Free Republic

WASHINGTON—The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada, setting the stage for legal gay marriages in five more Western states. The unanimous decision comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand lower-court rulings that ended bans in five other states, a move that effectively expanded the right to gay marriage to 30 U.S. states. The Ninth Circuit decision will apply to five states with marriage bans in that appellate circuit, likely expanding to 35 the number of states with legal same-sex marriage.

Throughout our nation’s history, the Church has been a force for good in America and abroad. But over the last 50 years, government has systematically eroded our free speech and religious expression. The Bible and the Gospel have been banished from our public schools and our public squares. With more than 75% of Americans calling themselves Christians, it’s time for the Church to rise up and take action to turn the tide in our nation! We have the numbers and we have a voice. If we are silent, we have no one to blame but ourselves for a Godless America.

As pro-family and pro-life advocates gather in Rome this week to have their voices heard during the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family, so too are the world’s homosexualist leaders. “LGBT” Catholic activists from Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Portugal, the US, Chile, Switzerland, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Russia, Italy and Britain are expected to participate in a series of conference, forums and press gatherings sponsored by a wide array of well-funded international organisations, including the European Union. A coalition of “Italian Christian LGBT groups” organised by the Forum of Homosexual, Bisexual and Transsexual Italian Christians (FCOI)...

Over the last few days, Cardinal Burke made a few noteworthy statements about the dust up around the Chair of Peter. Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, said in a conference call with journalists on Tuesday that he found it “amazing” that Cardinal Kasper claimed to speak for the Pope. The Pope doesn’t have laryngitis. The Pope is not mute. He can speak for himself. If this is what he wants, he will say so,” Cardinal Burke said. “But for me as a cardinal to say that what I am saying are the words of Pope Francis? That to...

This week my denomination, through its executive committee, voted to "disfellowship" a congregation in California that has acted to affirm same-sex sexual relationships. This sad but necessary move is hardly surprising, since this network of churches shares a Christian sexual ethic with all orthodox Christians of every denomination for 2,000 years. One of the arguments made by some, though, is that this is hypocritical since so many ministers in our tradition marry people who have been previously divorced. The argument is that conservative Protestants already embrace a "third way" because we've done so on divorce. Couples divorce, sometimes remarry others,...

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams released defensive end Michael Sam on Saturday, according to multiple league sources. Sam's efforts to become the first openly gay player in NFL history came up just short in a competition against undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks. Westbrooks is one of nine defensive linemen to land a roster spot. Sam officially hit waivers Saturday at 4 p.m. ET when all NFL teams had to trim their rosters down to the league-mandated 53 players. From there, the other 31 teams will have 24 hours to put in a claim for Sam.

Gay bathhouses that once remained in the shadows to stay in business are now seeking attention to keep their doors open. Some are doing aggressive online advertising and community outreach. Others tout their upscale amenities like plush towels and marble baths. A bathhouse in Ohio has even added hotel rooms and a nightclub. […] In the heyday of bathhouses in the late 1970s, there were nearly 200 gay bathhouses in cities across the U.S., but by 1990, the total had dropped to approximately 90, according to Damron, the publisher of an annual gay travel guide. In the last decade, bathhouses,...

Burke, who came out to team-mates in the 1970s and to the public in 1982, died of AIDS in 1995 aged just 42.More than two decades after Glenn Burke abruptly retired from Major League Baseball, the former LA Dodgers outfielder will be honored at Tuesday night’s all-star game as one of the few professional athletes to have come out. Burke's four-and-a-half year career is remembered for his charismatic attitude and the pressures he faced as a gay athlete in the late 1970s. Burke, who played for the Dodgers and the Oakland A's, was the first professional ball player to come...

On July 16, comic character Archie Andrews, of Life With Archie, will die after being shot while protecting gay friend Kevin Keller. Keller is "Archie Comics' first openly gay character."

BJ Barone and Frankie Nelson recently became dads to a beautiful baby named Milo, and Canadian photographer Lindsay Foster captured the first time they held their newborn son. Heartstrings of people all over the world were tugged by these amazing, intimate moments, and the photos have since become viral.

A Kentucky church that hired a pastor with full knowledge that he's a registered sex offender, is now the scene of an another alleged crime in which the minister is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy who attended the church. Roy Neal Yoakem, who leads the New Gospel Outreach Church in Scottsville, Kentucky, allegedly raped a 14-year-old boy at the church and police believe that another incident occurred in a nearby town, reported WSMV. "He's a predator and he doesn't need to be on the street. I'm glad we got him," Detective Chad Keen told WBKO. According to Keen,...

I’ve often made the point that every advance of the homosexual agenda comes at the expense of religious liberty. We as a society must choose between homosexuality and liberty because we cannot have both. Where homosexuality advances, liberty retreats. For example, I have already written about the cop in Utah who essentially has been fired because he did not want to literally lead a gay pride parade. His reservations about homosexuality are religious in nature, but regardless of the Constitution’s guarantee of the “free exercise” of religion, he was forced to choose between homosexual pride and his own conscience. He...

In 2008, Florida voters amended their state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In response to a recent challenge to this provision, and in keeping with my sworn duty to uphold the laws of the land, my office recently filed a legal brief defending the voters' decision.

The attorney general of Florida says in court documents that recognizing same sex marriages performed in other states would disrupt existing marriage laws and "impose significant public harm." Eight gay couples and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state in federal court in March. The lawsuit argues Florida is discriminating against the couples by not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican who was named in the lawsuit along with fellow GOP Gov. Rick Scott and other state officials, earlier this month filed a lengthy response that asks a federal...

FARGO, N.D., May 14 (UPI) --A North Dakota elementary school will not be allowing the young men and women in a first-grade class to perform YMCA at a talent show because a parent dubbed the planned performance "racist." Students at Bennett Elementary School in Fargo were supposed to sing the famous Village People song during a May talent show. The kids were supposed to come up dressed up like members of the '70s group - a policeman, a cowboy, a biker, a construction worker and a Native American. Parent Elaine Bolman found it offensive that her daughter or her classmates...

Once, Social Security was the "third rail" of politics. Touch it and face political death. Now it is homosexuality. Criticize anything gay people do and you risk ostracism, fines, suspension or loss of your livelihood. Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be drafted by a National Football League team -- the St. Louis Rams picked him 249th in the last round -- is being treated by the media and those in the gay rights movement as the equivalent of an early American pioneer. Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones, apparently, didn't get the memo. Jones tweeted "OMG" and "horrible"...

BOISE — Same-sex couples could flood county courthouses Friday morning, seeking to exercise a newly declared right to marry in Idaho. A Tuesday evening ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale striking down Idaho’s 2006 constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage takes effect at 9 a.m. Friday. Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/05/13/3183291/judge-rules-idaho-gay-marriage.html?sp=/99/1687/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Michael Sam’s Rams jersey is flying off the shelves at NFLShop.com, with the No. 249th pick out-selling the draft’s top overall pick. The jersey is the second best-seller among players drafted over the weekend, trailing only Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who got a two-day head start on the former SEC co-defensive player of the year. Sam, who became the first openly-gay player selected in the NFL draft...

A woman has filed a lawsuit in Michigan federal court claiming Magic Johnson gave her the AIDS virus in June 1990...

The handsome football player gets drafted by an NFL team, plants an emotional kiss on his sweetheart and gives sportscasts an emotional feel-good video clip....