Free Republic

The reaction has been swift. The singer Bryan Adams canceled his concert in Mississippi in protest against what he called an “anti-L.G.B.T.” law, and the actress Sharon Stone decided not to film a movie there. In North Carolina, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Pearl Jam and Ani DiFranco have canceled shows in response to a law regulating transgender bathroom access. While the celebrity response is drawing considerable attention, the travel industry in each state is more concerned about lower-profile visitors: the everyday tourists who have already begun canceling trips or planning vacations elsewhere. Both states have been hit by hotel cancellations...

In a rare entrance into a politically charged controversy, first lady Michelle Obama used a commencement speech Saturday at Jackson State University in Mississipppi to directly target the state’s recently-passed "religious freedom" bill. "We see it right here in Mississippi -- just two weeks ago -– how swiftly progress can hurtle backward," Obama said. "How easy it is to single out a small group and marginalize them because of who they are or who they love." Obama made the comment following an impassioned revival of the state and university's stained history with regard to civil rights. "So we've got to...

Donald J. Trump met privately with Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana at his residence on Wednesday afternoon, two weeks before the primary in a state that Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign sees as crucial to its efforts to capture the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence were joined by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a supporter of Mr. Trump and a former head of the Republican Governors Association, according to an aide to Mr. Trump...

Ted Cruz’s team knew that Donald Trump would run away with his native New York Tuesday. And they expect he’ll win the lion’s share of delegates at stake next week when a slate of northeastern states votes. So they’ve spent the last two weeks looking ahead, quietly laying the groundwork for a kitchen-sink campaign in a state they can’t afford to let Trump win: Indiana. The Hoosier State doesn’t vote until May 3, and Cruz certainly isn’t ignoring the contests in between. He spent time this week in both Maryland and Pennsylvania, the two states his campaign is confident will...

Little dictators vs. people who know their rights. You’re the superintendent of an entire school district, so what more important thing do you have to do but wander into a park and make darn sure that moms serving a free “Jesus lunch” to kids - who show up for it voluntarily - cease and desist immediately? If you’re Don Johnson of the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School district, it’s your top priority. One thing you cannot have is 500 students getting free home-cooked lunches and hearing about Jesus. Fortunately, most bullies on taxpayer-funded salaries can only succeed at their quest because...

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed a bill Wednesday that removes the names and titles of county clerks from marriage licenses, giving legal "finality" to the religious accommodation that Rowan County clerk Kim Davis was looking for. Davis, who made headlines when she spent over five days in jail last September for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses with her name and title on them because of her Christian beliefs, had called on the state's then-Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear to create a religious accommodation allowing her to drop her name and title from marriage certificates that her office issued. The accommodation,...

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest lender, on Tuesday added its voice to a growing protest by major companies against legislation recently passed in some US states targeting gay and transgender people. The bank said in a statement that it would “freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location” by the end of 2017. The decision was “due to state-wide legislation enacted in North Carolina on March 23 that invalidated existing protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fellow citizens in some municipalities and prevents municipalities from adopting such protections in the future,” the...

Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Republican presidential candidate Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) said religious liberty laws that allow refusal of services based on sexual orientation like the ones vetoed in Georgia and passed in North Carolina and Mississippi are unnecessary.

After the network spent days attacking both North Carolina and Mississippi for passing religious freedom laws it labeled “discriminatory,” on Thursday, CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King touted “a major corporate backlash” against Mississippi as “executives from GE, Pepsi, Levi Strauss, and other companies sent a letter yesterday to the Governor Phil Bryant condemning the new law...” In the report that followed, correspondent Mark Strassman promoted one small business owner blasting the measure: “In Jackson, Mississippi, Mitchell Moore owns Campbell's bakery. This Republican says the state's religious freedom law is bad for business.” Moore worried: “...we now have a target...

Republican lawmakers upset about the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage have advanced measures in about a dozen states this year that could strengthen protections for those who refuse on religious grounds to provide services to same-sex couples. The bills could benefit court clerks, photographers, florists, bakers, wedding-hall operators and others who say gay matrimony goes against their beliefs. For a party already being torn apart by the presidential contest, the state legislative efforts have exposed deep rifts between the GOP’s social conservatives and its pro-business wing. Business leaders worry that such measures will allow discrimination and scare away companies...

