Free Republic

Buster Posey tried to move on from the Giants’ Pride Night controversy. Instead, his response seemed to frustrate just about everyone. The Giants president of baseball operations met with reporters Tuesday at Oracle Park and opened with a brief statement acknowledging that fans had “strong feelings” about the issue. But when follow-up questions came, Posey repeatedly shut them down. “I’ll answer baseball questions,” Posey said. That did not go over well. The controversy began on June 12, when Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verse references on their Pride Night caps. A fourth pitcher, Sam...

FIFA has confirmed that rainbow flags will be permitted inside Lumen Field when Iran face Egypt in Seattle's designated "Pride Match" on Friday, dismissing lobbying efforts from both Muslim-majority nations. The world governing body stated that the 2026 World Cup is "an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds," adding that "fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events."

* Iran and Egypt have both criticised the branding of their World Cup group-stage meeting as a "Pride Match" * Egyptian football officials formally lodged objections with FIFA over LGBTQ+ themed activities surrounding the fixture * The June 26 match in Seattle was designated by local organisers as part of Pride Month celebrations Iran and Egypt have expressed opposition to branding of their upcoming World Cup meeting as a "Pride Match," with both football federations raising concerns ahead of the Group G fixture in Seattle. The two nations were drawn together for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the tournament...

Just about everyone seems to be weighing in on the polarizing Pride Night at Oracle Park last week. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is the latest public figure to criticize the four Giants pitchers who protested the team’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Ryan Walker, Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Sam Hentges have sparked an outcry among San Franciscans as well as other Pride Night supporters. Walker chose to wear the standard Giants hat rather than the special hat for the event, which has a rainbow-colored team logo. The latter three added a Bible verse on their Pride Night...

A teacher who murdered and sexually abused a 13-month-old baby boy he was adopting was given a whole life order in prison today. Jamie Varley, 37, a former head of year, will die in jail for the killing of Preston Davey during sexual abuse in July 2023. His partner, 32-year-old sales manager John McGowan-Fazakerley, who was complicit in Preston's death, was sentenced to 25 years.

YORK, Pa. — The York Revolution announced it has canceled its scheduled Thursday game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs after several players refused to wear the team's planned Pride Night jerseys. In a statement issued late Wednesday, the club said the decision was made with “great disappointment” and that tickets for the June 18 game will be treated as a rainout and may be redeemed for any future 2026 regular-season home game, subject to availability. "Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more...

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the war he had hoped would secure his legacy — Israel and the United States together attacking Iran — may be ending in a way that could sully it. The framework agreement to end the war in Iran, which was announced on Sunday, omits some of the most important things Israel wanted. The full text of the deal has not yet been released and Israel was not directly involved in the negotiations. Initial details suggest that the agreement does nothing to curb Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, or its funding of regional proxies like...

President Donald Trump’s name is off the Kennedy Center. Crews at the performing arts venue started removing it from the front of the building around 3 a.m., several hours after the center missed a federal judge’s two-week deadline to do so. The judge had ruled that the decision by the center’s board of trustees to rename it was illegal. With the removal of 18 letters — “The Donald J. Trump and” — the building’s exterior reads “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” once more. Trump’s name had been on the facade for 176 days, a dramatic...

Days after the Pride flag was raised for the first time ever at Webster Town Hall, it was taken down. The move came as the result of a new flag policy passed Thursday by the Town Board in a 3-2 vote. Town Board member John Cahill introduced the policy, which established the United States flag and the New York state flag as the only ones allowed on flagpoles on town propert

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Sunday slammed the exclusion of LGBT cops from walking in uniform with their guns at Manhattan’s Pride March — before participating with a group in Queens’ version. “Once again, they banned NYPD officers from marching in full uniform later this month,” Tisch said of the Manhattan organizers. “That decision is as hypocritical as it is a slap in the face to the New York City Police Department and to the spirit of pride.”

