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Pope Francis on Sunday stressed the importance of children having heterosexual parents, just a day after Rome’s gay pride march demonstrated the changing attitudes about same-sex couples outside the Vatican walls. Addressing around 25,000 followers from the Diocese of Rome, the pope said the differences between men and women are fundamental and “an integral part of being human.” The pontiff likened a long-lasting marriage to a good wine, in which a husband and wife make the most of their gender differences. “They’re not scared of the differences!” the pope said. “What great richness this diversity is, a diversity which becomes...

RUSH: Have you heard this? By the way, it's true. It is being said that gay marriage is superior to heterosexual marriage. I can't believe we're even using language that signifies the difference, but, anyways, we have to. The militant gay community says that gay marriage is superior because they get to pick their children via adoption. Therefore, they -- having chosen the exact kind of child they want-- have a much better chance at raising that child than a hetero couple who simply have to deal with whatever the sperm and the egg produce. Do not doubt me on...

A federal judge has rejected the challenge of a Nebraska prison inmate and his transgender fiancée to a voter-approved constitutional amendment that says marriage must be between a man and woman. Harold B. Wilson and Gracy Sedlak, formerly John Jirovsky, sued the Nebraska prison system and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning in U.S. District Court in Omaha. In the suit, they sought to overturn Nebraska Initiative Measure 416 of 2000, saying their rights were being violated because they weren't allowed to marry the person of their choosing and weren't being treated equally to heterosexual couples who may be approved for...

SAN ANTONIO - In a move that follows suit with a federal ruling issued in February, a state district judge has deemed Texas' restrictions on same-sex marriage unconstitutional - paving the way for a San Antonio couple's divorce proceedings and subsequent child custody battle to continue. (continued)

Shameless Vanity. Doomonyou Junior is getting married to the love of his life this Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Doomonyou and I are driving down from Petaluma to Riverside tomorrow and would like to ask for prayers for safe travel, a good wedding rehearsal and dinner, and a blessed wedding.

The other night I saw another debate on the topic of gay marriage. The debate was between Robert Jeffress, an opponent, and Wayne Besen, an extremely gay activist. It was the kind of lame debate I’ve come to expect lately on the Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor. In fact, nothing interesting happened until the last few seconds of the six-minute segment when Besen characterized the debate’s first legitimate point as “crazy.” Jeffress argued the point many opponents argue when he said that gay marriage could lead to polygamy and even to marriage between a man and his pet. When...

Re "Warren invitation" (Letters, Dec. 23): I am getting tired of hearing gays and left-leaning Democrats refer to anyone who opposes gay marriage as being "homophobic" or even "bigoted." I voted yes on Proposition 8 because I believe marriage is a bond between one man and one woman. For the sake of my children and their children's future I will do everything I can to protect the institution of marriage and family for them. That doesn't make me a bigot or homophobic. That makes me an American exercising my right to vote. Having the Rev. Rick Warren give the inaugural...

Warren invitation I am a 68-year-old gay woman. As a longtime political watcher I have seen President Bush signal his conservative bona fides by sacrificing gays to the Karl Rove hatchet attacks. Now as an Obama supporter I see the invitation of conservative preacher Rick Warren to offer up a blessing at the inauguration as a big slap in the face for gays. This is a major misstep for the Obama team. It panders to the right-wing soft bigots like Warren (who just condemn homosexuality, not gays per se). Del Whan

Abel Ferreira and his wife, Robbie, never considered themselves political activists. But when Proposition 8 landed on November's ballot, the Spring Valley couple did everything they could to ensure that the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage got passed. They made phone calls. They attended prayer rallies. They fasted for 40 days. For the Ferreiras, as for so many other people motivated to action by Proposition 8, the measure wasn't just a matter of politics. It was about family, faith and the future of the country.

MAN'S SEXUAL ENERGIES are of extraordinary power and complexity. Is this energy something we can use however we wish, or is there some objective standard to which this energy should be conformed? The Western tradition, like many other traditions, has consistently held that there is such an objective standard, and it is the reality called "marriage." Today, however, many think that marriage can be whatever they want it to be. Instead of seeing marriage as an objective reality to which we align ourselves, it is seen as something that must conform to our notions and desires. Let's call this perspective...

