Free Republic

Almost six in ten Americans say they favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into same-sex marriages, the highest level of support ever recorded in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.In the new survey released Monday, 59 percent of Americans said that they favor same-sex marriages while just 33 percent said they oppose them.View the full poll results here.The numbers have shifted dramatically in the past decade. In 2004, only 30 percent of Americans said they supported same-sex marriage, while 62 percent disagreed. Half of those polled at the time said they strongly opposed allowing gays and lesbians...

Just as it appears all barriers to “same-sex marriage” in America are falling like dominoes, the world gets a glimpse of what’s to come. It was predictable. I predicted it. Justice Antonin Scalia predicted it. And it’s here – at least as a grand “fairytale” experiment in Thailand. Three avowedly homosexual men got hitched in Thailand on Valentine’s Day in what they refer to as a “fairytale ceremony.” That’s right – three men, one so-called “marriage.” Given the speed at which “same-sex marriage” has reached acceptance by government, judges, the media, the pop culture and cultural institutions, I’m actually surprised...

In a Facebook post following his interview with CNN’s “New Day,” Dr. Ben Carson issued a statement, apologizing for saying people who change their sexual orientation after going to jail shows that “being gay is a choice.” […] “I support human rights and Constitutional protections for gay people, and I have done so for many years. I support civil unions for gay couples, and I have done so for many years. I support the right of individual states to sanction gay marriage, and I support the right of individual states to deny gay marriage in their respective jurisdictions,” Carson said....

Montgomery, AL – In a historic ruling, the Supreme Court of Alabama in a 7-1 decision has affirmed natural marriage and ordered Alabama’s probate judges to immediately stop issuing illegal marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The ruling represents a significant shift of momentum in the same-sex marriage agenda, and is a direct challenge to the orders of U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade, who in January purported to overturn Alabama’s marriage laws. The ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court offers the most forceful and clearly articulated rebuttal to date of the imaginative arguments for same-sex “marriage” employed by federal courts....

After 500 comments about his prison-sex theory of orientation, I figured you’d be interested in an update. Having taken a ferocious beating in the media for the better part of a day, Carson finally says no mas: “I also believe that our Constitution protects everybody, regardless of their beliefs, and that includes people who are gay,” Mr. Carson continued. “I have no problem with them doing whatever they want to do. I’m just not willing to change the definition of marriage for anybody, because once you do that, you have to change it for everyone else who comes along....

Washington (CNN)Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson apologized for commenting Wednesday that prisoners' changes after they leave jail proves being gay is a choice, but said that the science is still murky on the issue. In a statement, Carson said he "realized that my choice of language does not reflect fully my heart on gay issues." "I do not pretend to know how every individual came to their sexual orientation. I regret that my words to express that concept were hurtful and divisive. For that I apologize unreservedly to all that were offended," he added. 

By Fox News. Potential 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson apologized Wednesday for saying homosexuality was a lifestyle choice.“I do not pretend to know how every individual came to their sexual orientation,” Carson said on his Facebook page late Wednesday afternoon. “I regret that my words to express that concept were hurtful and divisive. For that I apologize unreservedly to all that were offended.” Carson, a neurosurgeon, was attempting to clarify comments he made earlier in the day to Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day” show. “A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and...

Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and potential Republican presidential candidate, said Wednesday that “a lot of people who go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay.” The remarks were made on CNN’s “New Day” in response to a question from host Chris Cuomo, who asked if Carson thought being gay was a “choice.” “Absolutely,” Carson replied. Asked why, he went on to explain his prison theory. “So did something happen while they were in there?” he said. “Ask yourself that question.”

Few things make me shudder quite like hearing someone use the phrase "traditional marriage" unironically. — Katherine Timpf (@KatTimpf) February 27, 2015 This is one of those tiny but telling things. Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online. She’s a Millennial, a Hillsdale grad, and has published lots of things in right-of-center publications. And she’s a libertarian. One is not at all surprised to find libertarians, especially libertarians in their twenties, supporting same-sex marriage. Nor is one surprised to find libertarians working at National Review. What I find startling, but a sign of the times, is that a...

Rob Bell, the widely popular and controversial former megachurch pastor, is now convinced that a church doesn’t support same-sex marriage will "continue to be even more irrelevant." Bell made the comments on an episode of Oprah Winfrey's "Super Soul Sunday," where he appeared with his wife Kristen to talk about religion and spirituality. "One of the oldest aches in the bones of humanity is loneliness," Bell said. "Loneliness is not good for the world. Whoever you are, gay or straight, it is totally normal, natural and healthy to want someone to go through life with. It's central to our humanity....

