic reform that took hold in the 1980s, ending the persecution of the era of Mao Zedong, who considered homosexuals products of the "moldering lifestyle of capitalism."

The Obama administration’s safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings, has accused the Baptists, the Boy Scouts and sports fans of anti-gay bias, and he has advocated a special high school for gay teens as well as gay-straight alliance clubs for every high school in America. Jennings, who was a prominent homosexual activist before being named director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education, also has called for kindergarteners to be taught to respect all sexual orientations, while insisting that “ex-gay messages” and “Christian values” are ‘misused to isolate or denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual...

A report by U.N. Special Rapporteur Martin Scheinin that is awaiting approval by the United Nations General Assembly says that security measures taken to detect terrorists "risk unduly penalizing transgender persons whose personal appearance and data are subject to change.” The report, which was issued August 3, places emphasis on "persons of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities" and recommends that counterterrorism operations be more sensitive to gender issues. On page 19 the report says: “Enhanced immigration controls that focus attention on male bombers who may be dressing as females to avoid scrutiny make transgender persons susceptible to increased harassment...

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qxjocm5fCc Video Description - quote: "Homosexuals Must Be Killed" Muslims speak out - Muslim Day Washington, DC October 16, 2009 Disturbing video of Shariah Law anti-gay sentiment uncovered by ACT for America Randy McDaniels (Jacksonville, FL) during Muslim Day prayer event Washington, DC Category: News & Politics Tags: Muslim Day ACT for America Washington DC Homosexual Gay

I’ve written before that the White House’s communications staff was charting out a new, urging a more aggressive strategy to push back hard against news stories that are either inaccurate (read embarrassingly accurate) or unflattering toward Obama or his policies. On Sunday, this strategy was revealed in force as communications director Anita Dunn gave a lengthy and brutal denunciation of Fox News, calling the cable outlet “a vehicle for Republican Party propaganda and an ideological opponent of the president.” “The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of...

Fifty-three Republican congressmen yesterday demanded that President Obama fire his embattled "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings' bizarre sexual agenda for American grade schools is one reason the president should dump this dangerous radical. Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword to a 1998 book titled, "Queering Elementary Education." The book he endorsed was a collection of essays by different authors who supported teaching young children about homosexuality. Mr. Jennings' foreword explains why he thinks it is important to start educating children about homosexuality as early as activist-educators can get away with doing so. "Ask any elementary-school teachers you know and...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law marking May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, in honor of the slain gay-rights activist. The law encourages schools and other educational institutions to commemorate the day each year with discussions and other exercises that help students better understand Milk's significance on California politics and the gay-rights movement.

The commander in chief on Saturday reiterated his support for having homosexuals serve openly in the military. Fortunately, there's a good chance this is another issue on which President Obama is all talk. In his speech at the Human Rights Campaign's annual banquet, Mr. Obama recycled candidate Barack Obama's "hope and change" talking points, adding an apology for not yet delivering on his promises. "I actually have been much more vocal on gay issues to general audiences than any other presidential candidate probably in history," he told the activist newspaper the Advocate in April 2008. However, in that interview, he...

For Immediate Release October 10, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN DINNER Walter E. Convention Center Washington, D.C. 8:10 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please, you’re making me blush. (Laughter.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Barack! THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) To Joe Solmonese, who’s doing an outstanding job on behalf of HRC. (Applause.) To my great friend and supporter, Terry Bean, co-founder of HRC. (Applause.) Representative Patrick Kennedy. (Applause.) David Huebner, the Ambassador-designee to New Zealand and Samoa. (Applause.) John Berry, our Director of OPM, who’s doing a great job. (Applause.) Nancy...

SNIPPET: "The president has nominated Chai Feldblum, a lesbian activist, to be commissioner for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her appointment is awaiting Senate confirmation." SNIPPET: "Feldblum, a law professor at Georgetown University, has signed an online petition titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for All Our Families and Relationships."" SNIPPET: ""Chai Feldblum is on record saying that the battle between our religious freedoms and homosexual so-called rights is a zero sum game," says Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality." SNIPPET: ""She says she can't think of a case where the religious rights -- in...

WASHINGTON — Thousands of gay rights supporters marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and homemade signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted "Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" and "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Many children were also among the protesters. A few counter-protesters had also joined the crowd, which stretched several blocks by the afternoon. Jason Yanowitz, a...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Human-Rights-Campaign-Dinner/ THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release October 10, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN DINNER Walter E. Convention Center Washington, D.C. 8:10 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Please, you're making me blush. (Laughter.) AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Barack! THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) To Joe Solmonese, who's doing an outstanding job on behalf of HRC. (Applause.) To my great friend and supporter, Terry Bean, co-founder of HRC. (Applause.) Representative Patrick Kennedy. (Applause.) David Huebner, the...

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he arrives at the 13th Annual National Dinner of the Human Right Campaign WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama pledged to end the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military in a speech Saturday, but acknowledged to a cheering crowd that the policy changes he promised on the campaign trail are not coming as quickly as they expected. "I will end "don't ask-don't tell,'" Mr. Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-civil-rights advocacy group. Mr. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give...

Have you noticed that Governor Palin has not been removed from the hit list of the far left? I mean besides the left over jokes and reruns from the 2008 Presidential campaign…during which she did a damn good job…for someone never on the national scene before…but even now when she has resigned as Governor of Alaska, and is just plain old “Sarah Palin Citizen of the United States of America.” Why is the left so afraid of a staunch Christian Republican who is articulate, a fast learner, who happens to be a women, married with children, and damn good looking...

