Free Republic

Deep in the nation’s Bible Belt, new signs emerged this weekend of an evolution among Republican governors on gay marriage, an explosive social issue that has divided America’s families and politics for years. While the Republican Party’s religious conservatives continue to fight against same-sex marriage, its governors appear to be backing off their opposition- in their rhetoric, at least. For some, the shift may be more a matter of tone than substance as the GOP tries to attract new voters ahead of the midterm elections. Nonetheless, it is a dramatic turn for a party that has long been defined by...

The U.S. Constitution protects gay people’s right to marry the person they love. It does not, however, protect them from getting fired for doing so. Throughout the first decade of marriage equality, most states that legalized gay marriage also proscribed anti-gay employment discrimination, rendering this legal dissonance moot. But as more and more states find marriage equality foisted upon them by a judicial mandate, this discordance in rights presents something of a ticking time bomb for the LGBT movement. ...

The TV reporter was caught up in a discussion about the rarity of openly gay CEOs when he said, ‘I think Tim Cook is open about the fact he’s gay.’ Simon Hobbs is likely wishing he could press rewind. The CNBC co-anchor spoke too soon during a live segment of "Squawk on the Street" Friday when he accidentally outed Apple CEO Tim Cook. New York Times columnist and CNBC contributor James B. Stewart spoke about his recent column dealing with the "tortured life" former BP chief John Browne led as a closeted gay CEO. "I just found it very, very...

A recent Chevrolet ad made its LGBT-friendly message clear: Against a montage of different families, including single and same-sex parents, a voice-over intones, "While what it means to be family hasn't changed, what a family looks like has."

The IRS will pay the National Organization for Marriage $50,000 to settle a lawsuit over claims the agency improperly disclosed confidential tax information, according to a consent judgment released this week. The lawsuit stemmed from information an IRS worker sent to an individual who identified himself as a member of the media who requested it in the midst of the 2012 presidential campaign, which he then sent to the pro-gay rights group Human Rights Campaign. The Huffington Post then ran a story noting a political action committee linked to Mitt Romney had been a donor to NOM. John Eastman, NOM’s...

In politics, it's called The Pivot. When the news is bad, or if you don't want to answer the question, ignore it. Change the subject. Wisconsin Republican leaders are leaving divots as they pivot from U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's decision voiding the state Constitution's ban of same-sex marriages. Many of the same Republicans who drafted the constitutional amendment, pushed it through two consecutive legislative sessions, and then in 2006 got voters to approve it, had no reaction to Crabb's ruling and no defense of their old position. The May 15-18 statewide poll by Marquette University's Law School may offer...

Dreamworks How To Train Your Dragon 2 is full of comedy, action and thrills … But one thing that might catch movie goers off guard is the film’s reference to homosexuality. In the fantasy flick, Gobber, the voice of late night host, Craig Ferguson, made a direct comment about his sexuality. “This is why I never married. This and one other reason,” the animated character says. So, during an interview with Ferguson to talk about the sequel, HipHollywood got straight to the point and asked the star about his character’s sexuality. “I think that the implication would be that he...

Yahoo MUST be exposed for their vicious bias.

Between Rick Perry, Ted Cruz and Wendy Davis, Texas politicians in recent years have lived up to their state's reputation for producing larger-than-life characters. That makes the Texas political scene a natural for the Hollywood treatment. HBO has given God Save Texas, a drama about the state's often raucous political culture, the green light for development. It's set to unfold at the Texas statehouse, a perennial flashpoint for national debates about issues ranging from abortion to gun rights to the size and role of government. According to an early description first reported by Deadline.com, the show will follow an "idealistic...

Now that our cultural elites feel they have sufficiently educated the public on the virtues of gays and lesbians, it's time to drill down to the next level. Here comes transgenderism. Time magazine placed "Orange Is the New Black" star Laverne Cox (born Charles Cox) on the cover as the face of "The Transgender Tipping Point: America's Next Civil Rights Frontier." Cox wrote on Facebook that the Time cover was a wonderful present on her birthday, and "I realize this is way bigger than me and about a tipping point in our nation's history where it is no longer acceptable...

