Free Republic

The Defense Department is withdrawing the nomination of Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz” Donnelly, The Daily Wire can first report, under whose command drag performances took place on board the USS Ronald Reagan. Donnelly served as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier from April 2016 to September 2018, during which time Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley performed as a drag queen under the name “Harpy Daniels” at a department-sanctioned “Morale, Welfare, and Recreation” event on the aircraft carrier. The Defense Department announced on June 18 that President Donald Trump had nominated Donnelly for promotion to vice admiral and an appointment as...

Once among the biggest names in Hollywood, John Travolta is now more punchline than powerhouse, with recent flops and career missteps overshadowing a legacy that once included Oscar nods and million-dollar paydays. Despite iconic turns in Grease, Saturday Night Fever and a major comeback with Pulp Fiction, the 70-year-old actor’s more recent efforts have failed to land. His latest films, High Rollers and Mob Land, barely registered with audiences — the latter pulling just £138 ($A287) at the UK box office, News.com.au reported.

Baylor University voluntarily rescinded a controversial grant that supported research focused on inclusion and belonging in the church, with a focus on LGBTQIA+ individuals, President Linda Livingstone announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon. According to a now inaccessible press release published on June 30 from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, the $643,401 grant was awarded to the Center for Church and Community Impact (C3I). The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation supplied the grant to “better understand the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change.” The Baugh...

Border patrol agents have arrested a bearded woman after homemade tire spikes were allegedly used on agency vehicles. Four people were apprehended by agents after an immigration enforcement action in a Home Depot parking lot in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, on Tuesday. Officials said the four 'attempted to impede and obstruct our efforts, using improvised devices aimed at disabling our vehicles'. Images shared by the agency show a crudely fashioned tire spike made from rusty nails and what looks to be a strip of metal pipe. Jasmine Jeannine Allard, 28, Jenaro-Ernesto Ayala, 43, Jude Sadot Jarnica, 54, and Daniel Montenegro,...

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a trans teacher in Florida has no right to refer to herself with the gendered honorific “Ms.” or ask to be referred to with the pronouns she/her under what critics have called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The trans algebra teacher, Katie Wood, sued her employer, the Hillsborough County School Board, in 2023 soon after Florida’s anti-LGBTQ law was enacted. A lower court found that the law likely infringes on her First Amendment free speech rights and granted a preliminary injunction. However, the conservative-leaning appeals court overruled the lower...

The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases and mental health problems like depression, a new study says. Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children’s physical and mental health at the same time. “The surprising part of the study wasn’t any with any single statistic; it was that there’s 170 indicators, eight data sources, all showing the same thing: a generalized decline in kids’ health,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the...

Director James Gunn revealed that the upcoming "Superman" movie will be "about politics," saying that the iconic superhero is "an immigrant that came from other places." ....... And obviously, there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them."

Usually it's just kryptonite that brings Superman out in a rash, but early reviews of the latest instalment in the long-running film franchise suggest our lycra-clad hero has significantly more to worry about than green crystals. The new film - directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet as the fictional superhero, with Rachel Brosnahan as precocious reporter Lois Lane - will go on general release from July 11. But while it marks a new chapter in a franchise that began with the iconic Christopher Reeve in Richard Donner's well received 1978 classic Superman: The Movie, a faction of early...

NEW YORK, July 4 (C-Fam) UN human rights officials took over the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council to promote divisive social policies, including advocating for “gender-affirming care” services for migrants and criticizing countries that do not support pride marches, LGBT-friendly curricula in schools, and the killing of the unborn. Held from June 28 to July 9th in Geneva, Switzerland, this year’s UN Human Rights Council session convened member states, UN agencies, and accredited civil society organizations to engage with UN special rapporteurs’ latest reports. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk opened the session by decrying...

The Pennsylvania transgender coach who had been canned for inappropriate conduct, was rehired, but ultimately resigned over a porn video showing him smoking meth, recently admitted he was the one who had sent the incriminating video. David Yates, who coached tennis at Gettysburg High School and switched to the name “Sasha” in 2022, was not rehired following a pair of incidents which included him allegedly “stripping down to bra and panties” in the girls’ locker room. But Yates later reapplied for the position, and had the backing of many who claimed he’d been let go due to “transphobia.” A district...

