Free Republic

When Naomi Goldberg began working for the Movement Advancement Project, same-sex couples were unable to legally marry in more than half of states — including her home state of California — and LGBTQ Americans were barred from serving openly in the military. Now the nonprofit think tank’s executive director, Goldberg is fighting to protect LGBTQ rights secured over the last decade and prevent the nation from backsliding as anti-LGBTQ policies gain ground in state legislatures.

Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey has been elected governor of Massachusetts, making history as the nation's first openly lesbian governor.

The Biden administration is considering using Obamacare to force some health insurers to cover in-vitro fertilization for gay couples who want children. The administration would update the Affordable Care Act to change "the definition of infertility often used by insurance plans to determine…

With the start of the NCAA women's tournament on Friday, two ESPN announcers used the platform to take a stand against Florida House Bill 1557, dubbed by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. To start the second half of Friday's game between South Carolina and Howard, ESPN's Carolyn Peck and Courtney Lyle spoke about the bill in solidarity with their Disney colleagues. Disney owns ESPN. "Normally at this time we would take a look back at the first half," Courtney Lyle said while introducing the second half. "But there are things bigger than basketball that need to be addressed...

The Biden administration's new top dog at a key nuclear energy agency is an MIT-trained engineer whose sexual fetishes include tying up his partner while he eats dinner and watches Star Trek.Sam Brinton was appointed to serve as deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy at DOE last month after serving a stint at the gay and transgender suicide prevention organization the Trevor Project.Besides working at the Trevor Project, Brinton also holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had previously advised former President Donald Trump...

An Upstate New York wedding photographer has lost her bid to refuse service to same-sex couples after a federal judge dismissed with prejudice her lawsuit against the state. Emilee Carpenter, a photographer and blogger based in the Southern Tier, sued the state in April, alleging that the state’s human rights law violated her First Amendment rights to free speech, free association, and free religious expression. She also said the law violated the establishment clause and her right to due process. Carpenter named New York Attorney General Letitia James and Interim Human Rights Commissioner Jonathan Smith as defendants. Carpenter said that...

Botswana's government on Monday lost a legal attempt to overturn a landmark ruling that decriminalized homosexuality. The country's High Court in 2019 ruled in favor of campaigners seeking to strike down jail sentences for same-sex relationships, declaring the punishment to be unconstitutional. But the government sought to revoke the ruling, arguing that the courts had no jurisdiction in this matter.

....With the support of Shannon's parents and their combined friends and family—and of course through the power vested in Cardi from the State of California and an online class—the two become wife and wife!

Amazon . com Inc. said it recently removed a three-year-old book about transgender issues from its platforms because it decided not to sell books that frame transgender and other sexual identities as mental illnesses. The company explained its decision in a letter Thursday to Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Mike Braun of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The senators had written last month to Chief Executive Jeff Bezos requesting an explanation of why “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” was no longer available...

WASHINGTON — Pete Buttigieg won Senate approval Tuesday as transportation secretary, the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post. He’ll be tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change. Buttigieg, a 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Biden’s one-time rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, was approved on a 86-13 vote. “I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate—and ready to get to work,” Buttigieg tweeted shortly after he was confirmed. Praised by Biden as bringing a “new voice” to the administration, Buttigieg...

"How was everybody's summer? Good? Mine was great," Ellen DeGeneres said sarcastically in her first monologue for the new season of her talk show. "Super terrific!" she added as she put two thumbs up. After introducing her virtual audience, DeGeneres got right to it. "As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation," the talk show host said. "I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously. And I want to say I am so sorry to the...

STAR Wars' The Rise of Skywalker has been praised for featuring the first same sex kiss in its history. The latest instalment in the Sci-Fi franchise has been subject to a host of reviews from film fanatics detailing the "spectacular" new plotline and one groundbreaking scene in particular in the exciting intergalactic movie. A sequence in the new film - the ninth of its kind - sees two lesser known female members of the Resistance enjoy a kiss to celebrate during a joyful moment.

Brennan responded by talking up the alleged strength of pro-gay sentiments among sports fans: It sure should have changed, Ana, and if the National Football League wants to be viable and wants to retain its spot as the number one pro-league in our country well into this century, it has to accept this and it has to encourage this because those fans who are maybe in their sixties, seventies, eighties who maybe are a little bit more reluctant on this topic, well, they're not going to be around in 20 or 30 years.

Megan Rapinoe showed no sign of stemming her outspoken ways after scoring the goals that saw USA march one step closer towards the World Cup final. “Go gays!” she said after the 2-1 quarter-final victory over France in Paris and when asked to comment on whether it being Pride month made her contribution more personally significant. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team - it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there! “I’m motivated by people who like me, who are fighting for the same things. I take more energy from that than from trying...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) wants to start a family with his husband, Chasten, and says that could happen if he’s in the White House.

Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg drew a sold-out crowd to a fundraiser at an iconic West Hollywood gay bar on Thursday. Attendees at The Abbey each paid about $25 to attend the grassroots event for Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was introduced by his husband, Chasten. “If anybody tells you whether they’re not sure if America is capable in these twisted and dark times of delivering or vindicating our hopes,” Buttigieg told the crowd, “tell them you saw at The Abbey in West Hollywood the top tier presidential candidate on his way to the White House, moments after...

Apart from the historic nature of Mayor Pete’s candidacy, however, his candidness about being both openly gay and openly Christian has stirred an awakening for many similarly situated LGBTQ+ Christian Americans, prompting us to finally and fully “come out,” claiming both our sexual identity and our religious faith in all settings, not just selectively or advisedly. I count myself among the newly emboldened. Like Mayor Pete, I was a bit of a late bloomer, coming out at the age of 30. Many factors held me back, including the official teaching of my Catholic faith, perceived family expectations and my own...

Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank asserted that Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s sexual orientation is helping him in the polls among Democrats running for president, saying voters likely give Buttigieg credit for being open and honest about himself. “His being gay is an advantage,” Frank, who became the first openly gay Congress member in 1987, told the Boston Globe on Friday. Frank, 79, who represented Massachusetts in the House from 1981 to 2013 after serving as a state lawmaker, added that if Buttigieg were straight he didn’t think he would be doing as well. It “gives people a chance to affirm their...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a lower court ruling that found that the owner of a Hawaii bed and breakfast violated a state anti-discrimination law by turning away a lesbian couple, citing Christian beliefs. The justices refused to hear an appeal by Phyllis Young, who runs the three-room Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu, of the ruling that she ran afoul of Hawaii’s public accommodation law by refusing to rent a room to Diane Cervilli and Taeko Bufford in 2007. Litigation will now continue that will determine what penalty Young might face. The...

"Most people enter their first relationships with the traditional idea of sexual exclusivity. It's just the way we're socialized in our culture." For some couples, non-exclusivity might take the form of attending "play parties" together and swapping partners, watching other couples have sex, dating other people or even entering into polyamorous relationships with multiple partners. Determine what's OK and what's not.