Free Republic

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s presidential campaign has had a tough time getting traction so far, and a new Quinnipiac University poll keeps him in the conversation about who might be the first of the 17 Republican presidential candidates to fold. But do his low poll numbers suggest the end is near? The poll released Thursday showed nothing new: The South Carolina Republican has been unable to differentiate himself from other candidates in any way. But the national poll — which says that 13 percent of Republican or leans-Republican voters said they’d never vote for him and zero percent said they would...

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...

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky County Clerks Association will propose removing clerks’ names from the document in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage has prompted Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and two others to deny licenses to all couples, drawing a federal lawsuit against Davis as well as calls to change the licensing process. Leslie County Clerk James Lewis, chairman of the association’s elections committee, told reporters Tuesday that his group is drafting “a simple solution” to the matter. “You would have the county and the county seat listed...

By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS June 28, 2015 GOP Gov.: "Time To Move On" From Same-Sex Marriage Possible Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich believes it's "time to move on" from the same-sex marriage issue in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling. "I do believe in traditional marriage and the court has ruled and it's time to move on," Kasich said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, adding that there's "so many other things now that we have to focus on." Gov. John Kasich talks issues ahead of possible 2016 run Kasich, who has not yet...

DES MOINES — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and actress Ellen Page, of “Juno” fame, got into a testy and free-wheeling discussion Friday over gay rights here at the Iowa State Fair. “I’m happy to answer your question but not to have a back-and-forth debate,” Cruz told Page, as she pressed him about discrimination against LGBT citizens, approaching him as he flipped pork chops over an open grill. But the two then proceeded to have a spirited exchange over gay rights and whether private businesses — florist companies, for example —can refuse to cater gay weddings in the name of their...

A recently released poll shows significant public support for the protection of religious liberty—especially when special rights based on sexual orientation are being advanced at its expense. The results reveal hope for the classical liberal vision of America: they indicate that most Americans still appear to want maximum freedom and individual rights protection. […] Support for religious freedom jumps even higher in the context of wedding vendors. 82 percent said “yes” when asked whether a Christian wedding photographer with “deeply held religious beliefs opposing same sex marriage” has “the right to say no” to a same-sex couple asking him or...

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...