Free Republic

A person who says they " queer, trans-nonbinary, autistic" is asking for $4,000 to flee Kentucky as Republican legislators across the US wage war against LGBT+ rights. Earlier this year lawmakers in the state pushed through a bill dubbed "most extreme anti-LGBTQ bill in America ". The bill, SB 150, which passed despite the Governor's attempt to veto it, bans transgender medical treatment for minors and restricts discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The GoFundMe fundraiser is just one of the latest being highlighted by The Mirror that shows how restrictive laws against LGBT+ people are forcing...

A married pastor and father of three who was arrested and charged with producing child pornography after the FBI raided his Brentwood home has allegedly confessed to collecting videos from minors engaged in sex acts and told investigators, “I’m sorry that I cannot stop.” Authorities say they recovered 15 videos containing child porn from the cellphone of 28-year-old Pastor Jose Saez Jr. of Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino (Lighting The Way Christian Church) after they raided his home. A release from the FBI’s New York Office said the raid on Saez’s home conducted by their Long Island Child Exploitation Task...

At least three Assemblies of God pastors have called on denominational leaders to repent and, where appropriate, resign after organizers of the Chi Alpha Campus Ministries were accused of allowing Daniel Savala, a 67-year-old itinerant minister and convicted sex offender, to prey on scores of young males for more than two decades. The Assemblies of God claimed on Friday, however, that it had warned local Chi Alpha leaders about Savala and is already taking steps to dismiss leaders who failed to protect participants in the ministry as they continue to investigate the scandal. The latest call for accountability has come...

<p>Charlotte County Schools Superintendent Mark Vianello and the school board’s attorney, Michael McKinley, were responding to questions from the district’s librarians at a July meeting asking whether the bill, officially the “Florida Parental Rights in Education Act,” required the removal of any books that simply had a gay character but no explicit sex scenes.</p>

Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, instead of focusing on winning battles, the military has been preoccupied with pushing leftist talking points and agendas -- such as the LGBT ideology. So naturally, a rallying cry among conservatives in the past two years has been to get the military back on track and in shape to defend the nation against hostile forces. That's why Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas proposed an amendment to the House spending bill that would strip federal funding from drag shows and "pride" events at the Department of Defense.

(JTA) — An LGBTQ student group at Rice University has cut ties with the school’s Hillel, in the latest instance of backlash from a progressive group against the Jewish campus organization’s support for Israel. The LGBTQ group, Rice Pride, announced the split last week in a statement on Instagram that said Hillel’s international umbrella group was “not reflective of the values of inclusion upheld by Rice Pride.” “Rice Pride’s ultimate goal is to provide a safe space for queer students of all backgrounds, and to recognize the intersectionalities between queer identity and race, ethnicity, and religion,” the statement said. The...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a proposed rule Wednesday that would require states to “transfer” foster children from families who do not support their “gender identity,” a copy of the rule showed. Under the proposed rule, children in the foster care system will only be placed with families who the HHS classifies as a “safe and appropriate placement,” meaning families must use a child’s “identified pronouns” and “chosen name,” the rule said. “Safe” families will undergo extensive training to “provide” for the child’s “needs,” and the state will transfer fostered children away from families who do...

Former President Trump pledged Wednesday to allow gasoline engines and ban children from getting sex changes in his future administration.He made his declaration when speaking at a Michigan auto parts supplier rally amid the United Autoworkers (UAW) strike.“Today’s radical Democratic Party wants to legalize, drugs, shoplifting, and sexual mutilation of your children, but they want to allow your gas-powered suburban Silverados, your Ford F1-50s to die,” he said. “Under the Trump administration, gasoline engines will be allowed and sex changes for children will be banned. Is that okay? If you said 10 years ago, 15 years ago, ‘we will stop...

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered all judges to address people in court by the pronouns they use or by “other respectful means.” “We serve the entire public and are required to treat those who come before us with civility and respect,” Justice Elizabeth Welch said. “The gender identity of a member of the public is a part of their individual identity, regardless of whether others agree or approve.” The statewide rule was approved, 5-2. ...

This spring, athlete and women's rights advocate Riley Gaines spoke at the University of Pittsburgh. When Gaines asked an anthropology professor, the “expert” in the room, if you could dig up a skeleton and tell if the person had been male or female from the bone structure, Professor Gabby Yearwood said no, of course not. Yearwood, whose research focuses on "the social constructions of race and racism, masculinity, gender, sex, Black Feminist and Black Queer theory, anthropology of sport and Black Diaspora," was laughed at by the rest of the audience. Colin Wright is now reporting that the American Anthropological...

