Free Republic

<p>Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) said he was glad the Boy Scouts' national council recently decided to allow openly gay minors to serve as Scouts, but said it was unacceptable that the organization did not also lift its ban on adult leaders who are gay.</p>

Barbara Hewson, a London barrister, has made the call for lowering the age of sexual consent in the United Kingdom from 16 to 13. Her reasoning (if one may call it that) is that the current age of consent leads to the harassment and “persecution of old men.” She also believes that underage victims should have no right to anonymity, and that law based on the best interests of the child should not trump the “rights” of men who like to kiss a 13-year-old, or put one’s hand up a 16-year-old’s skirt. time to end this prurient charade, which has...

In the 1980s, some members of Germany's Green Party advocated the legalization of sex with minors. Now the party wants to come to terms with this dark chapter via an independent review of internal documents -- some of which show that the influence of pedophiles on the young party was much stronger than previously thought. He is a boy, roughly 10 years old, with a pretty face, full lips, a straight nose and shoulder-length hair. The wings of an angel protrude from his narrow back, and a penis is drawn with thin lines on the front of his body. The...

In a controversial intervention, Barbara Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, also called for the end of anonymity for complainants. The lawyer, who specialises in reproductive rights also claimed crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall were ''low level misdemeanours''. Campaigners today criticised the ''outdated and simply ill-informed'' views, which it said ''beggars belief'' from a highly-experienced barrister. Her article also provoked an internal row within her chambers, which launched an "investigation" into the claims. Her comments come as Scotland Yard runs Operation Yewtree, an investigation split into three inquiries into allegations involving deceased presenter Jimmy Savile, involving...

The suspects accused of raping and molesting a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl videotaped part of the crime, authorities said. District Attorney Pat Head would not say what the videotape revealed, but said he did not plan to show it to the grand jury. Up to 25 males — ages 12 to 25 — raped and molested the girl for 12 hours after luring her off of a bicycle and into an apartment building, police said Wednesday. Eight suspects have been arrested and warrants were issued for three others sought in the Oct. 13-14 attack, Cobb County police spokesman Dana Pierce...

Comedian Louis C.K.‘s new comedy special, Oh My God, premiered on HBO Saturday night. The one-hour special contained funny, often hilarious, material from the industry superstar. As a longtime fan of C.K.’s work, including his hit FX_sitcom, Louie, I eagerly tuned in, only to be profoundly disappointed by what appears to be a slur against gay men. Early in the segment, C.K.’s (admittedly_dark) humor took a turn towards the offensive. While describing his New York City apartment building, C.K. reflected on the fountain in the courtyard that features “marble boys pissing”: What is it with fountains? Like, all fountain-sculptors are...

Why is there so much anti-gay prejudice nowadays? For example, Dave Blount at Moonbattery says only “a sick, demented society” would ”facilitate” adoption by same-sex couples. I can’t imagine why anyone would say that, can you? George Harasz and Douglas Wirth, a married couple from Glastonbury, Conn., were arrested in November 2011 following allegations by two of their nine adopted children of sexual abuse. But these are merely allegations! It’s not as if these two guys have shown any unusual interest in young boys, right? The case of a same-sex Connecticut couple accused of repeatedly raping and abusing two of...

HARTFORD— — A judge on Friday allowed two Glastonbury men, accused two years ago of sexually assaulting two of their nine adopted boys, to withdraw their no-contest pleas and take their cases to trial. The unusual action came during what was to be a sentencing hearing for George Harasz and Douglas Wirth, who entered pleas in January to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor. They agreed to suspended prison sentences. The only issue for Friday's hearing was to be whether each would be required to register as sex offenders. But a new allegation of sexual...

In recent months, there seems to have been an explosion of reported child sexual assaults committed by Mexican nationals, in this country illegally. Examiner The most troubling and telling reason behind the growing epidemic of child molestation at the hands of illegal aliens, may lie in the fact the age of sexual consent throughout the majority of Mexico is 12 years of age. Article 261 of Mexico's Federal Criminal Code states: ”Whoever, without the purpose of reaching copulation, performs a sexual act on a person under 12 or on a person that has no capacity of understanding the meaning of...

(Snip) As pro-reform interest groups prepare to fight for their specific priorities in pending immigration reform legislation, LGBT activists aren’t standing on the sidelines. “There is a shared struggle among the immigrant and the LGBT communities,” said Steve Ralls of Immigration Equality, an organization that offers legal aid to LGBT immigrants. “There is a growing recognition that if we can get fair immigration reform through Congress we can work on a lot of issues together moving forward.” Gay rights activists say there are several fronts in the immigration fight -- from specific provisions for gay Americans and permanent residents seeking...

