Free Republic

Finally, some good news this week about lawmakers. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, signed into law a bill that decriminalizes HIV. Specifically, the bill repeals an old law that made it a crime to “knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer” HIV to another individual.

MassResistance warns parents that fear and complacency are enabling LGBT “indoctrination” in schools—and urges bold, confrontational activism to reclaim education. For the last ten years, I have worked for MassResistance, an international organization that has been fighting the LGBT agenda targeting children and undermining parents in all of its perverse forms. We have had numerous successes, and lately we have generated considerable attention on overturning Obergefell v. Hodges and restoring natural marriage in the United States. For the last year and a half, though, few parents have reached out to us, and fewer have been willing to take a stand...

By all accounts, LGBT Pride Month 2025 will be conspicuously low-key. Appalled by Trump’s electoral victory and alarmed by the signal voters (a.k.a. consumers) sent, major corporations that once supported Pride events have scrambled for the exits as quickly as if someone had pulled the fire alarm. These developments bring relief to normal Americans, who feel as if the playground bully astride their chests finally dismounted and fled. But, for a cadre of die-hard activists, such public retreat from progressivism’s excesses represents an existential threat that must be thwarted.

Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter as the retailer faced boycotts for ditching its DEI efforts and felt the impact of President Trump's tariffs. Target cut its forecast for the rest of the year warning that sales would slip further as its customers pulled back on spending amid an uncertain economic environment. Earlier this year the company conceded to the Trump administrations attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives by scaling back its own efforts. However, the retreat created a fierce customer backlash leading to store boycotts that further damaged sales. Sales for the...

The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold. Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the Republican president’s actions was an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced the Equality Act, a landmark civil rights bill that would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes. The measure, which would amend a federal law that already outlaws discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin, faces an uphill battle in a Congress controlled by Republicans, who have long opposed it over concerns it would trample religious freedom rights.

The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) has officially completed its transformation from a nominally Christian denomination into yet another rubber-stamping committee for the moral revolution. With its latest amendment, enshrining LGBTQIAP+ identities into its Constitution, the PCUSA has removed any last fig leaf of theological credibility, not that it had any left, opting instead for total allegiance to the gods of sexual identity politics. This was inevitable. Believe it or not, here and there, there did exist at least somewhat remotely faithful PCUSA congregations, but only because it was so difficult to exit the denomination. But, the PCUSA abandoned biblical fidelity long...

-$1.7M for the “China Health and Retirement Longitudinal study” at Peking University in Beijing, China -$135K for a research grant to China Medical University in Shenyang, China -$142K for “using telehealth to improve access to gender-affirming care” -$1.3M for “transforming health for gender-diverse young adults” -$120K for “personalized 3-D avatar tool development” focused on “gender identities” -$400K for researching “sources of minority stress and alcohol consumption” among “adults who report uncertainty about their sexual orientation” -$160K for researching “racialized sexual discrimination” among “young sexual minority men of color” -$241K for “an intervention to promote healthy relationships among transgender and gender...

More than half of books banned during the last school year featured or were about people of color or members of the LGBTQ community, according to a report released Thursday. PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in literature, released data in the fall that found more than 10,000 instances of schools or their districts removing books from school, classrooms or curriculums last year, affecting 4,218 titles. The analysis released Thursday found that those bans disproportionately affect books about certain identities, including people of color, and also more often apply to certain genres, such as history. The...

The Obergefell ruling rode rough-shod over religions and dozens of state constitutions on the bases of a moral — not legal — opinion.In late January, the Idaho House of Representatives passed a memorandum calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to “reverse” its 2015 gay marriage decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, “and restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman.” The memo passed 46 to 24 in the House and is heading to the Idaho Senate. If it passes the senate, it will be sent on to the Supreme Court as one more formal encouragement that...

