Free Republic

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D.-Ill.) said she was “unaware” that the preventive services regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued under the Obamacare law requires health care plans to offer free sterilizations to girls as young as their teens. However, back in March, Schakowsky did acknowledge that the mandate offers sterilizations free of charge to college-age women, stressing that the HHS rules were designed to “protect the health of women, women of all ages.” The HHS regulation, which takes effect on Aug. 1, requires nearly all health care plans in the United States to provide, without

Sally Ride showed Generation X girls the sky’s the limit — literally. We could do anything boys could do and sometimes better. If we wanted to go into space, our gender couldn’t — and wouldn’t — stop us. If we studied hard enough and trained our brains, the glass ceiling could be shattered. Amid all the girl power that Ride taught women, one barrier the first American woman in space chose not to break was sexuality. When she died on Monday at age 61 from pancreatic cancer, it emerged that Ride had a partner. As one friend on Facebook wrote,...

[A] Chicago official has pledged to block the fast-food chain from opening in his district amid a heated national debate over the place of the gay marriage debate in corporate America. . . . The company’s offense? President Dan Cathy’s comments . . . that he is “guilty as charged” of defining marriage [traditionally]. In other words, he’s not in favor of gay marriage. “If you are discriminating . . . I don't want you in the 1st Ward," Moreno told the Tribune . . . “Because of this man’s ignorance, I will now be denying Chick-fil-A’s permit to open...

On the heels of Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's controversial public comments against same-sex marriage, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino fired off a letter to Cathy, urging him to abandon plans to expand the fast food chain to his city.

I'm going to turn into a real fatty...I tend to stay out of this fight because I don't see much value in having it if people are choosing a more secular world view. The fight for "traditional values" should start with tackling why people are choosing not to have faith anymore.That said, support or opposition to gay marriage is beside the point here. People running a business are entitle to their opinion, and it shouldn't have to agree with your own...If you don't want them to have your money, that's totally fine! Don't patronize their business, but this boycott and...

ABC's The View honored Roseanne Barr with a guest-host spot on July 19, which shows they probably aren't in the habit of evaluating her sanity based on her Twitter rants. Take her wishing cancer on Chick-Fil-A fans this morning:

I never thought that by eating Cheerios for breakfast I would be supporting gay marriage. Your decision to pander to same-sex marriage activists has forced me to choose between your food products and my conscience. As long as food is produced by other companies my conscience is going to win out over the desire for another bowl of Lucky Charms. Until you stop supporting this radical social agenda I must, in good conscience, look for substitutes that I can purchase instead of the following brands. Betty CrockerGood EarthMuir GlenBig G CerealsGreen GiantNature ValleyBisquickHaagen-DazsOld El PasoBuglesHamburger HelperPillsburyCascadian FarmJus-RolPillsbury Atta CheeriosKixProgressoChexKnack &...

Citing an anti-“same sex marriage” stance by its corporate ownership, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has vowed to block Chick-fil-A restaurants in Beantown, the Boston Herald reported Thursday. “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion,” the Herald quoted the mayor. “It doesn’t send the right message to the country. We’re a leader when it comes to social justice and opportunities for all.” That would be for all except those who disagree with the mayor’s political...

A host of new phrases have been included but an omission has drawn attention Continue reading the main story Related Stories The man who helped 'simplify' Chinese China-Taiwan joint dictionary challenge China bans English words in media A newly published edition of one of China's most authoritative dictionaries has already been criticised by rights campaigners. They complain that it has excluded a definition widely used by homosexuals in China for "gay". The word is "tongzhi", whose primary meaning is "comrade", a form of address beloved of Communists for decades. One of the compilers said they did not want to draw...

[Legal press release; full article at gay site, "On Top".] Google, Ebay, Microsoft, Starbucks, Electronic Arts (EA) and Zynga are among the 70 companies, professional organizations and municipalities opposed to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages. The employers filed an amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to find portions of the act unconstitutional in Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management: “DOMA presents a number of problems for businesses like EA, as it creates regulatory, tax, and discrimination complications for employers, and that's why we're standing against it,” gamemaker...

