Free Republic

S. Truett Cathy, the billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain that famously closes on Sundays but also drew unwanted attention on gay marriage in recent years because of his family’s conservative views, died early Monday, a company spokesman said. He was 93. Chick-fil-A spokesman Mark Baldwin told The Associated Press that Cathy died at home surrounded by members of his family. Funeral plans had not yet been finalized, he said. …

.... But Thursday’s ruling by 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner, which struck down Indiana’s and Wisconsin’s gay marriage bans, is a different beast altogether. In his opinion, Posner does not sound like a man aiming to have his words etched in the history books or praised by future generations. Rather, he sounds like a man who has listened to all the arguments against gay marriage, analyzed them cautiously and thoroughly, and found himself absolutely disgusted by their sophistry and rank bigotry. The opinion is a masterpiece of wit and logic that doesn’t call attention to—indeed, doesn’t seem to care about—its...

In a documentary broadcast August 27th on the Kurdish station STERK TV, captured "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) elements say the group has been raping men in a ceremony it describes as "marriage" and recording this to use as blackmail and force them to join. ISIL uses rape, including gang rape, as a tactic of fear to intimidate populations it seeks to control, according to an August 28th report by the Firat News Agency, a Kurdish agency based in Amsterdam. The STERK TV documentary records the confessions of more than 20 ISIL elements who were captured by...

A former USC professor once on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives list pleaded guilty Friday to flying to the Philippines and having sex with several underage boys he groomed online. Walter Lee Williams, 65, admitted engaging in illegal sexual contact with minors in foreign places, entering the plea during a brief appearance before U.S. District Judge Phillip S. Gutierrez. As part of a plea, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that the onetime eminent professor of gender and sexuality studies serve no more than five years in a federal prison. He also would be subject to 10 years supervision upon...

The federal government’s number crunchers believe some 21,318 same-sex couples call Georgia home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent accounting, and new research forecasts that as many as half would jump the broom within three years if allowed by their government. I’m one-half of one of those aggrieved couples — denied, for more than five years, the social stability and legal protections of marriage. And, as a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee and adviser to prominent party figures, I’m also a professional political operative who’s helped install in government those who perpetuate marriage bias in America....

An online fundraising project to publish new LGBTQ2S picture books for children aged 4-8, with the hope of having the books picked up by schools, has recently met its fundraising target.  693 backers pledged a combined $56,793 to the project, called the “Flamingo Rampant Book Club.”  The fundraising goal was $49,000. The books will “celebrate a great and wide variety of LGBTQ2S kids, families, and communities,” according to the description of the project.  The books will also “celebrate gender-independent kids and adults.” The individual behind the project is S. Bear Bergman.  Given that his same-sex spouse, who goes by the...

“When women go wrong men go right after them.” – Mae West “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill wrote this over a century ago. During my junior year in high school, the nuns asked about our plans for after we graduated. When I said I was going to attend State University, I noticed their disappointment. I asked my favorite nun, “Why?” She answered, “That means you’ll leave four years later a communist and an atheist!” What a giggle we girls...

A stinging rejection of same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana, issued by a unanimous and unequivocal U.S. appeals court, has brought hope to those fighting the laws that the Supreme Court will feel pressure to rule soon in their favor. The ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago came Thursday, the same day 32 states asked the Supreme Court to settle the issue once and for all. Fifteen states that allow gay marriage, led by Massachusetts, filed a brief asking the justices to take up three cases from Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma and overturn bans....

On August 28, police in Davenport, Iowa, arrested Tyshon VanBlue, 24, following an investigation which alleges he raped two mentally disabled young men at the Special Olympics games held on the campus of Iowa State University in May. VanBlue was employed as a caretaker at a residential care facility in Davenport, and was assigned to the two victims when the abuse took place. VanBlue reportedly assaulted both men on May 22, in Maple Hall dormitory. Both men are in their 20s, according to court documents. The Des Moines Register reported: “During the interview with St. Luke's Child Protection Center, the...

In the wake of a media firestorm raging against the Christian owners of a bridal shop who refused to supply wedding dresses for lesbian brides, the town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania is debating a possible law on whether shop owners have a right to refuse business to customers. Breitbart News reported last month that when Victoria and Thomas Miller, owners of the W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg refused to provide wedding dresses to lesbian brides because of their religious beliefs, they were bullied on social media and their website had been hacked to suggest their store had closed under pressure from...

The Montreal Alouettes appear to be interested in free-agent defensive end Michael Sam. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Montreal Alouettes have contacted Sam but have yet to hear back.

You know what I admire about bigots? I’m referring to the real wackos, the warped, scary, neo-Nazi, open Klansman, proudly sign-their-name haters. You know what’s kinda great about them? At least they’re candid.

Patricia Yurena, a two-time winner of her country’s national contest and a runner-up in last year’s Miss Universe competition, came out as a lesbian on Instagram this Tuesday.

An Italian gossip magazine has sparked outrage after its latest edition was released with a free book containing jokes about gay people. The controversial giveaway, entitled “The Best Gay Jokes”, was attached to the latest edition of the weekly Italian gossip magazine Visto, La Stampa reported. Published in 2012 and ordinarily priced at €4.99, the book is part of a joke book series which also includes sexist jokes and jokes about Jews by Jews, among other taboo subjects. …

WNBA standouts Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson have announced they are engaged to be married. Griner proposed to Johnson on Thursday and posted a photo via Instagram on Friday showing her on one knee presenting a ring to Johnson.

A bakery in Pennsylvania has come under scrutiny after the owner declined to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple who were planning to renew their vows. “It was hard to do,” Lorraine Fleming, the owner of The Cake Pros bakery in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., told WBRE-TV on Tuesday. “We have homosexuality in our family, and it was a hard decision to make, but in the end, when I die and I’m one on one with God I have to stand true to him.” …

The sexuality of fan favorite Daryl Dixon (played by Norman Reedus) has long been a source of speculation for Walking Dead fans, and in an interview with comicbook.com, series creator Robert Kirkman addressed the question directly. When asked whether Daryl's being homosexual was a possibility they had considered, Kirkman said, “All I can say is that it’s been discussed. We have very specific ideas about Daryl’s sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there’s ever a quiet period in the show where he’s not consistently distracted by crossbowing … we’ll tackle it in the show.” The interviewer followed up...

The nation’s LGBT leaders have joined the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to pen an open letter of solidarity in response to the killing of Michael Brown, the unarmed African-American teenager who was shot and killed by police on Saturday in Ferguson, Missouri. The coalition of co-signers noted that Brown’s killing transcends LGBT rights. All equality movements are a deeply-connected fabric of the country and its unfulfilled promise of liberty and justice for all, the open letter said. “It’s an issue that encompasses all communities that have experienced injustice,” said HRC spokesman Adam Talbot. “We can’t be silent because LGBT people...

There’s a kind of unique club in the world called “friends of Tony and Peggy Campolo.” I’m a grateful member of that group.... I prayed about it and said yes, which led to my meeting Randy Eddy-McCain and the beautiful church he served. What neither Randy, Peggy, nor I knew was that about four months later, one of my sons would be coming out. When he did, I kept thinking, “Thank God my son didn’t have to worry that his coming out would in any way hurt my work and reputation. Thank God Randy and Peggy invited me and I...