Free Republic

TOLEDO, Ohio, August 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Judge C. Allen McConnell is a Christian. As such, he said he could not officiate a homosexual "wedding," because it would go against the teachings of his religion. Now, the Ohio Supreme Court advisory board says McConnell's position violates judicial ethics and that all Ohio Christian judges must relinquish their religious freedom and perform same-sex "marriages." When he refused to marry two lesbians last month, the 71-year-old Toledo judge apologized to the women, and they were "married" a few minutes later by another judge. But McConnell also officially asked for the Ohio Supreme Court's...

The Republican National Committee’s resolutions committee quietly rejected a pair of resolutions critical of homosexuality Wednesday. The controversial resolutions dealing with sex education and same-sex marriage threatened to cast a shadow on the first GOP presidential debate Thursday in Cleveland, as the party looks toward expanding its base in the key swing state. According to a member of the committee, both failed to gain support to be recommended to the full 168-member party governing body on Friday.

Maine’s highest court on Tuesday rejected a national anti-gay marriage group’s latest bid to shield the identities of the donors who contributed to its effort to defeat the state’s gay marriage law in 2009. The National Organization for Marriage had sought permission to delay submitting a campaign finance report that the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices ordered it to file last year when it fined the group $50,250 for its involvement in overturning the law supporting same-sex marriage six years ago. But the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said Tuesday that NOM can’t put off filing the report...

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...

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...

The court denounced the country for violating the rights of three same-sex couples after failing to recognize their unions. Italy’s Court of Cassation in February rejected gay marriage, saying that nothing existed within the Italian Constitution which stipulated extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. But the court then said that gay people have the right to a “protective law” which ensures they have the same rights as unmarried Italian couples. Although same-sex marriage and civil unions are illegal in Italy, some cities allow gay couples who wed abroad to be registered. In May, 17 gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples signed...

In an interview with +1, a publication of the International University of Catalonia, Archbishop Georg Gänswein discussed his work for Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict and said that theories about the latter's resignation beyond his brief resignation statement are "altogether devoid of foundation." "The question of truth always remains important and I believe that Francis thinks about it the same way" as his predecessor, said Archbishop Gänswein, who serves as the Pope Emeritus's secretary while remaining Prefect of the Papal Household. "It’s not that he’s not interested in the fight against relativism, but he sees clearly that, in his...

Maybe complete and total inclusivity isn’t as easy as it sounds. The organizers of Free Pride Glasgow in Scotland have hit a snag in their mission to plan a totally inclusive event: Some activists think drag queens are offensive to transgender people, others think banning drag queens is offensive to transgender drag queens, and still others think allowing only transgender drag queens is offensive to cisgender drag queens. Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421402/drag-queens-banned-scotland-pride

Scott Walker stumbled over his own prior comments Wednesday, saying that when he called on the Boy Scouts to reinstate a ban on gay leaders because it “protected children,” he meant the ban protected them from media scrutiny. “The protection was not a physical protection,” Walker said Wednesday at an event in South Carolina, according to The New York Times. Rather, the Wisconsin governor continued, he was referring to “protecting them from being involved in the very thing you’re talking about right now, the political and media discussion about it, instead of just focusing on what Scouts is about, which...

July 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- There has been no shortage of anti-Christian rhetoric from various media outlets in the fallout from the Supreme Court decision decreeing homosexual "marriage" across the country. "Too many Christians, not enough lions," a derisive reference capitalizing on the Christians martyred in ancient Rome, was also how one LGBT activist responded to Catholic Vote's (CV) pro-marriage "Not Alone" video, according to CV President Brian Burch. Released the day of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, the CV video logged more than 1.3 million views in the first 10 days. "Seeing the power of our message, LGBT activists...

WASHINGTON — A key leadership panel of the Boy Scouts of America voted unanimously last week to end the ban on gay leaders in scouting, the organization told local leaders on Monday. The move — raised as a necessary step by the organization’s head in May — came from the executive committee of the Boy Scouts on July 10. A vote of the full executive board is scheduled for July 27, at which point the change is immediately effective. The resolution passed by the committee does not require councils or troops to allow out gay leaders, but lifts the prior...

(exurpt)"On Monday, July 6, I declined to marry a non-traditional couple during my duties assignment. The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years. I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best. The court has implemented a process whereby same-sex marriages will be accommodated. I will continue to perform traditional marriages during my duties assignment. I am also seeking advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of Ohio at this time as to whether or not I can opt out of the rotation. Upon receipt of the advisory opinion...

snip “I believe Jesus would,” Carter said when asked whether Jesus would approve of gay marriage. “I don’t have any verse in scripture ... I believe that Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that's just my own personal belief. I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don't see that gay marriage damages anyone else." Carter, a born-again Christian and Baptist, said he still teaches Sunday school whenever he attends his home church. He. said he has never ran across “any really serious conflicts” between...

It wasn’t like we didn’t see this coming but it’s certainly arriving faster and harder than even some of the more conservative estimates would have predicted. Now that gay marriage (or just any old marriage if you prefer) is a “constitutionally assured right” in the United States, Left side proponents are taking their victory laps. But at the same time they’re going to stick to the established talking points of telling everyone not to worry… nothing bad is going to happen to anyone else. You’re just not adjusted to the New and Improved Post-Homophobic Christianity. (From the Daily Beast) The...

St. Patrick’s Day Parade chairman John Dunleavy has been ousted after 22 years after a decades-long dispute over the inclusion of gay groups at the annual march down Fifth Ave., according to a report. The decision, made Tuesday afternoon after a meeting involving the parade’s board, comes just four days after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the United States.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there's not much Congress can do in the wake of the ruling by the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. In an interview Tuesday night on Kentucky television station WDRB, McConnell restated that he still holds to the traditional view of marriage. "I’ve always felt that marriage is between one man and one woman and the Supreme Court has held otherwise. That’s the law of the land," the Kentucky Republican said. When he was asked if there is anything Congress can do, he answered: "I don’t think so. I think the courts have pretty well...

You probably thought, as I did, that last week's same sex marriage referendum in Ireland was carried by an overwhelming 62 per cent vote majority in support of changing the constitution. In fact, only 34 per cent of the adult population voted in support of the measure. There are 3.52 million Irish citizens of voting age, and 66 per cent of them did not vote "yes". Two-thirds of the adult population either voted "no", or did not vote, or did not register to vote.

<p>Could Barack Obama's great week mark a turning point in his poll numbers?</p> <p>After months of stagnant approval ratings, a new CNN/ORC poll finds that for the first time in more than two years, 50% of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the presidency. And his overall ratings are bolstered by increasingly positive reviews of his treatment of race relations and the economy.</p>

It’s difficult to see how the nationwide legalization of gay marriage could have any kind of significant negative repercussions for anybody who’s not gay. Difficult – but not impossible. Because now that the US government formally recognizes marriage equality as a fundamental right, it really shouldn’t skew the tax code so as to give millions of dollars in tax breaks to groups which remain steadfastly bigoted on the subject. I’m talking, of course, about churches.

White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett was one of the mobilizing forces behind the decision to light up the White House with the colors of the gay pride movement to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. According to the Washington Post, Jarrett worked with gay rights organizations to pay for the display to avoid using taxpayer money. The idea came from one of Jarrett’s aides who was also the LGBT liaison in the White House.