Free Republic

New York City resident Sabri Ben-Achour, 39, began to feel ill on March 12 and experienced roughly 36 hours of intense symptoms: fever, aches, fatigue, cough and headache. But by March 14, Ben-Achour felt back to normal, except for one thing: Both his sense of smell and taste were gone. "I couldn't smell anything," he said. "I could literally not smell s---." He ordered from an Indian restaurant: "I asked them to make it extra salty and extra spicy, and it tasted like water." By March 16, he was fairly certain he had contracted and recuperated from COVID-19, the disease...

Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was met with protesters representing the group Queers Against Pete outside of a private fundraising event at the National LGBTQ Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Friday. Inside the building, two activists attempted to disrupt the fundraiser after Buttigieg was asked about his husband, Chasten, by a member of the audience. "I respect your activism," Buttigieg said, "but this is a gathering of supporters of our campaign and I just got a question about my husband and I'm really excited to answer it." After being shouted down,...

Two queer activists unhappy with Pete Buttigieg’s “middle of the road” politics were kicked out of his San Francisco fundraiser Friday after interrupting him on stage with shouted questions, a report said. The protesters peppered Buttigieg with questions at San Francisco’s National LGBTQ Center for the Arts, immediately drawing boos from supporters of the former South Bend, Indiana mayor, according to The Guardian. “I respect your activism, but this is a gathering for supporters of our campaign and I just got a question about my husband and I’m really excited to answer it,” Buttigieg said in response to the activists,...

Now firmly established in many public libraries across the nation, drag queen story hour is branching out to new territory: public school. “In an effort to continue to strengthen and enhance inclusiveness and diversity in our school, the first grade will be taking part in a ‘Drag Queen Story Hour!'” the notification read. Apparently, this is not the first time a drag queen has visited the school to read to young children. The upcoming drag queen visit, slated for Feb. 24, will only be the latest in a series of drag queen interactions that has seemingly taken place over “years.”

8chan owner Jim Watkins says the new site (named 8kun) should be up around Oct. 17. "Our Favorite Anon" hung out at 8chan. Fire away.

A transgender woman from Florida went missing a week ago during a layover at DFW International Airport, and her family is asking for help finding her. Pauline del Mundo, 59, was passing through DFW Airport on Sept. 14 on her way from Tampa to Cozumel, Mexico, but never took her connecting flight on American Airlines. She instead called a family member saying she had changed her mind about traveling to Cozumel but needed help getting a plane...

Chick-fil-A hatched in Canada today, and Toronto is not all aboard the fried chicken train. The Atlanta-based restaurant chain, best known for its sandwiches served with a side of controversy, is now open at 1 Bloor Street East, Toronto. The premier Toronto location is the first stand-alone outlet outside of the United States… if you don’t count the counter at the Calgary International Airport that opened in 2014, which has since shuttered. The opening was met by a large protest, led by Liberation TO and The 519 and its Army of Lovers, which was organized through Facebook and online over...

<p>The mayor of Barnegat Township, New Jersey has launched a campaign against a new law that will require public schools to teach LGBT history and the contributions of prominent LGBT individuals.</p> <p>Mayor Alfonso Cirulli turned some heads during Tuesday's township committee meeting with a personal opinion that he said does not represent the entire committee.</p>

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Gavin Grimm, a young man who has become a national face for transgender student rights, returns to a Virginia courtroom Tuesday to continue fighting against his former high school’s transgender bathroom policy. A federal judge in Norfolk will hear arguments over whether the Gloucester County School Board violated Grimm’s rights when it banned him from using boys’ bathrooms. The hearing is the latest step in a yearslong legal battle that has come to embody the debate over transgender student rights, an issue that is far from settled in school systems across the nation. Grimm, now 20,...

The City of Leander will close the public library Saturday as a "precaution" because it expects demonstrations related to a private "Drag Queen Story Time" event. The city announced the closure Tuesday in the following post on its website: Leander Public Library will be closed to the public on Saturday, June 15. While one of the library conference rooms will remain accessible to participants of the Drag Queen Story Time private event, ticket reservations through Open Cathedral are required for guest participation. On event day, the city will designate areas near the library and manage resources to allow for peaceful...

