Free Republic

State Democratic leaders are increasing pressure on a DFL legislator not to seek re-election after authorities said he had a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop in Duluth. "I am deeply disappointed with Rep. Kerry Gauthier's conduct," said House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis. "The conduct was wrong and ... I believe he should withdraw from the race for re-election." Last week, the St. Louis County attorney's office decided not to pursue charges against Gauthier, a first-term legislator from Duluth, for allegedly engaging in oral sex with a 17-year-old boy in a wooded area behind the...

What a fool I was. In 1986, I spent a week in State College, Pa., researching a 10-page Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year piece on Joe Paterno. It was supposed to be a secret, but one night the phone in my hotel room rang. It was a Penn State professor, calling out of the blue. "Are you here to take part in hagiography?" he said. "What's hagiography?" I asked. "The study of saints," he said. "You're going to be just like the rest, aren't you? You're going to make Paterno out to be a saint. You don't know him....

Jerry Sandusky wants “people to know that he’s not guilty,” a lawyer for the retired Penn State assistant football coach said Monday. Sandusky—once considered Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno’s heir apparent—was convicted Friday of 45 counts for sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years. Karl Rominger, who helped defend the 68-year-old retired defensive coach, visited him at the Centre County jail, where he is being kept under observation and away from other inmates pending a psychological review that will help determine the next step toward his sentencing, which is in about three months. “He’s defiant and wants the truth...

A high-profile member of the Boy Scouts of America's governing board says he doesn't support the Scouts' policy of excluding gays and will work from within to seek a change. Ernst & Young CEO James Turley, whose accounting firm has welcomed gays and lesbians in its own work force, becomes the first member of the Scouts' Executive Board known to publicly disapprove of the policy.

Gay marriage and homosexuality were part of the moral landscape faced by the first Christians in Ancient Rome.Given that the gay marriage agenda will be increasingly pressed upon Catholics by the state, we should be much more aware of what history has to teach us about gay marriage—given that we don’t want to be among those who, ignorant of history, blithely condemned themselves to repeat it. Contrary to the popular view—both among proponents and opponents—gay marriage is not a new issue. It cannot be couched (by proponents) as a seamless advance on the civil rights movement, nor should it be...

A proposed resolution to commend the Boy Scouts of America on its 102nd anniversary died today in an Assembly committee because the measure did not urge the group to accept gays and lesbians. Instead, the Assembly Judiciary Committee passed a separate resolution that applauded the Boy Scouts but said its policy against accepting homosexuals is harmful and discriminatory -- and should be reconsidered. The measure that passed, crafted by committee Chairman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, encouraged the group to "accept for membership and leadership positions all qualified boys and men, without discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or religious...

Apologists say that Bacha Bazi or 'Boy Play' is a very old cultural practice in Afghanistan and part of that nation's mainstream. Citing the Afghanistan strategy review, Vice President Joe Biden reported "great progress" in the counterterrorism effort that has significantly degraded al-Qaeda and the Taliban, particularly their leadership. Lagging behind, he said, is progress on the counterinsurgency front – eliminating terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and building a stable Afghan government. However, not once did Biden – nor Defense Secretary Leon Panetta -- mention Afghanistan's dirty secret – a large number of pedophiles and pederasts among the Afghan male...

Jerry Sandusky has been taken out of his home in handcuffs by the Centre County District Attorney's office to face two new criminal charges of child sex abuse. "Today's criminal charges were recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury, based on evidence and testimony that was received following the initial arrest of Sandusky on November 5th," Attorney General Kelly said in a statement. Sandusky is scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday, December 13, for his preliminary he

Link only - Ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky jailed after he is unable to pay bail

December 6, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After a series of child sex abuse revelations hit Hollywood in the past month, both experts and previous child stars say the crackdown only scratches the surface of what has long been the entertainment industry’s darkest secret. Fox News reported Monday that former child stars of several eras - one even well into his 60s - reacted with grim sagacity as sex abuse charges were laid or discovered against three Hollywood employees: Martin Weiss, a 47-year-old Hollywood manager who represented child actors; Fernando Rivas, 59, an award-winning composer for “Sesame Street”; and registered sex offender...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno had close business ties with board members of The Second Mile, the charity founded by alleged child molester and former Nittany Lions assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the online publication The Daily reported. Paterno and three fellow investors, including longtime Second Mile board chairman Robert Poole, secured financing to build a $125 million luxury retirement community around 2002, according to public records, The Daily reported Monday.