Chris Christie Rebuts Perry Comparison of Homosexuality To Alcoholism MARK Z. BARABAK, CHRIS MEGERIAN New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie takes questions at San Francisco flower shop GOP's Chris Christie pays a visit Facebook headquarters in California New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who signed legislation barring "gay conversion therapy" in his state, said Friday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's comparison of homosexuality to alcoholism was wrong. "I disagree with him, and I don't believe that's an apt analogy," Christie said during a San Francisco appearance alongside Neel Kashkari, the GOP candidate for California governor. Christie was appearing with Kashkari in his...

Media Firestorm as Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality to Alcoholism By Julio Severo Texas Governor Rick Perry has caused a firestorm by comparing homosexuality to a disorder that people can avoid like alcoholism at an event in San Francisco. Rick Perry According to the San Francisco Chronicle, even though most of the event focused on economic issues, Perry was provocatively asked about the Texas Republican Party’s approval of platform language allowing Texans to seek voluntary counseling to leave the homosexual lifestyle. Perry responded to the question by saying that he did not know whether such so-called “reparative therapy” worked.  The...

The U.S. ambassador to Israel hoisted a gay pride flag over the American embassy in a disgusting display.

I can't cut and paste from the device I'm using, but this article is an interview with the father of Matthew Vines, the author of "God and the Gay Chrisitan." Monte Vines says when his son told him he was "gay" a few years ago, they studied the Bible together and discovered things like the often-cited bad argument that both homosexuality and eating shellfish were abominations in the Old Testament (and on that, God says to the Israelites about things like shellfish that they "shall be abomination for you" - meaning the Jews). So the father changed his mind since...

The Texas Republican Party would endorse psychological treatment that seeks to turn gay people straight under a new platform partly aimed at rebuking laws in California and New Jersey that ban so-called “reparative therapy” on minors. A push to include the new anti-gay language survived a key vote late Thursday in Fort Worth at the Texas Republican Convention where, across the street, tea party star U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz fired up attendees at a rally to defend marriage as between a man and a woman. Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP will “recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of...

Actor Jonah Hill has been filmed hitting out at a photographer with a highly offensive homophobic slur. The 30-year-old can be heard insulting a man who comments on his shorts in a video obtained by TMZ. Jonah, who is currently starring in 22 Jump Street, appears to become frustrated after being mocked for his floral board shorts and retorts: ‘Suck my d***, you f*****!’ ...when one photographer tells him ‘I like the shorts though, bro. They are pretty sexy’, it appears to become too much for him and after roughly another 40 seconds he turns and uses the highly offensive...

Given the myriad boons to gay rights we’ve seen this decade, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the Affordable Care Act is brimming with new regulations that directly benefit LGBTQ Americans. Indeed, I consider it to be one of the most important pieces of gay rights legislation ever passed. new story out of Florida further confirms my suspicion. The Huffington Post reports that two Florida insurance companies are under fire for discriminating against patients with HIV, slapping them with a 40 percent co-pay on each of their HIV drugs, plus a $1,000 deductible per drug per month. (The new...

Calling slain civil rights hero Harvey Milk a “predator” on its website this week, the fundamentalist Christian group American Family Association (AFA) urged members to refuse any mail postmarked with a recently-released commemorative stamp featuring the late San Francisco supervisor. “Harvey Milk was a very disreputable man and used his charm and power to prey on young boys with emotional problems and drug addiction,” reads the AFA’s press release. “He is the last person we should be featuring on a stamp.”

After Minnesota became one of the first states in the Midwest to legalize same-sex marriage, it became a new travel ‘hot-spot.’ According to the New York Times, Minneapolis is now on the list of “up and coming LGBT” places to visit, especially with the Pride celebration coming up. New York Times completed the survey after talking with gay and lesbian travel experts. It estimates the annual economic impact of LGBT travelers to be about $70 billion a year in the United States. Other cities on the hot spot list include Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Big Island on Hawaii, and Pittsburgh.

Storme DeLarverie, a lesbian activist who took part in the New York Stonewall riots in 1969 that started the gay rights movement in the United States, has died. She was 93. DeLarverie died Saturday at a Brooklyn nursing home, said Lisa Cannistraci, a longtime friend and one of her legal guardians. …