Rep. Salazar: "I understand Mr. Anzios that you do not agree with the way that Elon Musk has conducted his investigation into USAID - but I do believe you know -coming from the world of television that you are judged by the results not by the process and Musk has discovered things that are completely and absolutely embarrassing ... let's start with Venezuela ... they make it to Ecuador, I mean they're tired and then they encounter that the United States, which is the Beacon of Hope, is offering this program to become a Drag Queen - so I think...

Military leaders at the highest levels of the California National Guard pledged loyalty to the LGBT community during an official ceremony led by the general whom Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) later appointed to lead the force in 2022. One attendee told the Washington Free Beacon that members felt pressured to appear at the ceremony, which felt "culty." . . A former senior leader of the California National Guard told the Free Beacon the ceremony was the brainchild of Major General Matthew Beevers, who at the time served as deputy head of the guard and was pictured onstage during the event....

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: Judge Brendan Hurson, appointed by Biden, has blocked President Trump’s ban on transgender surgeries for minors. These people are sick. From Nick Sortor 3:04 PM · Feb 13, 2025

Goal Statement: ● USAID’s engagement will become more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs, priorities, and solutions of the diverse communities, organizations, and people in the countries in which we work. ... [Blah, Blah, Blah] By 2030, at least half of USAID’s programming will place local communities in the lead to co-design projects, set priorities, drive implementation, and/or evaluate the impact of USAID programs. ● USAID Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices (M/B/IOs) will systematically assess and analyze the needs and priorities of marginalized groups and best approaches to address them. ● USAID will expand the number of dedicated and...

A USAID worker said Monday that office employees scrambled to hide anything "incriminating" when the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) came knocking. DOGE is not a government agency but has been tasked by the White House’s executive office with dismantling wasteful spending initiatives, and "special government employee" Elon Musk's most recent target is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Donald Trump's order freezing foreign aid has sealed the spigot of U.S. taxpayer dollars flowing to DEI projects abroad, saving U.S. money from being 'lit on fire,' a top Republican says. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) has revealed exclusively to DailyMail.com some suspicious federal expenditures that the State Department approved under Joe Biden. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, meant to expand diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) objectives abroad, are now effectively killed under Trump's foreign aid freeze. One of the big ticket items that no longer will receive U.S. funding is a pro...

Olympia is officially the first sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ people in Washington state. The city council voted unanimously at a meeting on Tuesday to declare the state capitol a sanctuary for the queer community, specifically outlining protections for transgender people and gender-affirming care. The resolution, introduced by Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray, mandates equal and dignified treatment under the law regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

The majority of secondary schools in the Netherlands are celebrating gender diversity through the Purple Friday project on December 13, but resistance against it is growing, surveys by NOS and RTL have shown. Purple Friday, launched 14 years ago, puts the spotlight on LGBTQ pupils with children wearing purple to show their support for friends and classmates, special lessons and other activities. According to RTL, some 75% of schools organize some sort of activity around Purple Friday but opinions about its effectiveness are divided. And NOS says that 75% of schools that celebrate the day have experienced problems. Pupils have...

A mayor of a township in Ontario, Canada, reportedly had his personal bank account garnished after he refused to pay a $5,000 fine after a tribunal ruled he had discriminated against an LGBTQ group. On November 20, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that the township of Emo and its mayor, Harold McQuaker, 77, had discriminated against an LGBTQ group, under the Ontario Human Rights Code, by denying its request to proclaim June as Pride Month. Borderland Pride had requested Emo make the Pride Month declaration and requested the township fly a "LGBTQ2" flag, despite Emo not having an...

A few hours before the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade was to start, a federal judge ordered the city to allow an LGBTQ pride group’s float to be included. Prattville Pride called the order “a powerful affirmation of the importance of visibility, representation, and inclusion for all members of our community,” in a Facebook post. “The Christmas parade is a cherished holiday tradition, and we are excited to celebrate alongside our neighbors and friends in the spirit of love, joy, and unity.” “While we celebrate this important step forward, we must also acknowledge the challenges and hateful rhetoric that...