The Obama administration is announcing a wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.

During a lengthy interview at his lawyer's home, Sandusky told the newspaper he and Paterno never spoke about the alleged 2002 incident or a 1998 child molestation complaint investigated by the Penn State campus police. "I never talked to him about either one," Sandusky said. "That's all I can say. I mean, I don't know." He worked for Paterno for nearly 30 years. Sandusky said he never sexually abused any child and that prosecutors have misunderstood his work with children. "They've taken everything that I ever did for any young person and twisted it to say that my motives were...

More than 1,000 gays, lesbians and transgenders have marched in the Philippine capital to demand equal rights and an end to discrimination, and more support for an AIDS program. Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines spokesman Goya Candelario says they’re pushing Congress to pass a law against discrimination that they say denies them jobs and social services. Jessie Dimaisip of the Akbayan political party, which supports gay rights, says they’re also seeking more funds for HIV-AIDS testing and a support program. The Health Department says 7,884 people have been infected with HIV since 1984, including 937 AIDS cases.

Last night, Presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announced during an on-line Town Hall Thursday night that he supports civil marriage for gay Americans. Having long supported civil unions for gay couples, Johnson's decision to endorse gay marriage is based on "a great deal of deliberation, discussion with the gay community, and a conclusion that government has no business choosing who should be allowed the benefits of marriage and who should not." Announcing his support for gay marriage, Johnson said, "As a believer in individual freedom and keeping government out of personal lives, I simply cannot find...

WND Exclusive Report: Pedophilia more common among 'gays' Research purports to reveal 'dark side' of homosexual culture Posted: April 29, 2002 1:00 am Eastern By Jon Dougherty © 2011 WND Child molestation and pedophilia occur far more commonly among homosexuals than among heterosexuals on a per capita basis, according to a new study. "Overwhelming evidence supports the belief that homosexuality is a sexual deviancy often accompanied by disorders that have dire consequences for our culture," wrote Steve Baldwin.... ..... "It is difficult to convey the dark side of the homosexual culture without appearing harsh," wrote Baldwin. "However, it is time...

<p>George Harasz and Doug Wirth were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon by Glastonbury police. Harasz was charged with assaulting two children and Wirth with assaulting one, police said.</p> <p>But one of the couple's children said Wednesday night that the charges were baseless and that Harasz and Wirth were innocent.</p>

One happy couple who got married in NYC on July 24 Katie Sokoler / Gothamist Six months later, and some conservatives are still freaking out about gay marriage in New York—first, state clerks who opposed the move jumped ship, and now, an upstate judge has ruled that a lawsuit seeking to overturn the marriage equality law can proceed. The gist of the lawsuit, filed by conservative group New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedoms (you may recall them rushing to the defense of another state clerk who refused to marry same-sex couples), is that Governor Cuomo and the Republican majority in the...

With all due respect, Pope Benedict XVI either lives in an alternate reality or needs better PR handlers. His comments over the weekend to U.S. bishops about the sex abuse of children showed a continued disconnect with the church’s mishandling of this ongoing scandal. The pope referenced the church’s “conscientious effort” to confront sex abuse by priests. Uh? Perhaps the pope meant to say conscientious cover-up. No institution has done more to deny and downplay the sexual abuse of young boys than the Catholic Church. No institution has done more to discredit victims and protect pedophile priests than the Catholic...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The New Mexico Attorney General's Office cautioned parents against an Internet image they said is really a sexual menace called the "pedobear." It started out as a joke, but authorities said the bear has spiraled into something much darker and more evil than they could've imagined. Some images depict the pedobear snatching a little girl, dangling a carrot over two children and joking about not using condoms. "This is the most disturbing one of all, it has the bear and it says, 'Too young to talk, too young to testify,'" said Lynn Southard with the AGO. Authorities...