I apologize for being gross, but it's necessary. You have to be shocked into recognizing the moral horror of what a part of the nation's largest teacher's union is doing. It is unspeakable, but we have to speak about it. The most effective work that the irreplaceable Christopher Rufo does is simply to get documents from institutions, and post them in full to the web, so ordinary people can see what kind of corrupt, racist or otherwise depraved people run these institutions. His latest is from the LGBTQ+ caucus of the National Education Association (NEA), the country's largest teachers union,...

The first trans person to be elected to office in Tennessee is being treated as a second-class citizen and may be forced to use the male bathroom at work despite identifying as female. Five women, including openly transgender member Olivia Hill, were handed a sweeping victory on Sept. 14 by winning all the seats at large during Nashville Metro Council’s election and making the body majority-female. However, the historic election victory is being overshadowed by an anti-LGBTQ law quietly passed in May that will make it harder for Hill to do her job and simply live her life in the...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills Saturday aimed at bolstering the state’s protections for LGBTQ+ people, a day after issuing a controversial veto that was criticized by advocates. . . . . . A third requires families to show that they can and are willing to meet the needs of a child in foster care regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was left unimpressed by the bright color pallet used in the design of the UN General Assembly’s meeting hall, suggesting that it looked too similar to the LGBTQ rainbow pride flag. “One of the issues that bothers me the most ... is that when entering the United Nations General Assembly, you see the LGBT colors on steps and other places,” Erdogan told journalists at the Turkish House in New York on Friday, as quoted by the newspaper Duvar. “How many LGBT [people] are there in the world right now? However, much right they have on...

This summer, the Daughters of the American Revolution changed its bylaws to allow men who identify as women to join the all-female historical society, angering some of its members. DAR leaders passed an amendment stating that membership cannot be denied due to “[characteristics] protected by applicable law,” according to Newsweek. DAR president general Pamela Wright clarified during the organization’s annual meeting in June that men who have their birth certificates altered to indicate that they are female are eligible for membership. The new amendment also revoked the right of local chapters to decide if an applicant is “personally acceptable” for...

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — ...last year, a Muslim who emigrated from Yemen as a teenager became mayor — the city’s first leader in nearly a century with no Polish roots — alongside what is believed to be the nation’s only all-Muslim city council. Many residents in this tiny enclave just north of downtown Detroit saw these changes as a sign of the Hamtramck’s progressiveness. The Muslim community that had previously experienced discrimination, including voter intimidation and resistance to mosques’ public call to prayer, had finally taken its seats at the table. Yet the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that made Hamtramck...

Hundreds of students in Pennsylvania walked out of school in protest over a new rule allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. High school students in Perkiomen Valley School District staged the protest after officials opted not to adopt a policy that would force students to use restrooms which correspond with their biological sex. They accused education chiefs of 'compromising' their rights and putting female students at risk during the demonstration last week.

Southern-based family-dining chain Cracker Barrel was blasted for going “woke” by some of its biscuits-and-gravy-eating customers after posting an image of a rainbow rocking chair to celebrate Pride Month. Aside from serving oversized portions of country staples, the chain is beloved for the Tennessee-made rocking chairs that line the porches at all Cracker Barrel trinket-filled Old Country Stores. Thus, the chain honored Pride Month in June with an Instagram photo of a rocking chair with each wood slat painted a different color of the rainbow in nod to the Pride flag. “Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our...

ACNAtoo was founded in 2021 “in response to the pleas of survivors of sexual abuse and their advocates” winthin the 125,000-member Anglican Church in North America (ACNA.) They claim that while their “front-facing work consists of research, writing, publishing, and serving as an ACNA watchdog” their real passion and heart is found in”working confidentially behind the scenes with survivors who have not received support, accountability, or healing inside the ACNA.” Sounds noble, until you realize the organization has apostatized and is LGBTQ-affirming, contrary to the thelogical non-negotiables beliefs of the ACNA. Functioning as spite-filled grievance mongers rather than an official...

A federal judge ruled today that a ban on drag shows at a Texas public university can remain in effect while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds, writing that drag performances are not categorically protected under the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, denied a motion for a preliminary injunction against West Texas A&M University from banning future drag shows on campus. Kacsmaryk also granted the university president, Walter Wendler, qualified immunity from the lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). "Because men...