Free Republic

The expansion of so-called drag churches in the United States once again opens a deep and necessary debate about the limits between freedom of expression, religious practice, and ideological imposition. Recent statements by a drag performer during a religious service—presented as an act of “spirituality,” self-exploration, and personal liberation—clearly illustrate how certain sacred spaces are being deliberately transformed into stages for identity-based activism. The central problem is not merely the existence of these churches, but the messages being conveyed within them, especially when, as seen at the beginning of the video, children are present. The concern is legitimate: how will...

During the LA wildfires, I noted that the LAFD was being run by three lesbians named Kirsten. (Not a joke.) Crowley’s status as the first LGBTQ fire chief appears at the top of her bio on the LAFD site. It’s what got her on the Kelly Clarkson show under the headline, “Meet LAFD’s First Female & LGBTQ+ Fire Chief”. Kristina Kepner, the first lesbian Assistant Chief and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School for Managing Diverse Organizations, was accused of a domestic violence incident involving her girlfriend. Kristine Larson, who has a degree in Sociology, headed ‘Equity on Fire’,...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV Promotes US Bishop - Fan of 🌈 James Martin and Fiducia SupplicansPope Leo XIV appointed Father Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez as the bishop of Palm Beach, Florida.Born January 15, 1974, in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez became a Salesian of Don Bosco and was ordained a priest on July 3, 2004. He is currently the parish priest at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Queens, in the Diocese of Brooklyn.Monsignor Rodriguez became a U.S. citizen in 2018. He has regularly been revealing his thoughts on Twitter since 2014.Staunch Loyalist of Wonderful FrancisHe is a priest “who loves...

The Trump administration has acted to ban gender-affirming care for minors across the country. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Thursday it could pull federal funding from any US hospital that offered transgender surgeries or pharmaceutical treatment. The department's announcement said the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will release a notice of proposed rulemaking that will bar hospitals from performing 'sex-rejecting' procedures on children under 18 if the institutions want to participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. 'These procedures include pharmaceutical or surgical interventions of specified types that attempt to align a child’s physical appearance...

Left-wing Canadian lawmakers are working to introduce a new bill that would end existing protections for people of faith against prosecution under national “hate speech” laws. Canada’s Criminal Code, which bans what the government deems “hatred against any identifiable group,” contains a so-called religious exemption that protects Canadians who “in good faith” cite religious texts or beliefs. But the left-wing Liberal and Bloc Québécois parties are currently negotiating new legislation, Bill C-9, with an amendment that would remove this exemption.

Where moonbats have been allowed to dominate it, education is not about education; it is about moonbattery. This includes introducing prepubescent children to sexual depravity: A Maryland middle school presented a slideshow to 6th graders celebrating “Transgender Awareness Week” where the children were given a lesson that included “advice for coming out” and “8 tips for being nonbinary.” This time it isn’t Baltimore but Bethesda. Westland Middle School is a public school financed by taxpayers. Indoctrination included “a video that was produced by the LGBT educational resource provider Pop’n’Olly.” In no sane world would an “LGBT educational resource provider” be...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian priest suggests ‘baby girl Jesus’ in Nativity scenes in call for women deacons, bishopsFr. Vitaliano Della Sala claims a female Christ Child would expose the apparent ‘injustice’ in Church teaching excluding women from the possibility of receiving Holy Orders.AVELLINO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — An Italian priest has argued that a “baby girl Jesus” should be introduced into Nativity scenes because God could have incarnated as a woman as well.On December 3, Father Vitaliano Della Sala, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Capocastello, Italy, during an interview with a local television station, sparked widespread debate in the national...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-LGBT German bishop says the Catholic Church does not ‘stand for an abstract truth’In a recent homily, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf rejected claims he is ‘not Catholic’ while arguing the faith should embrace the ‘opinion of others’ and move beyond ‘abstract truth.’German Bishop Peter Kohlgraf has responded to an allegation that he and other German bishops are “not Catholic” in light of their support for ideologies which oppose traditional Church teachings, and implied that the Catholic faith is not about truth.The bishop of Mainz delivered a homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, arguing that being Catholic must...

Rome’s Failure to Correct Germany’s Bishops has Emboldened Their Pro-LGBT AgendaAs the country’s bishops issue a new document encouraging diversity of sexual identities in Catholic schools, German Catholic sociologist Gabriele Kuby explains the full extent of the crisis.A recently published document from the German bishops encouraging Catholic school pupils to self-identify according to their “sexual identity” is the latest significant departure of the bishops’ conference from the Church’s teaching, re-igniting talk of a possible new, German-born schism.The “orientation aid,” published on Oct. 30, states that Catholic schools should consider “diversity of sexual identities is a fact,” effectively normalizing any pupil...