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has vetoed religious freedom legislation similar to that adopted by the federal government and nearly half of the states, he announced. He says he would have accepted the legislation if it only protected pastors, but can’t countenance the protection of other religious adherents who are not clergy. As with other religious freedom bills, Georgia’s had faced strong opposition from the media and corporations. The media, which tend to be ignorant, at best, of religious freedom, mischaracterized the bill as “anti-gay.” Corporations that manufacture or market their products in China, Saudi Arabia, and other locations with deadly...

Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) signed a new pro-life bill into law Thursday that will, among other things, prevent the abortions of babies diagnosed with a disability or defect. “Some of my most precious moments as governor have been with families of children with disabilities, especially those raising children with Down syndrome,” said Pence. “We are pleased that our state values life no matter an individual’s potential disability, gender or race,” Mike Fichter, president and chief executive of Indiana Right to Life, said in a statement. “We also believe that the other measures in the bill are positive steps forward...

Jobs and the economy are top of mind for voters from both parties this election cycle according to a recent Gallup poll. This is hardly a surprise. But what was a surprise to many is the importance of immigration and free trade as economic issues for working class voters and the level of betrayal they feel with respect to their governments handling of these issues. These voters feel stuck between free trade policies that encourage companies to move good paying jobs outside the U.S. and the failure to enforce our immigration laws allowing people here illegally to take jobs that...

7 reasons Mike Pence will be the GOP nominee in 2016 Updated by Matthew Yglesias on September 30, 2014, 8:30 a.m. ET @mattyglesiasmatt@vox.com Tweet Share on Twitter (191) Share Share on Facebook (1,129) +1 LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn (15) Email Email MikePence.com Don't miss stories. Follow Vox! Early polling tells you almost nothing about presidential nomination battles, since it ends up almost exclusively telling you about name recognition. Early media buzz is similar. People like to read stories about figures they've already heard of, and it's easier to write stories about politicians you've already covered.But you don't need to be a...

A bill seeking to block the U.S. Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling in Tennessee has been defeated in a subcommittee of the state House over concerns about nullifying federal rulings. The five-member panel defeated the measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Mark Pody on a voice vote on Wednesday. Republican Rep. Mike Carter of Chattanooga said that while he disagrees with the high court's ruling, he considered the bill to turn back the ruling a step too far. In Carter's words: "I equate nullification with anarchy."

The “inversion of the original meaning of liberty” in Obergefell v. Hodges, observed Justice Clarence Thomas in dissent, “will likely cause collateral damage to other aspects of our constitutional order that protect liberty . . . It appears all but inevitable that [civil and religious marriage] will come into conflict.”In Obergefell’s aftermath, it is possible that the government will ask religious institutions to choose between retaining their non-profit tax status and retaining their beliefs. But the “collateral damage” will not stop at their sanctuary doors. Many churches, synagogues, and mosques also operate schools, and they will be the next targets. Of the 30,000 private schools in...

"All Robert and I want is the freedom to peacefully live and work faithfully on our family farm and according to what God says about marriage without fear of government punishment. The America we love is one where we respect each other's differences, and the government still protects the freedom to have those differences. Others have the freedom to say or not say what they want to about marriage, and that's all we are asking for, as well." -Cynthia Gifford (New York)—[CBN News] A New York court has upheld a state decision to fine a farm couple for refusing to...

Which is obvious to anyone not intentionally misreading it. The real news here is not that Antonin Scalia said this, but that it’s the slightest bit controversial. But that’s not something that happened overnight. The secular left and their media servants have spent decades pushing the idea that the establishment clause is about protecting the non-religious from maniacal Jesus freaks - especially the nightmare scenario in which the Jesus freaks get a job with any public entity and are guided in any decision by biblical principles. Scalia is a man who actually knows about the founding of the nation and...

Now that gay marriage is here, you didn’t think that would be the end of things, did you? The Column reports on colleges and universities that have sought, and in most cases received, religious exemptions from Title IX requirements. The story frames these schools as bigot colleges (“Training schools to discriminate”). Excerpts: Nearly three dozen religious institutions of higher learning have asked the federal government to waive laws that protect LGBT students, according to government documents obtained by The Column. The schools are asking the U.S. Department of Education to waive portions of Title IX that might apply to students...

Influential GOP consultant and policy adviser Karl Rove says former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would be the perfect running mate for whoever wins the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. And at the very least, Rove adds in an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV, the GOP's vice presidential pick should be a Midwesterner to maximize the Republican ticket's drawing power. "It would be good to have somebody from the Midwest. I've got an out-of-the-box idea for you, how about the former governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels," Rove said Wednesday on "Newsmax Prime" with J.D. Hayworth. "[He's] done an exemplary job serving in...