Free Republic

‘Gold standard’ study’s striking findings: children of heterosexual parents happier, healthier The most scientifically credible studies show that children of heterosexual parents fare better on numerous indicators of personal well-being than children of homosexual parents. Authored by Mark Regnerus, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, the study was published in the July 2012 issue of Social Science Research. Children of lesbian mothers are nearly 12 times (≅ 1200%) as likely to say they were sexually touched by a parent or adult as those raised in intact biological families. Asked if they had ever been raped, 31...

NEW YORK (AP) — Gospel singer Kim Burrell says she makes "no excuses or apologies" for a sermon at a Houston church where she referred to gays and lesbians as perverted.A tape of Burrell preaching at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Church began circulating online. She said that "the perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women." She referred to specific homosexual acts as perverted.Meanwhile, Burrell is scheduled to sing a duet with Pharrell next Thursday on the talk show "Ellen," where host Ellen DeGeneres is one of show business' most...

A federal judge in Texas on Saturday issued a court order barring enforcement of an Obama administration policy seeking to extend anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act to transgender health and abortion-related services. The decision sides with Texas, seven other states and three Christian-affiliated healthcare groups challenging a rule that, according to the judge, defines sex bias to include "discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy." In granting an injunction one day before the new policy was to take effect, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor held that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal...

A federal judge in Texas on Saturday ordered a halt to another Obama administration effort to strengthen transgender rights, this time over health rules that social conservatives say could force doctors to violate their religious beliefs. The latest injunction signed by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor comes four months after he blocked a higher-profile new set of transgender protections — a federal directive that required public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Several of the Republican-controlled states that brought that lawsuit, including Texas, also sued over the health regulations that were finalized in May....

“You make the decisions you think are right, right now, regardless what you think is going to happen in the future,” Mabus said. “But we are stronger because of this integration. That is undeniably true. So, if it gets rolled back, you’re weakening the United States military. You’re weakening the Navy. You’re weakening the Marine Corps. If that’s what you want to do, okay. But you have to be honest about it.”

CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) -- John Schenck, the co-founder of the Gay Pride Parade of Conway, has died. Schenck's husband and partner of nearly 41 years, Robert Loyd, died, from a heart attack last December. Schenck and Loyd moved to Arkansas in 1978 to care for Loyd's mother, who lived in Damascus. Loyd, who worked as a hairdresser in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Schneck eventually opened a salon on the outside of town. They named the gas station-turned-salon The Lion's Den. It proved so successful, they expanded to Greers Ferry and Heber Springs. In 1986, Schenck and Loyd moved to...

FULL TITLE: EIGHT underage boys had accused a Minnesota teacher and his husband who died in a murder-suicide of sexual abuse A Minnesota elementary school teacher and his husband had sexual conduct with eight underage boys, according to a police report following a four-month investigation. South St. Paul police closed the investigation into teacher Aric Babbitt and his husband, Matthew Deyo, and released the documents this week. The couple was found dead August 25 in an apparent murder-suicide with gunshot wounds on Lopez Island in Washington state. Neither was charged in relation to the abuse allegations.

The pro-Trump Twitterverse is lobbing hundreds of angry posts and meme attacks at the Brooklyn husbands who were kicked off a plane at JFK after one yelled at future First Daughter Ivanka. The Cobble Hill couple, attorney Daniel Goldstein and Hunter College Urban Studies Professor Matthew Lasner, are being trolled as “jerks,” “misogynists,” “political terrorists,” “heterophobic bigots,” and all manner of ­offensive gay slurs. A flood of one-star pans also is filling the Amazon review page for Lasner’s new book, “High Life: Condo Living in the Suburban Century.” Meanwhile, a Trump confidante said Ivanka will probably keep flying commercial because...

FULL TITLE: Mother of gang member who killed 17-year-old transgender woman goes on rant saying victim was living in sin as a homosexual The mother of a gang member who confessed to brutally murdering a transgender teenage girl in a hate crime has claimed her son's victim was 'living in sin'. Kelly Wilkins, from Mobile, Alabama, is the mother of 29-year-old Josh Brandon Vallum - who pleaded guilty to a hate crime on Wednesday over the killing of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson. Williamson was found dead and partially buried in a field on June 3, 2015. Vallum confessed to the killing,...

FULL TITLE: Vicious trolls launch wave of death threats at family of transgender girl, 9, who made history by appearing on the cover of National Geographic A brave nine-year-old transgender girl who appeared on the cover of National Geographic has been targeted by trolls, some of whom have called for her parents to be 'exterminated'. Avery Jackson, from Kansas, was born a boy, but announced to her mother Debi that she was a girl at the age of four. The nine-year-old made history this month when she became the first transgender person to appear on the prestigious magazine's front-page. Avery's...

