Free Republic

Homeless shelters have become the latest battleground in the national debate over transgender rights. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is expected in September to finalize regulations that would allow people to stay in homeless shelters based on the gender they identify with. The proposal has set off a firestorm, pitting LGBT groups against religious organizations that operate many homeless shelters. “Transgender women are women regardless of whether they were born male,” said David Stacy, government affairs director at the Human Rights Campaign. “If you’re a transgender woman and you walk into a homeless shelter and they treat...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s food police have struck again! Outlawed are food donations to homeless shelters because the city can’t assess their salt, fat and fiber content, reports CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

In 1980, my mother tells me, she made the decision to divorce my father. She believed her decision was the right one for her and her girls. Her mother, Mamoo, was supportive. She offered to clear her tenant out of her duplex in Columbus, Ga., so we could move in, but my mother declined. We would be fine, she said, and we were. My mom, sister and I moved from outside Washington, D.C., to Carrollton, Ga. Mom got a job at a small business; my sister and I went on to graduate from high school and then college. I continued...

Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired. Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email. The tough part is managing this digital lifestyle from his residence under a highway bridge. "You don't need a TV. You don't need a radio. You don't even need a newspaper," says Mr. Pitts, an aspiring poet in a purple cap and yellow fleece jacket, who says he has been homeless for two years. "But you need the Internet." Mr....

She calls out to the man on the street, "Sir, can you help me? It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep. Is there somewhere you can tell me?" He walks on, doesn't look back, he pretends he can't hear her He starts to whistle as he crosses the street, seems embarassed to be there Oh, think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise Oh, think twice, it's just another day for you, you and me in paradise Just think about it She calls out to the man on the street, he can see she's been crying...

<p>She won't go quietly.</p> <p>That's what Lou Mitchell vowed when she heard a few weeks ago that the lease for her Etna deli would not be renewed.</p> <p>"I'm not a derelict, and I'm not going to go away," she said. While she knows that getting a new lease for Mitchell's Deli is unlikely, she is fighting for more time to properly close her business and sell the equipment, which she said cannot be done by the time the lease expires at the end of April.</p>