Free Republic

Same-sex marriages went forward Monday in Alabama, for the most part, notwithstanding an effort by the Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court to prevent probate judges from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Amid conflicting signals from federal courts and the chief justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court, some Alabama counties began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday in a legal showdown with echoes of the battles over desegregation in the 1960s. In major county seats like Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville, gay couples lined up outside courthouses as they opened, and emerged smiling, licenses in...

If there was any doubt left, Justice Clarence Thomas ended it on Monday morning. The United States Supreme Court will end discrimination against same-sex couples this June — and even justices who oppose the coming decision appear to know it’s going to happen. On Monday morning, Justice Clarence Thomas made explicit what had been growing apparent to observers for months: The court — at least a majority of the justices — has made up its mind on the issue of whether the U.S. Constitution bars states from treating same-sex couples differently than opposite-sex couples in marriage laws. In denying the...

Public opinion surveys show that a majority of adults — and a growing one — now supports same-sex marriage. But the rapid change in public opinion may obscure another fact: Large areas of the country remain overwhelmingly opposed to same-sex marriage, with little sign of change. Alabama is one of those places, and the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court this weekend encouraged probate judges there to defy a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The emerging national majority in favor of same-sex marriage is built on high levels of support in well-educated metropolitan areas,...

It was a year ago - the Sunday after Super Bowl XLVIII at 8pmET - that Michael Sam turned speculation into reality: One of college football's best players, and a top NFL prospect, was gay. In the coming months he was showered with praise. Eric Dickerson would offer him congratulations. Michael Irvin would call him his friend. Robert Quinn welcomed him to the Rams. Even the President of the United States, Barack Obama himself, would laud him.

Southwest Airlines is among the major corporate sponsors of the 2015 “Creating Change” conference, an annual event drawing thousands of homosexual, bisexual, transgender, “queer” and “kink” (sadomasochistic) activists from across the country. The massive gathering of LGBTQueer activists opens today in Denver and includes a screening of a documentary film celebrating a “gay”-authored play casting “Jesus” as a homosexual. The documentary, “Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption,” celebrates the 1998 play “Corpus Christi,” by homosexual playwright Terrence McNally, in which “Joshua,” representing Jesus Christ, is cast as a homosexual who as a teenager had homosexual sex with Judas (who later becomes...

Ted Cruz claims to be a “constitutionalist,” but expects us to believe that the issue of gay marriage should be left to “debate…in the legislative chambers.” In response to President Barack Obama’s comments about gay marriage in the State of the union, the Texas senator said: I think the proper place to debate those issues is in the legislative chambers. I’m a constitutionalist…From the beginning of this country, marriage has been a question of the states, and we should not have the federal government, or unelected judges, setting aside the policy judgment of the elected legislatures and imposing their own...

One day in 1977, about a year after Bruce Jenner shattered a world record to win the decathlon gold medal at the Montreal Summer Olympics, he met up with his sportswriter friend Barry McDermott to play tennis in New York City. McDermott suggested a match at his private club — but that wasn’t Jenner’s style. Privacy was never his priority. The pair went to Central Park, where word quickly spread that Bruce Jenner (Bruce Jenner!) was playing on the public courts. McDermott remembers the crowd growing, as he had known it would, gawkers pressed against the chain-link fence, watching the...

<p>Matthew Aune and Derek Jones were...strolling through Main Street Plaza just east of the Salt Lake Temple, the holiest site in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.</p> <p>Aune bussed his partner on the cheek. Church security guards appeared. The twentysomething men said they were cuffed and forced to the ground. The church's official statement said the couple had been "engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language" on private church property, an account the two men vigorously contested.</p>

“It’s not my cup of tea.” The former Arkansas governor and probable presidential candidate compared homosexuality to drinking and swearing on CNN: “People can be my friends who have lifestyles that are not necessarily my lifestyle. I don’t shut people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view,” Huckabee told CNN’s Dana Bash, while deflecting a question about whether he believes being gay is a choice.“I don’t drink alcohol, but gosh — a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don’t use profanity, but believe...

