Free Republic

Lena Dunham is taking over the Hillary Clinton campaign Instagram account as she stumps for the candidate in New Hampshire this weekend. "Hey y'all! I made it to New Hampshire and I'm thrilled to be taking over the HRC Instagram! Warning: I'm pretty focused on my outfits," Dunham wrote. The post got almost 10,000 likes as of Friday, but also some critical reactions to Dunham's involvement in the campaign. Dunham also has been making campaign appearances with FIFA Women's World Cup champion Abby Wambach. Meanwhile, Clinton will appear on "The Ellen Show" on Monday.

Dr. Robert Spitzer, a Jewish American psychiatrist who played a leading role in establishing agreed-upon standards to describe mental disorders and eliminating homosexuality's designation as a pathology, died Friday in Seattle. He was 83. Gay-rights activists credit Spitzer with removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the D.S.M. in 1973. He decided to push for the change after he met with gay activists and determined that homosexuality could not be a disorder if gay people were comfortable with their sexuality. At the time of the psychiatric profession's debate over homosexuality, Spitzer told the Washington Post: "A medical disorder...

The vestry opposed his position. Kentucky Bishop Terry White did not support him Fr. Erdman said he had no choice but to resign or contradict his conscienceThe Rev. Jonathan Erdman, rector of Calvary Church in Louisville, KY, is resigning because he could not in good conscience perform gay weddings. He will leave his church Jan. 10, 2016. The vestry of his parish had been trying to force him out since the Episcopal Church authorized priests to perform gay weddings, and Fr. Jonathan, a high churchman, said he would not do that. The vestry has the support of Kentucky Episcopal Bishop...

<p>Among the Christian Right, and most Republican presidential candidates, it’s now an article of faith that the United States is persecuting Christians and Christian-owned businesses—that religion itself is under attack.</p> <p>Why has this bizarre myth that Christianity is under assault in the most religious developed country on Earth been so successful? Because, in a way, it’s true. American Christianity is in decline—not because of a “war on faith” but because of a host of demographic and social trends. The gays and liberals are just scapegoats.</p>

BOSTON, Massachusetts, December 21, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – A Massachusetts judge sided with a practicing homosexual who sued a Catholic school for acting to uphold its Catholic identity. In a first of its kind case, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins ruled that Fontbonne Academy discriminated against Matthew Barrett for his sexual orientation and gender in violation of State law when it withdrew a job offer in 2013. Barrett had been offered the position of food services director at the all-girls Catholic prep school in Milton, MA, but the offer was later rescinded after Barrett had listed another man as his...

Restaurant owners can't require ties for male diners only. Gyms can't tell clients which locker room to use. And in most cases, an employer can't put "John" on a worker's ID if she prefers "Jane." New York City's Human Rights Commission is establishing what advocates called some of the most powerful guidelines nationwide on gender-identity discrimination, releasing specifics Monday to flesh out broad protections in a 2002 law. "Today's guidance makes it abundantly clear what the city considers to be discrimination," which can lead to fines of up to $250,000, Commissioner Carmelyn P. Malalis said in a statement. Officials said...

<p>OLONGAPO, Philippines (AP) — A U.S. Marine has been found guilty of killing a transgender Filipino after discovering her gender in a hotel in the Philippines last year.</p> <p>Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted Tuesday of homicide by first strangling Jennifer Laude and then dunking her head into a toilet bowl in the hotel they had checked into after meeting in a disco bar in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. Court clerk Gerry Gruspe said Pemberton was sentenced to up to 12 years in jail.</p>

San Francisco police officer whose good looks earned him the nickname "Hot Cop of Castro" was on medical leave when he allegedly hit two pedestrians with his Dodge Charger, then abandoned his vehicle and ran away, police said. Officer Christopher Kohrs turned himself in to fellow officers at police headquarters Sunday, according to the San Francisco Police Department. He was arrested and later booked on suspicion of two felony counts of hit-and-run. Kohrs, a 7-year San Francisco police veteran, was off-duty at the time of the crash and on medical leave for an unrelated medical condition, police said. If Kohrs...

Author James Dawson has received backlash from parents for his guide to growing up LGBT, This Book Is Gay, claiming they no longer feel comfortable taking their children to the library if his book is on the shelves, reports The Guardian. In Wasilla, Alaska, after a 10-year-old boy picked up the book from the juvenile non-fiction section of the public library, his mother was "shocked to find it contained frank drawings and descriptions of gay sex acts inside". The mother launched an appeal after she was told by the local librarian that it was appropriately shelved, leading to dozens of...

