Free Republic

Good news: Bill de Blasio has finally enlightened us all on how many genders there are. As Robert Gehl of The Federalist Papers writes; Baskin Robbins ain’t got nothing on New York City. The ice cream shop boasts 31 flavors, but New York City’s got 31 genders. As part of its non-discrimination policy, the city’s Commission on Human Rights released a list of different genders that businesses must accommodate or risk a six-figure fine, The Daily Caller is reporting. Along with the package comes the requirement that you identify someone using their preferred pronouns. Among these include pronouns such as...

For those millions of women and girls who have been victims of sexual assault and abuse, being confronted by a man in the restroom or locker room is a real trauma trigger. Recent moves by the Obama Administration seem designed to make them silent victims once more. This week on Freedom Matters, Kaeley Triller, a sex abuse survivor, joins Bob, Kerri, and Matt to share her story and talk about the unintended victims of new bathroom and locker room policies. Kaeley was fired by the YMCA for standing up against a new policy that opened its bathrooms and locker rooms...

When retail giant Target announced their new policy of allowing anyone to use whichever bathroom they wish in their stores it was completely predictable that a firestorm was going to follow… and boy howdy, has it ever. While the SJW crowd cheered the decision, realists around the country signaled their collective displeasure with a boycott of the store spearheaded by The American Family Association. In a relatively short time, more than one million people had signed on to the protest. (Fox News) More than one million people have decided they will no longer buy their Nutter Butters or Wet...

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard shocked conservatives Tuesday when he vetoed legislation that would have prohibited students in South Dakota public schools from using opposite-sex restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities. The decision is a boon for transgender advocates who lobbied the governor to reject the bill, arguing it was discriminatory and would have harmed the emotional well-being of transgender students. Proponents of the legislation contended it’s inappropriate to have adolescent boys and girls showering and changing in the same room. “Do you feel it appropriate for a 13-year-old girl to be exposed to the anatomy of a boy? Or for...

Video at link. Houston Mayor Annise Parker wasn’t exactly gracious in defeat, accusing those who opposed the city’s transgender-rights ordinance of “deliberate lies” and predicting the city’s economy would suffer as a result of the measure’s repeal. In remarks shortly after Tuesday’s balloting, Ms. Parker blamed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance’s lopsided loss on “a very small but determined group of right-wing ideologues and the religionist right” for waging “a campaign of fear-mongering and deliberate lies.” The ordinance, named Proposition 1 on the city ballot, lost by 62 to 38 percent despite the strong support of national gay-rights organizations, who...

Everybody’s calling him a hero. I say zero. Note to Daniel Murphy: don’t hate me because I want to get to first base with Matt Harvey. So while the entire city has come down with a raging case of Mets fever, I’m just raging. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to catch this bug whole-hog and jump on the big blue-and-orange bandwagon. This baseball stuff — especially the Mets’ playoff run — is great immersive theater. Fans wearing wacky wigs inspired by Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, the Samson-tressed pitchers? Yes, please. Grown men and women in team jerseys and...

On September 29, Inside the Vatican and Liberty Counsel both announced that Pope Francis met privately with Kim Davis on September 24. Since the announcement, there has been a wide variety of reporting ranging from some who deny any meeting occurred to others who admit a meeting occurred but that Kim Davis was merely one of many in a sea of faces. The fact is, Kim Davis was invited to a private meeting with the Pope and did meet privately with him on the afternoon of September 24, during which meeting Pope Francis said to Kim, “I want to thank...

HILLSBORO, Mo. (CBS St. Louis) – Over 150 Missouri high school students voiced their displeasure about a transgender teen using the girls’ locker room by walking out of class. Students at Hillsboro High School staged a two-hour walkout Monday over 17-year-old Lila Perry, a student who has identified as a female since she was 13, using the girls’ locker room during gym class. The school offered Perry a gender-neutral bathroom, which she turned down. St. Louis attorney Timm Schowalter says, “All students have a right, under Title 9, to access the bathroom of their choice.”

On Facebook, James Melanson reported that he was assaulted, called “faggot,” and claims he was not taken seriously by a police officer at the scene. “If you’re queer,” he wrote, “Get a tazer. It’s the only protection you have here… Queer people are not safe in Portland. We’re not.” The following is sourced from Melanson’s origin message. He gave me permission to repost it here. So, long story short, but I was physically assaulted by a homophobe from Maryland today. I’m fine. My chest still hurts from where he punched me (also punched me in the face, but my face...

