Free Republic

We’re in the middle of Banned Books Week — an observance that is troublingly appropriate this year. “The attempts to censor, restrict or ban books in 2024 in the United States continued to surpass pre-pandemic levels, while books with LGBTQ-plus themes dominate the most-challenged list, advocacy groups said in reports released Monday, just as Banned Books Week began,” reports the Washington Post. “The annual event, which will run through Saturday nationwide, seeks to spotlight the value of free and open access to information.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is warning the Francis Howell School District of many constitutional and statutory rights it risks violating if it adopts two anti-transgender policies at today’s meeting. FFRF’s Equal Justice Works Fellow Kat Grant and Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to the district’s board of education that proposed anti-trans policies violate Title IX, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, the First Amendment and Missouri state laws.

A voting rights group says a new Alabama law that expanded the list of felonies that cause a person to lose their right to vote is “out of step” with what is happening in most of the nation on voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. The Campaign Legal Center filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Montgomery Circuit Court seeking to clarify that the new law cannot block people from voting in the November election. The lawsuit argued House Bill 100, which has a Oct. 1 effective date, cannot be used in the upcoming election, because the Alabama Constitution prohibits new election...

I have a six-month old puppy. I believe it to be a possible German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix. My problem is she is filled with energy. She jumps and runs around a lot and me and my spouse can't spend a large chunk of time due to our job schedules. But she also likes to nip and chew. On everything. Including hands. Any suggestions on what to do?

LGBTQ predator Jeffrey Marsh has defenders who know no bounds. First, they went after UK Muslim Shumirun Nessa with threats toward her and her kids after she called Marsh out on TikTok. She backed off, but they're still going after her, and probably won't stop until she's unalived herself. Now comes word a pair of Canadians have decided to file a class action lawsuit against people who have told the truth about Marsh (also on TikTok), saying their sentiments are untrue and hate speech. Now, Marsh lives in California (natch!). But these two people seem to think they can file...

Florida librarians are now required to take an annual training on which books and instructional materials, specifically ones containing pornography and Critical Race Theory (CRT), are allowed within schools, according to the Florida Department of Education. The Florida Department of Education approved a rule Wednesday that mandates librarians be trained to keep material that is sexually explicit and “harmful to minors” out of schools. The training requires librarians to include parents in “all aspects” of choosing materials that enter the school libraries.

Loudoun County parents are speaking out against a resident’s petition that calls to ban hate speech from school board meetings following a school board meeting in which parents lambasted school officials over their handling of a sexual assault case. The petition, signed by several hundred county residents and started by 19-year-old Andrew Pihonak, a Loudoun County resident and member of the LGTBTQ community, calls to “ban hate speech in Loudoun School Board meetings” after a man called homosexuality “immoral” and quoted a violent Bible verse during the public comment period of the Dec. 13 board meeting. Parents present at the...

The family of a 21-year-old college student from Georgia is in mourning after he was killed by a Hancock County sheriff’s deputy in an officer-involved shooting over the weekend. Isaiah Winkley, who was studying cyber security at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, died Saturday morning after Hancock deputies responded to a report of a burglary at 28030 Highway 603 in Kiln, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said in a release.

In the past year alone, the Walt Disney Co. fought Florida over its ant-grooming Parental Rights in Education law, created multiple transgender characters for its children’s shows, put gay characters at the center of its big-budget movies, and even launched an LGBTQ-themed apparel line. And still, Disney isn’t gay enough for the folks at GLAAD.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Homosexual rights advocates sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday to block a new law that forbids classroom instruction on homosexual and transgender topics in kindergarten through third grade. The law states: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” Parents would be able to sue districts over violations. The challenge filed in federal court in Tallahassee on behalf of Equality Florida and Family...

The video posted to TikTok showed a woman in a blue cardigan and brown medical scrubs dancing to a remix of Wale's "Lotus Flower Bomb." On screen, sandwiched between two sparkle emojis, the woman, who said she was a pharmacy technician, had written, "Most common meds I've filled that cause cancer." She then went on to claim medications like hormonal birth control, cholesterol medications and chemotherapy were cancer causing. So, Savannah Sparks, another TikTok user who goes by “Rx0rcist,” made her own video, part of what would become an ongoing series debunking medical misinformation on the app. “My name’s Savannah....

A judge has ruled that body camera footage showing the moments when Andrew Brown Jr. was shot and killed by Pasquotank County deputies won't be released to the public at this time.

A key witness in the trial of an ex-Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd used videos, animations and other imagery to argue that Floyd died of a lack of oxygen that damaged his brain and stopped his heart.

An Oklahoma man who had been released early from prison in January as part of a mass commutation effort is now accused of three killings, including the death of a neighbor whose heart he cut out, authorities said. A judge denied bail Tuesday for Lawrence Paul Anderson, who faces three counts of first-degree murder, one count of assault and one count of maiming for the attack this month in Chickasha, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Oklahoma.

The actress, who was recently booted from 'The Mandalorian,' comes from a powerful clan that owns Eldorado Resorts and recently acquired Caesars Entertainment. “I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them.” That’s how Gina Carano ended a statement responding to her high-profile ouster from UTA and the Star Wars series The Mandalorian while, at the same time, announcing a new film project.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no longer restricted by the Trump administration, issued an extensive federal public health order late Friday requiring all individuals to wear masks over their mouth and nose on nearly all forms of public transportation and private ride-sharing services—and makes refusal to wear a face-covering a violation of federal law.

I seem to remember something that happened a couple years back when someone was bullied into silence by CNN who used Twitter to issue a dox threat. Can anyone help me out?

Apparently according to Twitter multiple sources are saying at approximately midnight last night Trump signed the Insurrection Act, meaning he has invoked it. Can anyone else confirm?

A San Francisco radio host responded to Rep. Devin Nunes' (R-Calif.) claim that liberal media are hostile to Republicans – by threatening to make it his “life’s work” to harass him.

The ACLU and Taylor Swift are squaring off after the singer tried to get an article detailing how white supremacy movements have embraced her lyrics and music videos, and how her silence has exacerbated the matter, pulled from a website. On Monday, the ACLU sent a letter to Swift's legal team arguing that an article posted by PopFront that links the star to the white supremacy movement should not be taken down -- as Swift has requested -- because the writer has the right to free speech.