In last year’s presidential election, Barack Obama won 70 percent of the gay vote, John McCain just 27 percent. Does that kind of clearly dominant constituency — one that’s more politically-attuned than the rest of the electorate — come with any political obligation regarding gay rights? You bet it does, and this weekend Obama is acknowledging the debt. On the eve of Sunday’s National Equality March, expected to draw thousands to Washington, he’s addressing the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group. ...Marriage and the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay men and women in uniform...

'Hate' Crimes: The House has voted to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation. Aside from violating the Constitution's equal-protection clause, just what does this have to do with national defense? The House voted 281 to 146 Thursday to make it a crime to attack homosexuals and others. The measure was attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense bill. We think the amendment itself is a crime against common sense and the law. Saying "it's a very exciting day for us here in the Capitol," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the passage of the...

Many of the gay rights activists who will hear President Obama speak at the Human Rights Campaign banquet in Washington, D.C., Saturday worked to get him elected. They had realistic expectations of what he could do for them if he won, but they have grown impatient with a president who has said nice things but done little more than extend limited rights to federal employees' same-sex partners. Obama determined that granting health benefits to same-sex partners was beyond his authority. "I don't care what he says Saturday night -- I want to see what he does," Illinois Equality Now founder...

CNSNews.com) – This weekend, President Obama will become the first president in history to leave the White House to attend an awards ceremony and fundraiser held by a homosexual activist group. Obama is slated to speak to members of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Saturday evening at the Washington Convention Center, where the group will hand out the first-ever Edward M. Kennedy National Leadership Award in honor of the late liberal senator’s support for the gay agenda. “We are honored to share this night with President Obama, who has called upon our nation to embrace LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered) people as brothers...

Senator McCain's daughter Meghan was in Amherst on Wednesday night. She talked to the UMass-Amherst Republican Club about her life in the spot light. Meghan McCain is famous in her own right for blogging and writing a column while her father ran for office. She talked about health care reform, gay rights and creating a more civil discourse between Republicans and Democrats. She also Glen Beck and Sarah Palin.

The president of an organization dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda believes President Barack Obama will alienate many Americans when he speaks this weekend at a meeting of the largest homosexual-rights group in the nation. On Saturday night, Obama will deliver the keynote address at the 13th annual National Dinner in Washington, DC -- an annual event organized by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest homosexual activist group in the United States.

Mary Cheney, the former vice president’s daughter, and her long-time partner, Heather Poe, are expecting their second child, a source close to the family told True/Slant. [Ed. Note: Since publishing this piece, Cheney has confirmed that she and Poe are expecting their second child in mid- to late November.] Cheney has worked as a principal at Navigators Global, a bi-partisan communications firm, but recently announced that she would be leaving the company for maternity leave and to begin a new consulting firm with her sister, Liz. Close friends were informed that she was expecting a second child about four months...

If your heroes are villains, or if your heroes have heroes who are villains, do you have a problem? There has been considerable discussion over an appointment of President Obama’s within the Education Department; you’ll recall that the Education Department is the part of our government entrusted with the education and day-to-day well-being of America’s public school children. Kevin Jennings was appointed by President Barack Obama to Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and head of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. He is also the founder and former head of the pro-homosexual Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network...

"This should be our curriculum." Editor's note: This is audio from the speech Kevin Jennings gave at a GLESN event in Iowa in 2000.

Fargo will be ground zero for the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ annual gathering, and some of those attending may use it as a way to find a new church that reflects their values. Fargo will be ground zero for the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ annual gathering, and some of those attending may use it as a way to find a new church that reflects their values.Of the 600 people registered for the event, which starts Sunday at Atonement Lutheran Church in Fargo, 37 percent are non-members.Atonement Senior Pastor Dale Wolf said nearly all of those visitors...

We are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or prioritize our rights, so we are coming to DC this October 10-11th to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now. On October 11th our march will begin at 12:00 noon and end on the west lawn of the Capitol building. Our rally will begin approximately at 2:00 p.m. with three hours of inspirational speeches and music.

Oh joy. Please God, help us relocate by then..... COLOGNE, Germany — The Federation of Gay Games announced this afternoon that Cleveland will be the site of the 2014 games. The city was chosen over Boston and Washington, D.C., after a year-long site-selection process, the organization said in a news release issued at 1 p.m. "Cleveland demonstrated to the Federation of Gay Games that they understood the mission of the Gay Games and our principles of ‘Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best’," said Kurt Dahl, of Chicago, and Emy Ritt, of Paris, FGG Co-presidents.

  Statutory rape? Who cares what goes on between a 15 year old and the man who picked him up in a bus station bathroom. You prude. Posted by Erick EricksonTuesday, September 29th at 3:35PM EDT     People with low IQ got to see Whoopee Goldberg defend Roman Polanski on the View yesterday. Goldberg had no problem with the man filling a thirteen year old girl with alcohol and drugs before raping having sex with her.I say “people with low IQ” because demographically those are the only people who watch the View save for those few people forced...

In an official proclamation this afternoon, President Obama declared today Family Day 2009. What is significant is the way he defined "family." The president gave a nod to the gay community when he praised all families, "whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian." (Emphasis ours.) His shout-out to same-sex couples is sure to draw heat from some social conservatives. Interestingly, it has been met with some hostility from gay rights activists too. One commenter on gay blogger Pam Spaulding's website called today's statement "honeyed words, easy to say." "Mr. President,"...