State Senator Scott Wiener, a progressive representing San Francisco who is likely too radical for most moderate Democrats, has decided to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives. This could be a gift to President Donald Trump. He was already handed a halfway-to-Christmas present when self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, helping the chief executive frame the opposition as dangerous fringe radicals. Now, Wiener’s announcement will probably help the president solidify his argument and seal the deal. On June 27, Wiener filed paperwork to run for Congress in 2028,...

Gov. Josh Stein vetoed a slew of anti-Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) bills and a gender bill on Thursday but signed a licensure agreement bill and one that protects parents and caregivers from legal consequences for raising children in alignment with their biological sex. Among the bills he vetoed was SB 558, Eliminating “DEI” in Public Higher Ed. The legislation prohibits UNC System schools and community colleges from promoting discriminatory policies and practices. Under the measure, public colleges and universities would be required to eliminate offices and staff dedicated to DEI initiatives. The bill prohibits promoting “divisive concepts,” such as...

An Iowa law removing gender identity as a protected class from the state’s civil rights code took effect Tuesday, the first action of its kind in the United States. The new rollback of protections is the latest attack on trans people in the US and part of a broader movement across conservative-led states working to restrict LGBTQ rights.

The campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. | Baylor University/Morty OrtegaBaylor University in Waco, Texas, has received a $643,401 grant from a liberal foundation to foster inclusion among LGBTQ-identified individuals in the church.The hefty grant to the private Baptist research university's Center for Church and Community Impact (C31) came from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, according to a press release from the school's Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.The grant's goal is "to foster inclusion and belonging in the church," with an emphasis on understanding "the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations...

On Saturday more than one million people are expected to attend Pride in London, the UK's largest LGBTQ+ event. But despite huge visitor numbers, organisers say the event - and others like it around the country - face an uncertain future due to a drop in funding and falling volunteer numbers. More than 85 Pride organisations say they've seen a reduction in corporate sponsorships or partnerships. BBC News has spoken to a number of Pride organisers about their worries for the future of Pride events, and what they believe is behind the drop in funding. Dee Llewellyn is volunteer chair...

Just over two weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors, the justices agreed to take up another high-profile issue involving transgender people – specifically, the constitutionality of laws that bar transgender women and girls from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams. In a list of orders released on Thursday morning, the court granted a pair of petitions filed by Idaho and West Virginia, seeking review of lower-court rulings that barred them from enforcing such laws. Idaho was the first state to enact such a ban in...

The justices agreed to hear cases from Idaho and West Virginia.President Trump recently threatened to cut off education funds to California because a transgender athlete participated in a women’s track and field competition. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to weigh in on the growing controversy over transgender athletes and decide if federal law bars transgender girls from women’s school sports teams. “Biological boys should not compete on girls’ athletics teams,” West Virginia Atty. Gen. JB McCuskey said in an appeal the court voted to hear. The appeal had the backing of 26 other Republican-led states as well as...

In a move that has sparked outrage among religious communities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has escalated his administration’s campaign against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a cornerstone of spiritual life for millions of Ukrainians. The latest blow came when Zelensky signed a decree stripping the revered 80-year-old leader of the UOC, of his Ukrainian citizenship, according to Ukraine’s SBU security service agency. The SBU claims Onufriy, also known as Orest Berezovsky, acquired Russian citizenship in 2002, a charge the metropolitan has denied. In April 2023, Onufriy admitted to briefly holding a Russian passport but insisted he relinquished it, affirming his...

... an opinion piece released at EndTimeHeadlines reveals that one [United Methodist] congregation has taken the agenda to an extreme. With an F-bomb-laden, LGBT "worship anthem" in which a performer loudly proclaims "I'm f****** gay." The commentary said, "It was once said that when the Church stops offending the world, it has stopped representing Christ. That grim warning came true again in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Zao MKE Church – an official United Methodist congregation – recently led its Sunday worship with a profane, self-glorifying anthem titled, 'I'm F****** Gay.'"

In a chilling encounter that began with a gay dating app hookup, a young man from Whiting found himself battling for survival after a vicious hammer attack inside an abandoned home in West Pullman, officials said. Details of the crime, which occurred on March 23, 2024, are now emerging as prosecutors charge Carl Sturdivant, a multi-convicted felon, with attempted murder and robbery. In a detention filing, prosecutors said the 24-year-old Indiana man connected with Carl Sturdivant, 44, through the gay dating site Sniffies.com, agreeing to meet at a Motel 6 in Hammond for a sexual encounter. Officials stated the victim...