A gay couple are considering taking legal action after a luxury hotel on Loch Lomond allegedly refused to consider hosting their wedding because of their sexual orientation. John and Stephen Devaney, from Baillieston in Glasgow, said the owner of the Loch Lomond Waterfront, Suzanne Cottam, “ushered us out” after they said they were looking for a wedding venue. Cottam declined requests for an interview but the hotel released a statement firmly denying the Devaneys’ allegations, describing them as false and “seriously defamatory” claims that had led to a surge in abusive calls to the hotel. In the latest row about...

It seems that Rob Bell and Oprah Winfrey are pretty good friends these days. Bell has appeared on Oprah’s show numerous times, and just recently appeared, along with his wife Kristen, on her “Super Soul Sunday” episode over Valentine’s Day weekend. Their appearance was designed to promote their new book, The ZimZum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage (HarperOne: 2014). Now, I have to confess that I have no idea what the main title means. But, the subtitle is pretty bold. Given that marriage dates back to the very creation of mankind in Genesis, do we really need...

States are caving into homosexual demands and asking their residents to abandon the reality that marriage is intended solely for a man and a woman Something very unpleasant is occurring in America. Those who have a strong religious faith are being denied the right to say “no” based on its teachings and values. This is particularly true these days as homosexuals, barely three percent of the population, demand that they be accommodated when their demand runs counter to thousands of years of what has been deemed moral behavior and, for many, still is. When it comes to marriage. Gays insist...

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has offered florist Barronelle Stutzman a deal: She can cater to same-sex weddings or she can stop doing weddings altogether. Of course, there’s always a third option: She can go out of business. Ms. Stutzman, the 70-year-old owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, is opting for none of the above. “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about,” Ms. Stutzman said in a letter to Mr. Ferguson. “It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything...

The head of the Log Cabin Republicans has been invited to speak on a panel at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, the pro-gay rights group announced Monday. Executive Director Gregory Angelo said he will be speaking on a panel called “Putin’s Russia: A New Cold War?” alongside Seth Cropsey, Cliff May, Amanda Brickell Bellows and potential 2016 candidate Carly Fiorina. The announcement comes after days of back and forth between the Log Cabin Republicans and the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC. “There has been a great deal of confusion over the last 48 hours regarding Log Cabin Republicans’...

A Washington grandmother and florist of 40 years who refused to service gay weddings because of her faith will now be forced to arrange flowers for gay ceremonies, a judge ruled Wednesday. On top of that, the woman, Barronelle Stutzman, will have to pay the legal penalties imposed by the judge as well as attorney’s fees. Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom ruled in a summary judgement that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. Ekstrom ruled that the gay couple could collect penalties not just from her business, but also from her personally, according to Alliance Defending Freedom,...

Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant were married this morning in Austin. The county clerk issued the couple a same-sex marriage license based on a court order. The order, the county clerk's office confirms, will only apply to this one couple, one of whom is "medically fragile." [See the judge's order here.] "I am happily following the court order, but the court order only applies to this one couple," says Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir. "And it is based on the idea that there are circumstances with this couple…one of them is medically fragile and they may not survive the...

Says state, same-sex couple can demand home, savings as damages A judge in Washington on Wednesday authorized the “personal ruin” of a florist whose Christian faith prevented her from promoting a same-sex wedding and who was sued by both the state and the homosexual couple. Officials with the Alliance Defending Freedom confirmed that Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom granted a summary judgment in the case against Barronelle Stutzman, so the case won’t proceed to trial now. It had been scheduled for March 23. It was Ekstrom who said last month that Stutzman personally was liable for the claims...

In the name of anti-discrimination, the City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina is poised to discriminate against people of conservative moral values, also imposing the struggles of a tiny minority on every man, woman, and child who lives or works in Charlotte or might happen to visit the city. It’s wake up time, Charlotte! It’s not too late to make a change. According to an in-depth review by a team of lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a new bill, which the City Council will vote on after a public meeting on Monday, February 23rd, “does not contain adequate safeguards...

Dave forwards to the HB a comment from a friend, who shall remain anonymous: I have a personal relationship with Christ but my Christ is not an ass and He wants everyone to do what makes them happy including gays being allowed to marry This statement is rich with false assumptions and error but will reward us for paying some attention to it because it captures the “spirit of the age” (Zeitgeist) perfectly. If we understand what this statement says and implies and why it is fundamentally and thoroughly false we may avoid being taken “captive by philosophy and empty...