Renowned US Catholic hymnist composes song to celebrate pro-homosexual ‘Pride month’ EAGAN, Minnesota, June 5, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A famous American Catholic hymnist whose songs are sung in churches across the continent every Sunday has composed a chant to celebrate homosexuality. David Haas, 61, is known by Catholics throughout the English-speaking world for such hymns as “Blessed are They,” “You Are Mine,” and “Servant Song.” Jesuit-run America Magazine has called Haas “one of the most prolific and significant liturgical composers of the post-Vatican II English-speaking church.” On Monday, June 3, Haas announced on social media that he had written a...

“I was just so emotional just because it was my happiest place, being with him next to the storms,” Joey Krastel said of the engagement. A massive tornado in Kansas may seem like one of the most unlikely — and certainly one of the most dangerous — places for a marriage proposal, but for experienced storm chaser Joey Krastel, it was a real and exhilarating way to show his love for his boyfriend. Krastel, a meteorologist and risk analyst for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, saw his first tornado when he was four. After getting over his initial fear, he...

Jussie Smollett is now officially in the crosshairs of law enforcement, because Chicago PD said he's now "officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation ... for filing a false police report." The cops say detectives are currently presenting evidence to a Cook County Grand Jury. If Smollett is charged the felony carries a maximum 3-year prison sentence. We're told the 2 brothers are at the courthouse now and are expected to testify ... most probably today.

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett issued a statement Saturday denying that he orchestrated his Jan. 29 assault, and saying he is “angered” and “devastated” by recent developments in the case. Chicago police want to interview Smollett, after learning new evidence from two Nigerian brothers who were released on Friday night. Local media outlets have reported that the brothers admitted to police that Smollett paid them to carry out the attack.

BREAKING NEWS. Fox 32 reporter Rafer Weigel said Saturday afternoon that Chicago police sources confirmed detectives were able to show that the Nigerian brothers who were “persons of interest” and questioned by police, bought the rope found around Jussie Smollett’s neck at Ace hardware. Jussie Smollett alleged two white Trump supporters violently attacked him at 2 AM in the streets of Chicago when he was walking home from Subway with a sandwich in his hand. Smollett told police the attackers were white and hurled homophobic and racial slurs at him while they beat him, poured bleach on him then put...

Chicago police late Friday released two Lakeview men who had been questioned for two days as “potential persons of interest” and, later, “potential suspects” in the alleged hate crime attack of Empire TV star Jussie Smollett early on Jan. 29 in Streeterville. “Due to new evidence as a result of today's interrogations” Abimbola "Abel" Osundairo and his brother Olabinjo "Ola" Osundairo were released, said Anthony Guglielmi, the top spokesperson for Chicago police. “Detectives have additional investigative work to complete.” The Osundiros are no longer considered suspects by investigators, whose full attention is now focused squarely on Smollett, according to well-established...

Two men arrested in connection with an alleged attack on "Empire" star Jussie Smollett have been released without being charged due to new evidence from interrogations on Friday, Chicago police said. "Due to new evidence as a result of today's interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

WEST POINT, Va. (WRIC) -- Students and parents in West Point, a town roughly an hour east of Richmond, are rallying behind a teacher put on paid administrative leave following a transgender controversy at the school. A French teacher at West Point High School, Peter Vlaming, is currently on paid administrative leave for not using a student's preferred identity pronoun. 8News reached out to the school for comment but West Point Public Schools cited the incident as "a personnel issue" and declined to respond about the status of Vlaming's case. Students told 8News that Vlaming won't use male pronouns for...

Saturday while speaking to campaign volunteers in California, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said “San Francisco values” were what Democratic Party is about. Pelosi said, “I don’t mind when they say things about me like I’m a liberal. I like that.” She continued, “But when they say San Francisco liberal, as if to make it sound like it’s something negative, them’s fightin’ words. Don’t attack my city. Don’t attack my city. But, San Francisco values, that’s what we’re about. The city of Saint Francis, the city whose anthem is the song of Saint Francis, make us an instrument of...

A little less than a year after the first QAnon post, which has since led hundreds of thousands of news junkies down a conspiracy rabbit hole, news correspondent Jack Posobiec from One America News Network spoke with one of the co-originators of the “Q” persona who runs a group of individuals posing as a high-level government intelligence officer. On an anonymous “free speech” platform called 8Chan, they leave thousands of riddles, “clues,” odd questions, and cryptic lines as bread crumbs for their followers to help them in their search for truth. Many major media outlets have overviewed the nest of...