The White house announced on Friday that it would hold a screening of the upcoming transgender drama The Danish Girl and Amazon's transgender series Transparent next week as part of its new "White House LGBT Artists Champions of Change" program. In addition to the screenings on Monday, November 23, the White House will honor nine individuals "for their artistry in advocating for the LGBT community," according to a White House press release. The event will also mark Transgender Remembrance Day, currently observed on November 20.

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 12, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – President Obama says he backs "The Equality Act," which would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. "Upon that review it is now clear that the administration strongly supports the Equality Act,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced on Tuesday. “That bill is historic legislation that would advance the cause of equality for millions of Americans. “We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that the legislative process produces a result that balances both the bedrock principles of civil rights...with the religious liberty that we hold...

The American Psychological Association has taken the extraordinary step of retracting an in-house journal article that asserted the rate of rape and other sexual trauma among military men was as much as 15 times higher than the Pentagon’s own survey. In a press released posted Sunday night, the APA said outside scholars had examined the study, “Preliminary Data Suggest Rates of Male Sexual Trauma May be Higher than Previously Reported,” and determined that the method for randomly selecting and surveying male combat veterans was flawed.

Sometime in the near future, a transgender teenager in Texas will attempt suicide — and maybe succeed — because vilifying people for their gender identity remains politically acceptable in America. The hateful rhetoric of leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is the latest, ugliest example. Mr. Patrick was ebullient on Tuesday night after it became clear that Houston voters had decidedly rejected a broad equal rights ordinance that opponents maliciously and misleadingly characterized as a boon for cross-dressing sex offenders. [Snip] As opponents of the ordinance celebrate their victory this week, transgender people across...

...Prop 1, nicknamed HERO, is failing by a margin of 61-percent to 39-percent... ...Supporters of the ordinance included President Obama, Hillary Clinton and several entertainers... ...Early voting numbers doubled compared to the last local election and analysts say Prop 1 was the main catalyst driving voters to the polls.

I don't know what the proper etiquette on this is so I'm just going to say it in a way that actually makes sense. Chaz Bono is the daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono. Until a few years ago Chaz was Chastity before having a sex change from female to male (or man to woman, because apparently they're not the same thing) So, Chaz is having trouble hookin' up with the girls.The New York Daily News reports, “I seem to repel women that I am attracted to,” Bono told Confidenti@l at the Les Girls charity fund-raiser in Los Angeles.” He...

According to Noah Michelson, the Executive Editor of Gay Voices at The Huffington Post, there are many types of sexualities and relationships other than "hetero," "homo" and "bi." Michelson outlined these different types of sexualities in an article published yesterday titled, "What's A Skoliosexual?" He then defines "12 terms related to sexual and romantic identities that are beginning to receive more attention in the media but that are still regularly absent or erased from conversations currently taking place in popular culture." Among these terms is "Graysexual," which means "a magical place between asexual and someone who is sexual." There is...

"The Church embraces you, wants you ... needs you." That's what Synod Father Cdl. Oswald Gracias said yesterday about homosexuals in an interview to New Ways Ministry, a "Catholic" LGBT activist group condmemned by the Vatican. The bishop of Bombay, India, said the Church's attitude towards LGBT people "must be all-embracing, inclusive," since to "not be welcoming would not be a Catholic attitude. It would not be Christ's attitude, certainly." Gracias supports the idea that the Church should get rid of terms such as "disorder" and "evil" when referring to homosexuality, and expressed hopes the Synod Fathers will "use gentler...

On Saturday evening, as hundreds of bishops convened in Rome for a major church assembly on family issues, former Vatican priest Krzysztof Charamsa headed a mile across town to a different gathering: the founding meeting of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, a group of 13 organizations advocating for inclusion of gays in the church. Charamsa had lost his job just before, when he was fired from his position in the Vatican’s doctrine office after announcing that he was gay and introducing reporters to his boyfriend. “I want the Church and my community to know who I am: a gay...

Get ready. This is going to be an interesting year at the Oscars. The movies that are getting into position for Best Picture nominations are not “Driving Miss Daisy” material. One of the leading candidates is “Spotlight,” Tom McCarthy’s exciting telling of how Boston Globe reporters unmasked 90 pedophile priests. The film has an all star cast including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Liev Schreiber. They will all be contenders in the Best Supporting Acto race. “Carol” is a love story about two lesbians in 1952 New York. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are the lovers, and their work is...

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, a longtime Democrat, says she is switching to the Republican Party because she feels abandoned by Democrats in her fight against same-sex marriage. Davis' made the announcement while in Washington, D.C., to attend the Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, said Charla Bansley, a spokeswoman for Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis in her legal battles. "I've always been a Democrat, but the party left me," Davis said, according to Bansley.