Free Republic

Brian Cornell, the chairman and CEO of Target, took several questions from disgruntled audience members at the annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday concerning the retail giant’s stance on transgender bathroom and fitting room access. Justin Danhof, who heads the Free Enterprise Project and was in attendance at the meeting, asked Mr. Cornell whether he believes those who oppose the company’s stance are bigots. “Didn’t answer the question,” Mr. Danhof said of the business executive’s response. “He gave a vacuous statement on, ‘We believe in diversity, we believe in inclusion, and everyone should feel safe in our stores.’” “‘Support inclusivity, support...

In a recent disquieting article for the New York Times, Choire Sicha investigates a curious new challenge for gyms: Some men want to shower and change without ever being publicly nude, and they expect their gyms to build locker rooms that accommodate that desire. Drawing upon the experiences of gym managers and architects, Sicha explains that over the last quarter-century, men have grown increasingly uneasy with being naked in the locker room. While older men generally remain comfortable being undressed among others, younger ones insist on maximum privacy, pining for a way to strip, shower, and change clothes without even...

<p>On Friday a producer and former CBS reporter named Itay Hod put up a Facebook post intended to out Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock. The tabloid media, for years, has played a game with the young Republican—wink-wink stories about his photoshoot for a men's health magazine, the sexy celebrities he follows on Twitter, stuff like that.</p>

Airport Lakes Park near Orlando International Airport was recently the target of an undercover sex sting. Orlando’s Special Victims Unit received enough complaints that it launched a sting where undercover cops caught at least eight people for indecent conduct. Investigators said men were having sex on the trails and inside the men's bathroom. Investigators also said they found condoms along the hiking trail, which is not far from the children's playground.

Pardon the age of this item, but it's on an issue of campaign history. On March 13, NPR Fresh Air host Terry Gross interviewed new CNN host Jake Tapper about politics and journalism, and whether there was blowback from presidents and candidates over tough questions. But Gross felt compelled to bring up the "lies" told about John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign -- without expressing anything specific. Tapper said he was assigned as a Swift Boat Veteran fact checker by ABC. Gross said, "So you were fact-checking some of the Swift Boat attacks against presidential candidate John Kerry. There...

Prostitution is both legal and widespread in the Dominican Republic, where as many as 100,000 women are part of the industry in a nation that has become a major sex-tourism hotspot of the Caribbean. So it would not be a crime for Sen. Robert Menendez to have availed himself of such services during his trips to the Dominican Republic, as has been alleged.Menendez has strenuously denied patronizing prostitutes, however, denouncing the accusations Monday in a CNN interview as “smears that right-wing blogs have been pushing since the election.” Any claim that Menendez consorted with hookers during his D>. ominican holidays...

Conservatives are always told they don't do enough to reach across the aisle. We're divisive, obstructionist and hostile to bipartisanship. So in the spirit of unity and comity, I'm announcing the formation of a new social justice group: Ladies Against Senator Sleaze-Bob. Now all I need are some principled Democratic ladies and liberal media lionesses to step up to the plate with me to protest the vulgar, sexist behavior of Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. Surely, Nancy Pelosi, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Cher, Sandra Fluke, Eva Longoria and I can all agree that when a powerful Washington politician abuses his power to...

In a little-noticed email published online Wednesday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a young Dominican woman wrote nine months ago that she slept with 59-year-old New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez at a series of sex parties organized by Dr. Salomon Melgen, a longtime Menendez campaign donor. “That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls,” the woman wrote on April 21, 2002, according to an English translation provided to The Daily Caller by a native Spanish speaker. “In the beginning he seemed so serious, because he never spoke to anyone, but he is just like...

The media are not covering this story despite the FBI agent in the emails saying that most of the information has been confirmed. If the allegations are true Menendez could be prosecuted under the 2003 PROTECT ACT making travel and having sex with minors knowingly or not a federal offense with up to 30 years in prison. DOCUMENTS published online for the first time Thursday indicate that the FBI opened an inquiry into New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on August 1, 2012, focusing on repeated trips he took to the Dominican Republic with longtime campaign contributor and Miami eye...

