Free Republic

It's not about "education" or "tolerance," and it's not benign. Those who have voiced concerns about the dangers that drag events, such as Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), pose for children (namely, sexualization and grooming) have been told that those concerns are baseless, that the events are harmless, that it is all just entertainment and fun, and that attending drag events is a way to understand the gay culture. On January 25, 2021 an academic paper entitled Drag Pedagogy: the Playful Practice of Queer Imagination in Early Childhood," was published online in Curriculum Inquiry, an educational journal. The paper, recently...

Friends told me my predictions of January 1 were a teensy tad cynical: "You keep trying to prove you're the Catholic Mencken. Cut it out -- you're depressing the laity," was a comment that came back to me. More feedback: "Thanks! I'll start the new year by slashing my other wrist." Still more: "Why didn't you title the piece 'Curse God and die'?" Which of course was silly, since that's already the bumper sticker on my '94 Buick LeSabre. (Who said Catholics don't quote scripture?) I wish I could backpedal at this point, revoke my misanthropic glimpse into the...

When President Obama today awards a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk, it may mark the first time in history that the nation's highest civilian award has been granted primarily on the basis of someone's sex life. As the White House announcement explained, "Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977." Yet Milk served in that office for less than a year, so that hardly qualifies him for the Medal of Freedom. Milk was also assassinated...