Free Republic

Target TGT -6.02% is spending millions to add private single-stall locking bathrooms at many of its stores as it looks to reverse a drop in shopper traffic, some of which may have been caused by the retailer’s transgender-friendly bathroom policy.

Minneapolis — Target cut its profit and comparable-store sales outlook amid stiffer competition and its own stumbles in areas like grocery sales. The discounter’s second-quarter net income fell nearly 10%, though that was better than what most had expected. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.1%, reversing seven straight quarters of gains. Target shares were down more than 6% in mid-morning trading Wednesday. The quarter underscores challenges that Target and other retailers face from Amazon.com and shoppers who remain cautious about spending.

Liberals will always say that they truly care about the LGBT community, but do they really?  The Department of State released a statement on Monday sending its “sincerest regards” to Indonesia, a predominantly Mulsim country, on its 71st Independence Day. The press release stated: On behalf of President Obama and the American people, it is with great pleasure that I send my sincerest regards to the people of Indonesia on the 71st anniversary of your independence this August 17. Deeply rooted in the democratic values and respect for civil society that our peoples share, the ties between our nations have never...

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has faced widespread condemnation for agreeing to speak at a conference alongside Christian conservatives who have denounced homosexuality and gay rights, used his speech to the group on Friday to warn of the costs of intolerance. His remarks in Orlando, Fla., not far from the site of the massacre at a gay nightclub in June, were his most extensive yet in public on the subject of prejudice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. And he struck a notably softer tone than during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, during which he repeatedly...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." These opening words of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights seem perfectly clear. They were written by James Madison "in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties," and so "the Bill of Rights lists specific prohibitions on governmental power." How absolute are these prohibitions against governmental interference? According to some leading gay activists, these prohibitions are hardly absolute at all. In their view, religious institutions do not have the right to forbid homosexual practice. If...

Legislative leaders in the California Legislature have agreed to modify Bill SB 1146, which has been called the most oppressive LGBT anti-religious bill in the country. The move was praised by leaders of major Christian colleges in California, who say they will now support it. But state pro-family activists warn that the compromise still keeps in some terrible parts of it. They are perplexed that church leaders would agree to it. They vow to keep fighting to kill the bill completely. The re-draft was announced yesterday in a Los Angeles Times article yesterday by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ricardo Lara,...

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) School System had to temporarily put its HB2-defying transgender bathroom plan on hold due to a recent Supreme Court ruling. But the ruling hasn't stopped the slow roll-out of other controversial gender-related recommendations that it is set to make to the local school board on Tuesday night. Charlotte news station WSOC-TV reports:

Speaking at a Beyond Sport United event in New York this week, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said her organization -- best known for its wrestling showdowns -- is committed to LGBT inclusivity.

A lot of talk lately about the Big 12 Conference adding teams. One possibility.. high-profile Brigham Young University. But a gay advocacy group has written a letter to the Big 12 commissioner urging him not to consider adding BYU to the conference saying the Mormon school is discriminatory against the LGBT community. What should the commissioner do?

No amount of compassion for a young person struggling with gender identity issues can justify the radical transformation of the English language, yet that is exactly what is being called for by transgender activists.For anyone following the progression of LGBT activism, this is nothing new. (See, for example, the chapter “Lavender Language, Gender Speak, and Queer Semantics: Towards an Omnisexual Society?” in my bookA Queer Thing Happened to America.) But when this radical agenda comes to a school district where you live, it’s important that we speak out again, loudly and clearly.I’m talking specifically about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North...

Liberalism gave us women's sports. Now liberalism is taking them away With reports of dead bodies and excrement floating in the water, the threat of Zika and the Russian doping scandal, the Rio Olympics appears the Frankenstein of athletic events. And now Rio seems dopey in another way: owing to political correctness, a runner with, reportedly, no womb or ovaries but internal testes will be allowed to compete with women. This person is South African middle-distance competitor Caster Semenya. I wrote of Semenya in 2009, back when Semenya (I’m not satisfied that Semenya is female, so henceforth I’ll refer to...

Some of my Christian friends tell me they can’t in good conscience vote for Donald Trump because, when faced with a choice between “the lesser of two evils,” the morally right thing is to choose neither one. They recommend voting for a third-party or write-in candidate. As a professor who has taught Christian ethics for 39 years, I think their analysis is incorrect. Now that Trump has won the GOP nomination, I think voting for Trump is a morally good choice. American citizens need patience with each other in this difficult political season. Close friends are inevitably going to make...

A few days ago, trying to maneuver through a “scrum” of reporters in Philadelphia, I was asked about my views regarding religious freedom and non-discrimination laws. Given the divisiveness and pain that have accompanied several state religious freedom laws, I approach attempts at legislating religious exceptions to anti-discrimination laws with great sensitivity and care.

The city of Belfast in Northern Ireland is gearing up for its annual gay pride parade this weekend. But what are the challenges that face LGBT people living in Northern Ireland where sexual identity and politics always seem to clash. Peter Coulter has been to meet a transgender woman living in Belfast, who would like to rejoin the Orange Order.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The 2016 Cleveland Pride celebration – including the parade and all other festivities – has been canceled.

Pepperdine has had a long history of being an unwelcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people, including being listed on the Princeton Review “LGBT Unfriendly List.” In 2011, the university denied recognizing a student-led LGBT group on campus. Then a few years later, two former basketball players filed a lawsuit for anti-LGBT harassment against the campus and the Head Basketball Coach. But now it all seems to be changing? Pepperdine may be among the first anti-LGBT universities to withdraw its Title IX exemption and reverse its stance. Or at least It seems so.

ISIS wants global civil war .... Iran threatens to shut of the Strait of Hormuz .... German Chancellor Merkel admits the EU is being ravaged by terror but says that Germany should still welcome more refugees .... Hamas is digging 10 km tunnels every month for attacking Israel in the next war .... Hezbollah is armed by the Russians through Iran .... 32 earthquakes in 30 days in Western Australia .... Japan tries to stimulate the economy .... terrorist threats at the Rio Olympics .... Pope said that the world is at war but it is not a religious war...

The conflict between religious freedom and gay rights has a new battleground — California's religious colleges and universities. A bill moving through the Legislare would remove a longstanding exemption from anti-discrimination laws for religious institutions, potentially exposing the schools to civil rights lawsuits from students and employees.

Attention on the poop deck. It seems our “first gay president” intends to “milk,” with pride, his fetish for all things “LGBT” in the closing months (mercifully) of his catastrophic presidency. USNI News (U.S. Naval Institute) reports that the Obama Navy presumes to ram, without consent, the most reprehensible aspects of the extremist homosexual political agenda down the throats of a divided American public. “The Navy is set to name a ship after the gay rights icon and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, according to a congressional notification obtained by USNI News. “The July 14, 2016 notification, signed by Secretary...

Television star America Ferrara gave viewers a free lesson in U.S. history Tuesday night, telling an adoring crowd at the Democratic National Convention that the Founding Fathers were united in tolerance of diverse sexual orientations. “This country was founded on the belief that what sets us apart—race, language, religion, sexual orientation—should not dissolve what binds us,” Ferrara declared to applause.