— Columbia University has a “director of the center for gender and sexuality law” by the name of Katherine Franke who is considered an authority on sexual matters by The New York Times. Her position seems to be that recent scandals in the news are not really scandalous, except in terms of being sensationalized and overblown by the media. She told the paper that Kevin Clash and David Petraeus were victims of a “sex panic” when they resigned from their respective positions. The Times story written by Elizabeth Jensen and Brian Stelter is noteworthy for the claim that Clash, the...

Is Obama gay? When I first heard a few days ago that Obama might be gay, my initial reaction was, that's ridiculous. He's married, has two kids, and he's never set off my gaydar. I had read a few years ago about Larry Sinclair, who claimed he had given Obama oral sex when Obama was a state senator. But at the time I just figured that any famous person is bound to attract a few loonies who will say anything to get publicity. But after I read the article linked two posts ago (and directly below), I started reading more...

There are serious discussions underway among Republican legislators to take up a motion to expel Rep. Kerry Gauthier, DFL-Duluth during today's special session. GOP House Majority Leader Matt Dean said removing Gauthier is "a possibility" when asked about discussions to expel the first-term member. Dean said any member can make a motion when the Legislature convenes for the Special Session at 2 p.m. The House would need 90 votes to take up the resolution, meaning a block of DFLers would have to agree that Gauthier's conduct was severe enough that he needs to be removed from office. It would also...

Continuing his makeover from Republican to independent U.S. Senate candidate, Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday affirmed his support for civil unions, adoption by same-sex couples, and doing away with the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. Equality Florida, the state's leading gay rights group, called Crist's statement on a range of gay issues "the most comprehensive, pro-LGBT equality stand of a sitting governor in Florida's history." Crist's Democratic opponent for Senate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, called it "too little too late." He and the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, noted the governor had backed a 2008 amendment to the state constitution...

Craig Accepting Applications for Summer Interns Deadline Quickly Approaching WASHINGTON, D.C. - Idaho Senator Larry Craig is currently seeking intern applications for the summer term, which runs from May to August. The application deadline is March 15, however if more time is needed for the application process, please contact Senator Craig's office for an extension. Craig offers paid internships within the Washington, D.C., office. Preference is given to Idaho applicants attending Idaho schools who are in their junior or senior years of college (including graduating seniors). '"Interns have the chance to be an essential part of a working congressional office,"...

Chafee quietly quits the GOP 01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, September 16, 2007 By Bruce Landis Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — Lincoln D. Chafee, who lost his Senate seat in the wave of anti-Republican sentiment in last November’s election, said yesterday that he has left the party. Chafee said he disaffiliated with the party he had helped lead, and his father had led before him, because the national Republican Party has gone too far away from his stance on too many critical issues, from war to economics to the environment. “It’s not my party any more,” he said. Chafee’s departure...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a new videotape Friday, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end, according to a transcript obtained by ABC News. The videotape appeared to have been recently made, since bin Laden refers to the Democratic victory in COngress and to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected in May. "I invite you to embrace Islam," bin Laden said, according to a transcript posted by ABC News on its Web site. "It will also achieve your desire...

WASHINGTON — Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate Saturday after pressure from fellow Republicans to step down after an arrest in a men's room sex sting, according to a report. Craig decided to resign with plans to make the announcement on Saturday, the Associated Press reported. Craig will hold a news conference in Boise on Saturday, his spokesman, Dan Whiting said, but he would not say whether the three-term senator planned to step down. Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, however, appeared to have settled on a successor: Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, according to several Republicans familiar with...

Pressure on Larry Craig continues to mount as the national Republican Party apparatus builds an intense behind-the-scenes effort to suggest and perhaps order a resignation from the embattled Idaho senator...