The case of a same-sex Connecticut couple accused of repeatedly raping and abusing two of their nine adopted boys is headed for trial. Married couple George Harasz and Douglas Wirth of Glastonbury were supposed to be sentenced Friday in Hartford Superior Court under a plea deal, but instead withdrew from their agreement with prosecutors. The men had already pleaded no contest in January to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor — a reduction from even more serious charges related to sexual assault. But in a surprise turn, the couple’s attorneys pulled them out of...

California Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Democrat, wants to federalize a state law that protects pedophiles.  No, that's not the main part of the bill, known in California as SB1172.  Speier's bill is designed to prohibit counseling to change a person's sexual orientation.  “Sexual orientation change efforts’ means any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation,” the bill says. Under the bill’s language, a mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile or gay individual to change his behavior or speak negatively about their behavior as it relates to sexuality....

Also, “it’s just bad faith to forbid the brother and sister on these putative health grounds” The words in the title and subtitle were spoken by one of the leading thinkers and advocates in favor of gay marriage, University of Chicago Professor Martha Nussbaum, in a speech she gave at Cornell Law School in 2009 (video and discussion below). I was reminded of those words after Dr. Benjamin Carson created a stir when, during a television interview, he made the following comment (emphasis added). Marriage is between a man and a woman. It is a well-established fundamental pillar of society,...

A University of Maryland student awaiting trial on child pornography charges was arrested in a separate case this week after he arranged to have sex with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl, authorities say. Court documents describe how 18-year-old freshman Akshay Rajshekar walked to class Monday while discussing final plans to have sex with the girl and her father. Rajshekar, a freshman from Salisbury, Md., was already facing charges of possession and distribution of child pornography following an investigation by the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office. He had been indicted and arrested in November, released on bond and allowed to...

HURLINGHAM, Argentina — Father Julio Cesar Grassi was a celebrity in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. The young, dynamic, media-savvy priest networked with wealthy Argentines to fund an array of schools, orphanages and job training programs for poor and abandoned youths, winning praise from Argentine politicians and his superior, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Grassi called his foundation Felices los Niños, "Happy Children." Today, Grassi is a convicted sex offender who remains free on a conditional release after being sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2009 for molesting a prepubescent boy in his care. Yet in the years after Grassi's...

Washington (CNN) -- You probably recognize Sen. Rob Portman from his tireless campaigning for Mitt Romney in 2012. He was even on the short list to be Romney's running mate. He's been a leading Republican voice on economic issues for four decades. Now, the prominent Ohio conservative will be known for something else: reversing his hardline position against gay marriage. He invited CNN to his Senate office to reveal the news. "I'm announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples' opportunity to marry," Portman...

Public opinion on marriage for gay and lesbian couples has shifted with almost unprecedented speed since California voters banned such unions in 2008. That shift could influence the Supreme Court, in particular Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and possibly Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., as it decides whether to uphold Proposition 8 in coming months. … Kennedy, along with others on the court, probably would also resist going too fast. The current justices, both liberals and conservatives, say the court of the early 1970s made a mistake by striking down all state laws on abortion and capital punishment. Both decisions...

Pope Benedict XVI will officially retire at 8pm tomorrow, but his retirement package is raising a few eyebrows — and resurrecting rumors about his sexuality. Rather than decamp to some monastery in Germany as many expected, Benedict will instead stay living in the Vatican. CNN reports he will be living in the Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church) building, which formerly housed a cloistered convent in the Vatican gardens. He will be referred to as the "emeritus pope" and keep wearing the white — though he will lose his trademark red shoes, perhaps wearing a pair of "handcrafted brown loafers"...

A six-year-old boy who has been told that he cannot use the girls’ restroom at his elementary school is being discriminated against, because he is transgender, an LGBT advocacy group claims in a civil rights complaint, according to a report in a Colorado Springs newspaper, The Gazette. Coy Mathis’ mother said her son has lived as a girl, including dressing in girls’ clothing, using the girls’ bathroom at school and having teachers refer to her as a girl. “We socially transitioned her to a girl, which at that age means merely changing pronouns and growing her hair out,” Kathryn Mathis...

Following in fellow MSNBC co-host Chris Hayes’s footsteps, the network’s conservative pundit S. E. Cupp has withdrawn from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month over the issue of same-sex marriage and the exclusion of GOProud. Cupp announced her decision to back out on The Cycle earlier this afternoon.