A convicted sex abuser who has filed a one million dollar suit against the pro-family group Mass Resistance suffered a setback last week when his motion for a preliminary injunction to silence the group was rejected by the presiding judge. “Maine may not punish, through criminal sanction, an individual’s actions that are protected by the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” wrote District Judge Patricia G. Worth in her decision, signed on July 11. Meanwhile, a police chief that Adam E. Flanders has repeatedly claimed supported his lawsuit and described his sex abuse charge...

It's hard to deny that homosexual "marriage" appears to be a foregone conclusion in America. This is a frightening prospect not only for those of us who understand marriage to be a testimony of the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church, but also for all who value the family and its contribution to the well-being of society and human thriving. And while it's difficult to watch a coordinated, well-funded, well-connected propaganda strategy undermine thousands of years of human history, it's especially disconcerting to witness the use of the civil rights struggle as the vehicle for the strategy.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Some of the loudest cheers at San Diego's gay pride parade were for active-duty troops marching in military dress. Saturday's celebration marks the first time U.S. service members are participating in a gay pride event while decked out in full uniform.

SALT LAKE CITY — A former Boy Scout leader and hospital employee will go to prison for collecting and making child pornography. Third District Judge Robin Reese on Monday sentenced Shawn Thomas Whiting, 34, to a one- to-15-year prison term on four second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Whiting pleaded guilty to the charges in April. He originally faced a total of 20 counts of the same charge, but the 16 additional counts were dismissed in exchange for the man's plea. Reese ordered the man to pay for the cost of counseling for his victims. The Utah...

“Thousands of kids who might have otherwise worked through their pubescent sexual identity issues will be inspired to accept the wrong choice based upon this unscientific, emotionally charged born this way propaganda,” the FFA writes, “What’s brave or kind about telling thousands of sexually frustrated teens that they were born this way when a high percentage of them would have ended up taking the straight heterosexual path for life?”

Once again CNN is cheerleading the fight for gay rights, this time within the Boy Scouts. An effusive Starting Point panel welcomed gay activist Zach Wahls on Wednesday and celebrated his cause of pushing the Boy Scouts towards acceptance of openly-gay scouts and leaders. Wahls is no stranger to CNN, as back in May he was lauded as a "very powerful" activist during a soft interview. On Wednesday, the CNN panel oozed admiration for him. "I'm a big fan. I've followed you for a little while," Starting Point regular Margaret Hoover told him. "You're a wonderful spokesman for the effort...

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) introduced an amendment on Thursday that would ban same-sex marriage on any military facility and prohibit any military chaplain from performing gay marriage ceremonies. The Iowa Republican argued that President Barack Obama and the Secretary of Defense were “contravening” the Defense of Marriage Act by allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages on bases. King said a directive from the Secretary of Defense that said “a military chaplain may officiate any private ceremony on or off a military installation” was “not just permission that’s implied encouragement to conduct same-sex marriages on our military bases conducted by...

With White House confirmation today that President Barack Obama will NOT attend or address the International AIDS Society's XIX International AIDS Conference, which kicks off this Sunday, July 22, 2012 in Washington, DC, advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) expressed surprise and dismay over the President's decision, noting that it sends a discouraging message about the president's view of the importance of HIV/AIDS and his commitment to addressing the pandemic in a meaningful and effective manner.

Jane Pitt, mother of actor Brad Pitt, has been scared into silence by the hate-filled, vulgar and even violent reaction to her public assertion that Barack Obama is “a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage.” Pitt has even been the subject of death threats following her letter to the editor of Missouri’s Springfield News-Leader in which she asserted failure to vote for Republican presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney constituted a vote for Obama. WND spoke briefly with Pitt and asked about the media assault against her for her comments as a private citizen supporting Romney....

Pop diva, actress and producer Jennifer Lopez is developing a lesbian-themed hour-long drama for ABC Family, the network that brought us a positive portrayal of a gay teen on Pretty Little Liars. The thus far untitled series is about a lesbian couple, a cop and a private school teacher, whose world is upended when they take in a “wayward” teen girl and add her to their full house of one biological son and adopted teen twins (one a boy and one a girl), according to Deadline. Star of movies including The Wedding Planner, Monster-In-Law and Out of Sight and a...