Gov. Greg Abbott originally called for the removal of rainbow crosswalks and other symbols of pride from public roads across Texas on Oct. 8, saying they pose safety concerns and misuse taxpayer dollars. In a statement, Abbott said any city that does not comply within 30 days could risk the “withholding or denial of state and federal road funding and suspension of agreements with TxDOT.” Almost a month later, the City of Dallas has submitted a request for an exception from compliance with the standards outlined in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) October letter. "The City of Dallas installs...

A Maryland mayor’s decision to eliminate the city’s only rainbow crosswalks has become the latest flash point in a nationwide campaign to strip LGBTQ+ symbols from public spaces. The Salisbury crosswalks, installed in 2018 and repainted each year by volunteers, were removed on November 11 after Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor ordered crews to mill away the paint at dawn, The Washington Post reports. Taylor, who narrowly won office in 2023, said the city must ensure “neutrality” on government property.

Last Tuesday, the European Union’s top court ordered Poland to recognize the marriage of a same-sex couple who had wed in Germany. In delivering its verdict, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) kept the language broad, referring to the obligation of “a member state” to recognize same-sex marriages registered in other EU member states. It means that a Czech, Romanian or Bulgarian court — or any other EU member state where same-sex marriage is not recognized — will now have to take the verdict into consideration if a similar case arises in their jurisdiction. The case in...

[Catholic Caucus] Head of Italian bishops says ‘the end of Christendom is not a defeat’Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has described secularization as a providential opportunity to free the faith from 'constraints of power and culture.'The president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) has said that secularization was willed by God to deprive the Church of its cultural hegemony.On November 17, during the General Assembly of the Italian Bishops in Assisi, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi explained to his confreres why secularism should not be regarded as a defeat, but rather as a providential opportunity to rethink the way Christians live their faith.“What is...

[Catholic Caucus] Fitting for Chaos-Tucho: Allowing Women an Acolyte-Like "Deaconess"The Synod's general secretary has prepared a document on a 'female diaconate', for which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be responsible for drafting the final report.ElWanderer.com wrote on 19 November that this is an "imminent danger" because of Tucho’s track record of never missing an opportunity to cause serious problems for the Church.In Catholicism, Holy Orders in the three forms deacon, priest and bishop are reserved for men for ontological reasons.ElWanderer speculates that Tucho will resort to the tactic he applied in Fiducia Supplicans, which he likely...

[Catholic Caucus] Curia cardinal hits back over Vatican seating ‘snub’ for transgender activistsCardinal Konrad Krajewski has responded to claims that transgender activists were intentionally excluded from Pope Leo XIV’s top table at the Vatican’s Jubilee Lunch for the Poor. A group of 48 individuals who identify as “transgender women” attended the annual “Lunch for the Poor” at the Vatican on Sunday alongside Pope Leo XIV, with none being seated at the Pope’s main table. In 2023 and 2024, two individuals identifying as “transgender women” were selected to dine at the head table. The arrangement this year prompted some secular newspapers...

U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to make official a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender patients at Catholic hospitals. The step formalizes a yearslong process for the U.S. church to address transgender health care. From a Baltimore hotel ballroom, the bishops overwhelmingly approved revisions to their ethical and religious directives that guide the nation's thousands of Catholic health care institutions and providers.

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV meets with ‘married’ homosexuals at VaticanThe two homosexual men, one of whom is the founder an AI company, were granted an audience with Leo as part of a delegation of Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez.Pope Leo XIV recently met with two “married” homosexuals during a private audience.“When Brian mentioned to the pope that we are married [sic], we both felt received with warmth and kindness,” wrote Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai, on Facebook. He posted pictures of their audience with Leo, which they were granted as a delegation of Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles.Capecelatro...

The BBC has upheld 20 impartiality complaints over the way presenter Martine Croxall altered a script she was reading live on the BBC News Channel, which referred to "pregnant people" earlier this year. Croxall was introducing an interview about research on groups most at risk during UK heatwaves, which quoted a release from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The presenter changed her script to instead say "women", and the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said it considered her facial expression as she said this gave the "strong impression of expressing a personal view on a controversial...

The Supreme Court on Monday declined an opportunity to overturn its landmark precedent recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, tossing aside an appeal that had roiled LGBTQ advocates who feared the conservative court might be ready to revisit the decade-old decision. Instead, the court denied an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who now faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and legal fees for refusing to issue marriage licenses after the court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges allowed same-sex couples to marry. The court did not explain its reasoning to deny the appeal, which...

For years, Missouri lawmakers have heard warnings that enacting policies targeting the LGBTQ+ population could drive individuals and businesses out of the state. Local officials and chambers of commerce raised red flags about potential impacts on recruitment and retention of employees, as well as the ability to lure businesses to the state. Now, studies are showing that the state’s actions have already pushed LGBTQ+ Missourians to move — taking their tax dollars, and even businesses, elsewhere. Analysis by the Movement Advancement Project estimates that around $362 million to $879 million in household income has left the state, a number that...