David Quarrey presents his diplomatic credentials to President Rivlin, who invites Queen Elizabeth II to visit the region The first openly gay British ambassador presented his credentials to President Reuven Rivlin during an official ceremony in Jerusalem last week. David Quarrey introduced his spouse, Aldo Oliver Henriquez, to Rivlin during the event at the President’s Residence. Rivlin welcomed the ambassador, who took up his post in July, and told him of his hopes in using Quarrey’s diplomatic experience for confidence-building measures in the region. “During your term here, we will celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, which perhaps marks...

Born with female anatomy, Alex had recently begun hormone therapy and decided to fully transition to a male identity. And as he entered his second adolescence, he had decided to rededicate himself to a life as a practicing Muslim. On most days, he returned three times a day for prayer. Alex is aware of media reports that naively heralded Iran as an affirming place for transgender people in the wake of the 1987 decision by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini allowing gender-reassignment surgery. Iran is now the second-largest center for the procedure behind Thailand, according to some estimates. "Those decisions just...

A church marquee that displayed a message disagreeing with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on same-sex marriage was spray-painted with graffiti this weekend. But the sign at Bisbee Baptist Church was quickly cleaned up to keep showing the message: “Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right.” Pastor Freddie Matthews said he would like to talk to the person who spray-painted the sign early on July 4 with the phrase, “F--- 2 Your God We Love Gays!”

On Sunday, one NYPD officer joyfully danced with a member of the gay pride parade, bumping and grinding and letting the parade member get behind him and simulate sex on the street in front of appreciative onlookers. Afterward, the gay pride parade member gave the officer a nice hug and kiss, while the officer beamed...

Some snapshots of Americans reacting to the Supreme Court ruling declaring that same-sex couples have a right to marry in all 50 states.

Gotnews.com has independently identified the engineer at the center of the Amtrak crash that has killed at least seven. Brandon Bostian is the 32-year-old gay man who lawyered up after a deadly derailment in Philadelphia. The train was reportedly going twice the speed limit. ABC 6 previously reported that “Brandon Boshan,” not Brandon Bostian, was to blame for the deadly crash. (They have since taken down the link.) Bostian is a gay activist who previously worked at Target as a cashier before joining Amtrak, according to his LinkedIn.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Racing both a U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage and legislative deadlines, Texas Republicans pushed ahead Tuesday toward putting the state at the forefront of resistance if same-sex weddings are ruled constitutional. Nearly every Republican in the Texas House is backing a measure that would prohibit state and local officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Less than three weeks remain in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's first session, and the bill must clear the House by midnight Thursday to advance. If signed by Abbott, the bill would aim to defy the Supreme Court if...

The admission was made by Barack Hussein Obama's lawyer, the sitting Solicitor General of the United States, Donald Verrilli, Jr., on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, during questioning by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Samuel Alito, Jr. Solicitor General Verrilli, using a public office to defend same-sex marriage on behalf of the United States, was asked by Justice Alito if religious institutions could be at risk of losing their tax-exempt status due to their beliefs about Biblical marriage. Verrilli's reply was, "It's certainly going to be an issue."

Last month, Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, became one of the first major candidates in the marathon slog that is our modern presidential election cycle. Usually, when I want to see people get hit while running an obstacle course, I binge-watch Wipeout, the popular ABC show. But as anyone on social media is certainly well aware, there is no escaping our country’s least-enjoyable reality show: America’s Next Top Presidential Candidate (until the Next One, and the Next One, and the One After That). This year, my election fatigue is already so bad, I won’t even watch political gaffes on...

DENVER — The Colorado Republican Party has invited a gay GOP group that was barred from setting up a table at the Western Conservative Summit to share its booth. The Denver Post reports (http://goo.gl/06887P ) party Chairman Steve House announced the decision Thursday, the day after the Log Cabin Republicans were snubbed by summit organizers.

The Indiana Youth Group had a campaign established to raise funds that is in direct response to the Memories Pizza campaign. As of Friday morning, they had raised $2,700. (Photo courtesy of http://www.gofundme.com/qpkabg) INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The state of Indiana is watching dueling GoFundMe campaigns after the firestorm of RFRA.One was established for Memories Pizza and the other for LGBT youth in Indiana.Memories Pizza is the Indiana pizza shop whose owners said their religious beliefs wouldn’t allow them to cater a gay wedding.Their GoFundMe site, benefiting the restaurant had raised more than $550,000 as of Friday morning.The Indiana Youth Group had a campaign established to raise...