Lots of people are talking about Avery Jackson, a nine-year-old girl from Kansas City who is the first transgender person to appear on the cover of National Geographic. Since we shared photos of the cover of our special issue on gender on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, tens of thousands of people have weighed in with opinions, from expressions of pride and gratitude to utter fury. More than a few have vowed to cancel their subscriptions.

The North Carolina Senate Wednesday voted down legislation to repeal the controversial law known simply as the “bathroom bill,” months after the measure limiting LGBT protections triggered an economic backlash for the state. ADVERTISEMENT The Senate voted 32-16 against the repeal effort before voting by the same margin to adjourn, ending the special session two days after the Charlotte City Council gutted an ordinance that in March led the state's General Assembly to pass House Bill (HB) 2. The state House also adjourned without voting. The repeal legislation, Senate Bill 4, caused new turbulence by imposing a six-month moratorium on...

As part of its January 2017 issue exploring our evolving understandings and definitions of gender, National Geographic is featuring nine-year-old transgender rights activist Avery Jackson on its cover—the first time a trans person has made the cover of the magazine. Jackson rose to stardom last year when she began documenting her transition with “Avery Chats,” a series of YouTube videos describing how she came to understand her identity at such a young age and eventually came out to her parents as trans. “When I was born, doctors said I was a boy, but I knew in my heart I was...

During Friday’s broadcast of “CNN Tonight,” anchor Don Lemon stated that Vice President-Elect Mike Pence “has rallied and railed against” and “does not love” gay people. Lemon said, “Mike Pence has rallied and railed against gay people, and tried to shoot down and block gay legislation.” He added, “Mike Pence does not love gay people. His record shows that he does not love gay people.”

On yesterday evening’s Hardball, an overwrought Andrew Sullivan stopped just short of chewing the scenery, while repeatedly referring to Donald Trump and Ann Coulter as fascists. But precisely because of Trump’s supposed fascist fear-mongering, Sullivan predicted that “Trump is going to win this election.” Former New Republic editor Sullivan claimed that we are in a “fascist moment” because white Americans are reacting to the country becoming majority-minority. Calling Ann Coulter “the other fascist” along with Trump, Sullivan cited Ann’s book “Adios, America” as epitomizing the fear of the foreigner driving Trump’s support. View the video here.

For many viewers, this came as no surprise, but for many FOX conservative loyalists, this latest news would have come as a shock. FOX News host Shepard Smith joins other high-profile gay cable news anchors like CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon. A number of high-profile media critics including top-rated talk radio host Michael Savage, have recently raised the alarm that FOX News is undergoing a liberal facelift following the departure of its news head Roger Ailes over a number sexual harassment cases.

In canonizing Mother Teresa as a saint ("Pope declares Mother Teresa a saint," Sept. 5), the pope publicly confirmed the essential tenets of Catholicism: That God could have stopped Catholic priests from raping altar boys. But, overall, He didn't want to. And millions throughout the world rejoiced in this good news. Such is religion.

The Indiana governor and culture warrior would balance the ticket with a twice-divorced, proud philanderer at the top -- except he legalized discrimination against LGBT people with a law so extreme other GOP states rejected it. In choosing Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump has shored up the GOP's religious base. But based on the Indiana governor's disastrous run-in with pro-business Republicans and moderates last year over gay rights, Trump may have just lost the election. [Snip] Unlike Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie, Pence has been a right-wing culture warrior for his entire career. As Samantha Allen detailed...

Democrats shouted "Shame! Shame!," but seven Republicans switched their votes and defeated a measure to protect gay rights. The final vote was 213-212 after the chaos on the House floor. That was enough to defeat an amendment by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., aimed at upholding an executive order that bars discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors. Maloney and other Democrats were incensed. "They literally snatched discrimination from the jaws of equality," Maloney said. He said he had approached Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as McCarthy worked on GOP colleagues to vote against the measure. McCarthy told Maloney to...

The Texas Republican Party considered a platform Friday that would soften support of widely rebuked “reparative therapy” for gays while still preserving some of the toughest anti-gay language on any party plank in the U.S. The new platform also would oppose bathroom rights for transgender persons — an unsurprising move after the state’s Republican lieutenant governor said Friday that Texas is ready to forfeit billions of federal dollars rather than comply with a new Obama administrative directive on transgender rights in public schools. …