Free Republic

JUPITER -- Jeffrey Woodard's parents never took him to church. They certainly didn't ever plan to send him to a religious high school. But when he was 14, Jeffrey asked his mom if he could attend Jupiter Christian School. He told her he felt God leading him there. Carol Gload liked the idea. She thought it would help Jeff spiritually and academically, and he started after Thanksgiving of his freshman year. As a senior this year, he was especially looking forward to singing in the choir and Bible class. But on the third day of school, his Bible teacher --...

The Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to side with conservatives in the Anglican communion on the issue of homosexuality to prevent a schism at this week's meeting of church leaders, a cleric claimed yesterday. Rowan Williams has called the 38 primates leading the world's 70 million Anglicans to Lambeth Palace for an emergency summit on the ordination of gay clergy. He is prepared to reiterate the church's official view reached five years ago that homosexuality is "incompatible with scripture". The two-day meeting in London was called after the election in America of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest with...

An organization of law schools and a group representing hundreds of legal scholars sued the Department of Defense and five other federal agencies yesterday, seeking to help universities and colleges that want to keep military recruiters off their campuses because of the department's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay men and lesbians. The suit challenges the constitutionality of a federal law that punishes universities with loss of some federal money if they use their antidiscrimination policies to exclude military recruiters. It follows a successful campaign by the Defense Department to force some of the nation's most prestigious law schools...

An HIV-positive man sued the State Department yesterday for refusing to hire him as a diplomat because of his condition and said he was the victim of illegal discrimination. Lorenzo Taylor, 48, passed the oral and written exams to become a foreign service officer but was turned down because he has the AIDS virus, according to the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed the lawsuit in federal court on Taylor's behalf. Lambda Legal said the State Department has a policy of not hiring people who are HIV-positive as diplomats on the grounds they may need medical treatment that...

(AP) — Amid renewed debate over whether gay men and women should be allowed to marry, the nation's largest lawyers' group is considering endorsement of the related right of homosexual couples to adopt children. The American Bar Association is expected to vote on the issue at its meeting beginning Thursday in San Francisco. Approval would put the 408,000-lawyer group on record in support of laws that allow two unmarried people of any sex to adopt as a couple.If the ABA's governing body should approve the proposal, the organization could lobby statehouses to redraft adoption laws.Currently, many states allow only one...

<p>A Superior Court judge yesterday rebuffed a group of lawmakers, businesses and conservative groups who wanted to intervene in what will likely be a landmark court case on the right of gay couples to marry.</p> <p>Judge Linda Feinberg said the groups did not have a legal right to formally oppose a lawsuit filed against the state by seven gay couples who argue that their unions should be recognized under state law.</p>

<p>Small-town police chiefs normally don't spend much time in the spotlight, but Suisun City's Ron Forsythe has gotten more than his share lately.</p> <p>Although credited with buffing up the tarnished reputation of a city plagued by crime, he recently has seen his department's morale plummet.</p>

Jersey bill would give same-sex couples legal benefits Sunday, October 20, 2002 By KATHY BARRETT CARTER Star-Ledger Staff [Newark, NJ] -- The battle over legal benefits for same-sex relationships is about to hit New Jersey. A bill expected to be introduced this month would make New Jersey the third state in the nation to allow the benefits of marriage to partners living together. The bill stops short of recognizing gay marriages, but it would sanction virtually all of the legal benefits that marriage allows. Similar to the proposed federal Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligation Act, the state bill would allow...

It's a brave new world at your local Big Brothers Big Sisters office. As of this month, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) will require that all 500 of its local affiliates include active homosexuals as volunteers and mentors to children. Many parents who support Big Brothers Big Sisters may be surprised to learn that their child could soon be paired with a gay or lesbian mentor. In fact, parents whose children are enrolled in the organization's school-based programs will not even be told when their son or daughter is matched with a gay man or a lesbian woman....