RESPONDING TO NEWSWEEK's DISTORTIONS OF THE BIBLE REGARDING THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE Newsweek magazine, one of the most influential news magazines in America, has decided to come out for same-sex marriage in a big way, and to do so by means of a biblical and theological argument. In its cover story for this week, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. It is fair to say that Newsweek has gone for broke on this question. Miller begins with a lengthy dismissal of the Bible's relevance to...

Why did 70% of California African-Americans vote against gay marriage on November 4th? While a narrow majority of white voters opposed Proposition 8 (which defined marriage as "valid and recognized" only between a man and a woman), and a small majority of Latinos supported it, the black community overwhelmingly said "no" to the top "civil rights" priority of gay activists. Liberals explain this surprising result with insulting (and occasionally racist) claims that black voters didn't understand the real nature of the fight, and suggestions that they were misled by TV advertisements or their impassioned pastors. Conservatives, on the other hand,...

Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer of the film and stage musical “Hairspray,” has done the country a major, if inadvertent, service. He has composed a brief musical piece against California Proposition 8 that takes only three minutes to reveal the ignorance and hate that pervades so much anti-Proposition 8 activism. This short musical, viewed more than 2 million times on the Internet, features major Hollywood talents playing (through song) two groups on a beach -- gay men and women in beach clothes and a stuffy formally dressed church group composed of whites and blacks. Its message begins with a...

Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer of the film and stage musical “Hairspray,” has done the country a major, if inadvertent, service. He has composed a brief musical piece against California Proposition 8 that takes only three minutes to reveal the ignorance and hate that pervades so much anti-Proposition 8 activism. This short musical, viewed more than 2 million times on the Internet, features major Hollywood talents playing (through song) two groups on a beach -- gay men and women in beach clothes and a stuffy formally dressed church group composed of whites and blacks. Its message begins with a...

Turning the Bible on its Head -- Newsweek Goes for Gay Marriage Posted: Monday, December 08, 2008 at 6:50 am ET Printer Version E-mail Permalink Bookmark and Share Newsweek magazine, one of the most influential news magazines in America, has decided to come out for same-sex marriage in a big way, and to do so by means of a biblical and theological argument. In its cover story for this week, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. It is fair to say that Newsweek has gone...

We are asking everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, to help us fight for basic human rights. In reaction to the devastating and inhumane ‘yes’ on Proposition 8, the LBGT community, is asking all Queers and supporters to “call in gay” for ‘Human Rights Day’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Day), the 10th of December. The Queer population has suffered social injustice for too long and now is our chance to show the world how much we matter. December 10th is a Wednesday and we encourage everyone to do nothing to help the economy. We ask that students skip class, teachers cancel class and business owners...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed Proposition 8, has openly hoped that courts will now overturn it and has encouraged opponents to "never give up."In the process, he's ignited a battle within his own party. Christian conservatives are using him as a foil, to claim that they, not the Republican governor, represent the party base. That Schwarzenegger is "condoning street protests and supporting judicial activist scams to overturn a popularly approved state constitutional amendment approaches advocacy of anarchy," said an action alert from the Family Research Council, which urges conservatives to contact Schwarzenegger's office. With Republicans out of power in both houses...

Then Prop 8 argument, was settled by the voters almost three weeks ago and in that time the argument has shifted from "should there be gay marriage" to "should people/institutions be punished for their political views? Two weeks ago a theater director was forced to resign because he gave money to the pro-Prop 8 forces, then the head of the LA Film Festival has been forced to resign for the same reason. There are regular and sometimes vicious protests in front of the Mormon Church in California. The Argument has shifted. This no longer has to do with the definition...

This week, the creative minds behind “Hairspray,” composer Marc Shaiman and director Adam Shankman, opened their “Prop 8: The Musical” with an all-star studded cast that includes Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris and John C. Reilly at Sacramento Community College. You can watch it here. The point of the production is to shame the voting public for passing Proposition 8 a month ago, which simply defined marriage in California as between a man and a woman. The musical is clearly intended to spark more “public outrage.” No doubt, more protests, more storming of Mormon temples and Catholic churches and more...

Hollywood can still mount a soapbox and recall the dark days when people lost their jobs in show business for daring to take an unpopular political position that was outside the mainstream. Whenever they're criticized, they proclaim, "McCarthyism," accuse their critics of "blacklisting," and condemn the deplorable "intolerance." Hollywood has yet to accept, perhaps even to understand, that it is the entertainment industry that excels at this slanderous behavior. After California voters narrowly approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, it was revealed that Scott Eckern, the artistic director...