Free Republic

Until recently, many children who did not conform to gender norms in their clothing or behavior and identified intensely with the opposite sex were steered to psychoanalysis or behavior modification. But as advocates gain ground for what they call gender-identity rights, evidenced most recently by New York City’s decision to let people alter the sex listed on their birth certificates, a major change is taking place among schools and families. Children as young as 5 who display predispositions to dress like the opposite sex are being supported by a growing number of young parents, educators and mental health professionals. Doctors,...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, JUNE 24, 2006 (Zenit.org).- After the clamor to legalize same-sex marriage, it turns out that not many homosexuals really want it. Following a bitter battle last year, the Spanish government gave homosexuals the right to marry. Since the law took effect last July 3, until May 31, only 1,275 same-sex marriages took place, reported the Madrid daily newspaper ABC last Saturday. Comparatively, that would add up to a mere 0.6% of the 209,125 marriages contracted in Spain during 2005. Of the total number of same-sex marriages, 923 were between males and 352 among females. A recent study by...

The following statement was issued June 21 by the Communist Party USA and Young Communist League in honor of Pride Month. The month of June has been designated as Pride Month in celebration of the struggles and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. This coming weekend marks the anniversary of the uprising that occurred at the Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969, in New York City. The uprising, in response to bar raids and attacks by the police, was led by working-class gay and transgender people, many of whom were Black or Latino, and...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A gay rights organization filed a lawsuit on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples in Polk County District Court on Tuesday, asking for the right to marry for same-sex couples. Lambda Legal, the organization that spearheaded the same-sex marriage drive across the country, said it wants full recognition of the civil rights of gay couples. "There are thousands of couples in Iowa who are eager for the protections and security that come with marriage," Camilla Taylor, a staff attorney with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said during a telephone interview with The Associated...

LINCOLN, Neb., May 12 (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday struck down Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage, saying the measure interfered not only with the rights of gay couples but also with those of foster parents, adopted children and people in a variety of other living arrangements. The amendment to the state's Constitution, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters in November 2000. The Nebraska ruling is the first in which a federal court has struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage, and conservatives in the United...

The Gay Gamete Project was developed as a means to ensure the genetic survival of homosexuality;to assure that the decline in homosexual procreation does not result in our eventual extinction. Homophobic Guidelines: The FDA has been in the process of promulgating national regulations that would prohibit clinics from accepting sperm from homosexual applicants since 1999. The decision will likely be finalized before 2003. Due to these homophobic guidelines as well as those proposed by the ASRM, it is unfortunately necessary for gay men to lie about their sexual preference and sexual history in the application and interview process. Gay men...

IS THERE A GAY AGENDA? omosexual activists often scoff at the idea that a "gay agenda" exists. Please read the following and decide for yourself: In February 1972 the National Coalition of Gay Organizations met at the Armitage Avenue United Methodist Church in Chicago. An invitation had been sent out to 495 homosexual organizations across the U.S. to come and prepare a "gay stance for the 1972 elections." About 200 individuals from 18 states representing 85 organizations showed up for the two-day event. Conference participants adopted the 1972 Gay Rights Platform, which included 17 federal and state "demands." DEMANDS: Federal:...

CLEVELAND — Cosmology used to be a heartless science, all about dark matter lost in mind-bending abysses and exploding stars. But whenever physicists and astronomers gather, the subject that roils lunch, coffee breaks or renegade cigarette breaks tends to be not dark matter or the fate of the universe. Rather it is about the role and meaning of life in the cosmos. Cosmologists held an unusual debate on the question during a recent conference, "The Future of Cosmology," at Case Western Reserve University here. According to a controversial notion known as the anthropic principle, certain otherwise baffling features of the...

JUPITER -- Jeffrey Woodard's parents never took him to church. They certainly didn't ever plan to send him to a religious high school. But when he was 14, Jeffrey asked his mom if he could attend Jupiter Christian School. He told her he felt God leading him there. Carol Gload liked the idea. She thought it would help Jeff spiritually and academically, and he started after Thanksgiving of his freshman year. As a senior this year, he was especially looking forward to singing in the choir and Bible class. But on the third day of school, his Bible teacher --...

The Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to side with conservatives in the Anglican communion on the issue of homosexuality to prevent a schism at this week's meeting of church leaders, a cleric claimed yesterday. Rowan Williams has called the 38 primates leading the world's 70 million Anglicans to Lambeth Palace for an emergency summit on the ordination of gay clergy. He is prepared to reiterate the church's official view reached five years ago that homosexuality is "incompatible with scripture". The two-day meeting in London was called after the election in America of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest with...

An organization of law schools and a group representing hundreds of legal scholars sued the Department of Defense and five other federal agencies yesterday, seeking to help universities and colleges that want to keep military recruiters off their campuses because of the department's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay men and lesbians. The suit challenges the constitutionality of a federal law that punishes universities with loss of some federal money if they use their antidiscrimination policies to exclude military recruiters. It follows a successful campaign by the Defense Department to force some of the nation's most prestigious law schools...

An HIV-positive man sued the State Department yesterday for refusing to hire him as a diplomat because of his condition and said he was the victim of illegal discrimination. Lorenzo Taylor, 48, passed the oral and written exams to become a foreign service officer but was turned down because he has the AIDS virus, according to the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed the lawsuit in federal court on Taylor's behalf. Lambda Legal said the State Department has a policy of not hiring people who are HIV-positive as diplomats on the grounds they may need medical treatment that...

(AP) — Amid renewed debate over whether gay men and women should be allowed to marry, the nation's largest lawyers' group is considering endorsement of the related right of homosexual couples to adopt children. The American Bar Association is expected to vote on the issue at its meeting beginning Thursday in San Francisco. Approval would put the 408,000-lawyer group on record in support of laws that allow two unmarried people of any sex to adopt as a couple.If the ABA's governing body should approve the proposal, the organization could lobby statehouses to redraft adoption laws.Currently, many states allow only one...

<p>A Superior Court judge yesterday rebuffed a group of lawmakers, businesses and conservative groups who wanted to intervene in what will likely be a landmark court case on the right of gay couples to marry.</p> <p>Judge Linda Feinberg said the groups did not have a legal right to formally oppose a lawsuit filed against the state by seven gay couples who argue that their unions should be recognized under state law.</p>

<p>Small-town police chiefs normally don't spend much time in the spotlight, but Suisun City's Ron Forsythe has gotten more than his share lately.</p> <p>Although credited with buffing up the tarnished reputation of a city plagued by crime, he recently has seen his department's morale plummet.</p>

Jersey bill would give same-sex couples legal benefits Sunday, October 20, 2002 By KATHY BARRETT CARTER Star-Ledger Staff [Newark, NJ] -- The battle over legal benefits for same-sex relationships is about to hit New Jersey. A bill expected to be introduced this month would make New Jersey the third state in the nation to allow the benefits of marriage to partners living together. The bill stops short of recognizing gay marriages, but it would sanction virtually all of the legal benefits that marriage allows. Similar to the proposed federal Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligation Act, the state bill would allow...

It's a brave new world at your local Big Brothers Big Sisters office. As of this month, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) will require that all 500 of its local affiliates include active homosexuals as volunteers and mentors to children. Many parents who support Big Brothers Big Sisters may be surprised to learn that their child could soon be paired with a gay or lesbian mentor. In fact, parents whose children are enrolled in the organization's school-based programs will not even be told when their son or daughter is matched with a gay man or a lesbian woman....