Free Republic

A conservative New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat, writes that it's perhaps only a matter of time when same-sex marriage becomes legal in all 50 states, ruminating on what it might be like for those who believe in traditional marriage when that happens. The Supreme Court is likely to be "forced to acknowledge the logic of its own jurisprudence" on same-sex marriage and redefine marriage to include gay couples in all states, writes Douthat, former senior editor at The Atlantic, in an op-ed piece for the Times. This will finish the national debate but the country will remain divided, with...

Less than 24 hours after Arizona’s governor vetoed a bill that had been criticized as anti-gay, similar legislation in Georgia and Mississippi are hitting new roadblocks. Georgia state senator Josh McKoon conceded on Thursday that support for his religious-freedom bill is evaporating, 11Alive Atlanta reports. He told the Huffington Post that a committee vote on his legislation, previously scheduled for next Monday, has been taken off the calendar. McKoon said his bill merely protects religious rights of Georgia residents, but critics argued it would allow business owners to refuse services to gays based on religious beliefs. In Mississippi, the state...

The Born “Gay” Hoax By 1985, the pro-sodomy movement The born “gay” hoax was invented in 1985 by Marshall Kirk and Dr. Hunter Madsen. Marshall Kirk graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1980 majoring in psychology and went on to become a writer and researcher in neuropsychiatry. Dr. Hunter Madsen earned a PhD in politics from Harvard University in 1985, then went on to become an expert on public persuasion tactics, social marketing, and has designed commercial marketing on Madison Avenue. He has also served as a consultant to pro-sodomy media campaigns across America. In 1985, Marshall Kirk...

epublican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slapped down the right wing of her own party, vetoing a bill pushed by social conservatives that would have allowed people with sincerely held religious beliefs to refuse to serve gays....

http://www.azgovernor.gov/dms/upload/GS_022614_SB1062Remarks.pdf

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge in San Antonio has declared Texas' ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, however, also issued a stay, meaning the ban stays in effect for the time being. One lesbian couple had to go to Massachusetts to get married, and they want Texas to recognize the union. A second gay couple have a courtship of 17 years and want to get married here in their home state.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is likely to veto the state’s controversial measure that could allow businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbians due to religious beliefs, according to three people close to the governor and familiar with her thinking. One of those is longtime Brewer political adviser Chuck Coughlin, who told NBC News: “It’s been her proclivity in the past to focus on the priorities she wants them [the legislature] to accomplish, and this was clearly not part of her agenda.” “She doesn’t want to take any actions that could jeopardize the economic momentum we’ve seen here in Arizona,”...

it’s sad that this is a news headline, that it took this long, that this is reality. But hey, let’s be happy about it instead — someone had to break the ice! M.K. Nobilette, 20, is officially the first openly gay contestant on American Idol. It’s really just a crazy technicality: Gay contestants in the past had never spoken of their sexuality on camera, seemingly by the show’s design. “I’m very obviously gay, and there are always gonna be people in America and everywhere else who will definitely hate me,” said Nobilette while waiting to hear her Hollywood Week fate...

A University of Missouri star projected to be drafted into the NFL looks set to become the first publicly gay pro football player. According to interviews with The New York Times and on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program on Sunday, All-American defensive lineman Michael Sam said he told his teammates last year, “I’m gay.”

The federal government will soon treat married same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court or visit family in prison. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was preparing to issue policies aimed at eliminating the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal criminal justice system, according to excerpts from a speech prepared for a Saturday event organized by a prominent gay-rights group. “In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive...

In America, Carine can hold Gertrude's hand and not be beaten. It's amazing to them both. On Market Street in San Francisco, they can push their baby in a stroller and not be spit upon for being witches or demons of sin - as lesbians are back in their home villages in Cameroon. In that West African country, being convicted of homosexuality brings years of prison, just as it does in Uganda, Afghanistan and 74 other nations. That's why Carine and Gertrude have fled to America, as have an increasing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people each year...

Kicker Conner Mertens of Willamette (Oregon) University became the first active college football player to publicly come out as LGBT this week when he told his coach, followed by his team, followed by the world via social media, that he is bisexual. According to outsports.com, Mertens received an overwhelming show of support from coach Glen Fowles and teammates. Mertens also wrote a letter to his hometown of Kennewick, Wash., and published it on his Twitter account. "I'm bisexual," Mertens reportedly told Fowles. "I like dudes. I have a boyfriend. And next week, I'm going to tell the world."

“American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken is preparing to run for Congress as a Democrat in North Carolina’s 2nd District, multiple Democratic sources confirmed to CQ Roll Call. But his candidacy is being met with skepticism by some Tar Heel State Democrats, who are holding out hope of making it a race in this Republican-leaning district. Aiken, a Raleigh native, is looking to take on second-term GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers in the central North Carolina district, which President Barack Obama lost by 15 points in 2012. Raleigh-based WRAL reported Thursday that Aiken is building a campaign team and is expected to...

An ex-scoutmaster who admitted to molesting his son’s teenage friends and fellow troop members for years at his Keswick home pleaded guilty to 36 felony sex crimes Wednesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court. David Brian Watkins, now 50, entered into an agreement with prosecutors that shields him from additional local or federal charges and calls for an active term of 30 years and five months in prison. The agreement “provides closure for … very promising young men who can now get on with their lives,” Assistant Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Darby Lowe said after the hearing. “The young men would have...

The victim was an elderly woman who was invited by the Iraqis for what she believed to be lemonade; and what occurred afterwards, the woman cannot even remember.

Six South Florida couples who want to get married, but can't because they're gay, said Tuesday they're filing a lawsuit against the state seeking to overturn the Sunshine State's ban on same-sex marriage. Ten of the 12 plaintiffs, along with the gay rights group Equality Florida and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, announced the filing of their case at a news conference at the Lesbian and Gay Victor Center in Miami Beach.

An 11-year-old autistic Middleboro boy’s claim that he was sexually assaulted by another youth inside his foster home was dismissed as “consensual” sex by child welfare officials charged with protecting him, in a stunning case the boy’s family and school officials charge was plagued by missteps by the embattled Department of Children and Families. According to DCF investigative reports, police reports and letters, the boy — then 11 but with the cognitive ability of a 5- or 6-year-old, his father told police — was allegedly sexually assaulted by another youth in the foster home while the parents slept during the...

"They're more pervert in a sense. To me, the show would be too strong, too hard to watch on TV," said the reality star. ABC's latest Bachelor says he doesn't think that there should be a gay or bisexual person on the broadcast reality television show and described gays as "more pervert in a sense" in a new interview. Juan Pablo Galavis, the 32-year-old star of The Bachelor who also appeared on the most recent season of The Bachelorette, made the remarks in an interview with The TV Page's Sean Daly, who posted audio of the comments. The writer asked...

WASHINGTON – Homosexual websites are abuzz tonight with efforts to “out” Rep. Aaron Shock, R-Illinois. Shock, who has repeatedly denied rumors he is “gay,” was not reachable for comment. The campaign began with a Facebook posting by former CBS News contributor Itay Hod, who also contributes to Salon, TMZ, Out Magazine and the Daily Beast. Hod offered a post about a hypothetical GOP congressman from Illinois who opposed repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation, opposed the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and supported the federal marriage amendment. “We’ve been so effective at convincing everyone that outing people...