Tonight's episode; "We Build, We Fight" - NCIS S12 E13 Gibbs and the team investigate when a Navy lieutenant who is set to be the first openly gay servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor is murdered

Americans support women in the pulpit and in senior leadership positions within the church. But they are more hesitant when it comes to supporting openly gay and lesbian religious leaders. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 60% of American Adults favor women in the pulpit, while just 16% are opposed. Twenty-five percent (25%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Even more (74%) support women in leadership positions in their respective faiths. Just nine percent (9%) are opposed, with 17% undecided. Just 43% of Americans favor openly gay and lesbian individuals in the pulpit. Thirty-eight...

Gov. Tom Wolf stood with a small group of lawmakers Wednesday morning to rally new efforts behind bills that would extend basic anti-discrimination protections statewide on the basis of sexual orientation. For Pennsylvania, a state where in most municipalities a person can still be fired from his job or denied housing because of his or her sexual orientation, Wolf said the extended anti-discrimination bills fit the state's heritage perfectly. "Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn on the basis of tolerance. On the basis of religious freedom," Wolf noted. U.S. District Judge John Jones gave the LGBT movement a push with...

In the Gospel of John, we read a story where a group of Jewish Torah teachers and Pharisees (members of a legalistic sect of Judaism) bring to Jesus a woman whom they caught in adultery, asking Him what punishment He thinks the woman deserves. Masterfully — as He always did — Jesus answers the scholars with a simple, yet profound statement: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7, NIV).Recently, Newsweek featured a cover article on the Bible in which author Kurt Eichenwald — not a Biblical scholar...

A dispute over a cake in Colorado raises a new question about gay rights and religious freedom: If bakers can be fined for refusing to serve married gay couples, can they also be punished for declining to make a cake with anti-gay statements? A baker in suburban Denver who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding is fighting a legal order requiring him to serve gay couples even though he argued that would violate his religious beliefs. But now a separate case puts a twist in the debate over discrimination in public businesses, and it underscores the tensions...

"I support the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish—in their pews, homes and hearts." So says an influential New York Times journalist. In other words, "Keep your religion in the closet." In his Jan. 10 Times editorial, "Your God and My Dignity: Religious Liberty, Bigotry, and Gays," Frank Bruni writes, "I've been called many unpleasant things in my life, and I've deserved no small number of them. But I chafe at this latest label: A threat to your religious liberty." He finds it "absurd" that the simple act of two men or two...

For months, Glenn has been warning about the threat posed by Russia to the Western way of life. While he plans to go in-depth on the historical roots of the issue, he did point out to one very disturbing story on radio this morning. The BBC reports that Russia has banned transgendered and transexual people from obtaining driver’s licenses, claiming they are “tightening medical controls for drivers” in light of rising accidents on the road. Should any government be able to deny a driver’s license for such reasons? “Russia just banned giving driver’s licenses to people who are gay or...

(CNSNews.com) – Hollywood, gay activists, and the media that cover them are crowing about Amazon.com’s Transparent show getting the Golden Globe award for Best Comedy on Sunday.To have the best new show of the fall airing not on a television network, not even on a cable channel, but on a service where you can also buy underwear, that is a revolutionary moment,” Brian Stelter, CNN correspondent, said of the series. The show, created by Jill Soloway, features three grown children and their father, who is a transgender woman. One daughter is married but has a lesbian affair. Another daughter likes...

For the most part, the gay marriage debate now falls along partisan lines: Democrats support it, But within the crowded field of likely 2016 presidential contenders, there’s a lot of room for nuance. The would-be candidates have made much different arguments and have varying records on the issue. Meantime, the issue continues to change. On Jan. 6, Florida became the second-largest state to recognize gay marriage, bringing the total to 36. And on Friday, the Supreme Court will meet privately to decide whether to consider cases that could lead to a more definitive ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. Here’s...

Same-Sex Marriage Advocates Have Sights Set On US Supreme Court In 2015 Highest court to decide this week if it will take up marriage appeals 36 states now recognize same-sex marriages after landmark year Amanda Holpuch 6 January 2015 Last year saw same-sex marriage bans fall at a pace nearly unheard of for any social movement in American history, but advocates on all sides of the issue are hoping 2015 will bring a definitive legal decision from the US supreme court on whether same-sex marriage should be the uncontested law of the land. On Monday, Florida became the 36th US...

TLC is facing growing criticism over the decision to air “My Husband’s Not Gay,” a one-hour special slated to air on Jan. 11, which follows a group of Mormon men who, according to the network’s description, “are happily married and attracted to their wives, but they are also attracted to other men. They refer to it as Same Sex Attraction… not gay, SSA.”