No one believes Satan has prophets, but he does, this is what they are telling us to believe, but worst of all, this is exactly what we are doing. When the prophet Micah began preaching to Israel about their political, social, and economic decline, they accused him of blasphemy, and there are those who would be more than glad to have put him to death. The Golden Age of Israel was at its peak during Micah’s time, and to say that it was going to end suddenly, completely, to the people it sounded like deep blasphemy. They wouldn’t hear of...

The Dodgers celebrated Pride Night on Friday night at Uniqlo Field and donned their traditional Pride Night hats. Just before Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 victory over the Angels, Blake Treinen came out of the bullpen in the top half of the inning and wore a different hat. Treinen donned the Dodgers’ usual blue and white “LA” hat, while the rest of the team wore an LGBTQ+-inspired hat that had the color of the rainbow on the “LA” logo.

It's June, which means the baseball world will be on edge for the next 25 days or so. A tradition unlike any other in this country! For those who don't know (and that's none of you, because it's everywhere), June is Pride Month. Haven't you heard?! You know in October when the NFL wears pink for a month? That's June in Major League Baseball, except it's rainbow hats and social media posts. And, of course, the Texas Rangers angering half the country because they don't do any of it.

Federal documents claim Phoenix Pride owes more than $400,000 and are now getting sued.PHOENIX — Phoenix Pride has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing rising operational costs and declining sponsorship and fundraising support.The nonprofit, which has operated for 40 years and hosts Arizona’s two largest LGBTQ+ events, Pride Fest and Rainbow Fest, announced the filing Friday.In a statement, Phoenix Pride said rising operational costs, a lack of sponsorships and fundraising challenges tied to the current political climate have placed significant financial strain on the organization.Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows organizations to continue operating while restructuring their finances under court supervision.Phoenix...

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Pride celebrations across the country continue to lose out on large sponsorships as corporations, a key source of funding, shrink their affiliation with diversity causes and LGBTQ+ events. Corporate sponsorships of celebrations in several cities, including New York City, Salt Lake City, Louisville, St. Louis, Orlando, and Pittsburgh are down from previous years, organizers said. Jordan Braxton, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, which supports Pride celebrations nationwide, said that while some smaller Prides have seen a growth in sponsorships, a majority have seen a reduction. She said the Trump administration's dismantling of Diversity, Equity...

Long Beach city officials said the festival was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit. Read more at KTLA.com.

Undeterred by the shocking, last-minute cancellation of the city’s annual Pride Festival, Long Beach’s Pride Parade roared forward Sunday.

Bay Area-based Philz Coffee says the company will remove Pride and other flags from all its cafes. SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A new policy by Bay Area-based Philz Coffee has some people upset as the chain says it will no longer allow flags of any kind in its stores, including Pride flags. What started out as a single cafe in the city's Mission District has since become a quintessential part of the San Francisco coffee scene. But after over two decades of building a solid customer base around the Bay Area, Philz Coffee is now disappointing many. "I think it's...

In a social media announcement posted Wednesday, Tucson Pride’s Board of Directors said the organization has made the “difficult decision to close Tucson Pride as an organization" and therefore is also canceling the Tucson Pride Festival scheduled for Feb. 21, 2026. The Facebook post, attributed to the newly appointed board, said the decision came after “thoughtful discussion and careful consideration.” The statement thanked volunteers, sponsors, artists and activists and highlighted Tucson Pride’s role in the community “since 1977,” calling it a space of “visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades.”

As Russian tanks rumble through Georgia, and Western pundits talk of the "new Cold War," one trope keeps reappearing in their discourse. Russia's newly aggressive stance, we are told, is partly our fault: After the fall of Communism, the West went out of its way to humiliate and trample Russia instead of treating it as a partner--and now, an oil-powered Russia is striking back. "Russia's litany of indignities dates to the early 1990s when the Soviet empire collapsed," Samantha Power, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and former Barack Obama adviser, wrote in Time. "A bipolar universe gave...