Free Republic

Out of all the criticisms of Donald Trump, the one I've never understood is that he's somehow anti-gay. The Trump/Pence ticket was supposed to have put up conversion-therapy camps all across America by now, right? Yet somehow it hasn't happened. With all the legitimate reasons for a person to oppose Trump, they still keep making stuff up. Pete Buttigieg has been capitalizing on this, depicting himself as some sort of victim. He wants you to think Trump is oppressing him. He just can't seem to get Trump to play along. Check out this clip from an interview Trump just gave...

Taiwan's parliament has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage following a vote on Friday. In 2017, the island's constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry. Parliament was given a two-year deadline and was required to pass the changes by 24 May. Lawmakers debated three different bills to legalise same-sex unions and the government's bill, the most progressive of the three, was passed. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered in the rain outside the parliament building in the capital, Taipei, to await the landmark ruling. There were shouts of joy and some tearful...

Children of LGBT parents can now be blessed or baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church officials declared in a new policy on Thursday, dramatically reversing a 2015 decision that excluded those children from the rituals until they were 18. The church will also update its handbook for leaders, removing the label of “apostasy” for same-sex marriage.

PRETORIA, March 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In South Africa, a high court ruled that the Dutch Reformed Church’s adherence to its teachings that marriage is for one man and one woman amounts to “discrimination.” On March 8, the Gauteng Division of South Africa’s High Court in Pretoria ruled that the Dutch Reformed Church may not exclude certain members of the church from the full and equal enjoyment of the rights and freedoms offered to all of its members. This would include allowing “marriage” for same-sex couples. “If a member of the [Dutch Reformed] Church is permitted to study to become...

I received my Academy screener of "Vice" -- Adam McKay's intermittently black comic biopic of Dick Cheney --- just a few days before its Christmas opening and watched it almost immediately, even though I knew I would hate it. I did. It had exactly the retrograde, conformist Hollywood politics I expected. What I didn't expect was that it would be an aesthetic jumble and quite boring. Nevertheless, "Vice" led the pack of Golden Globe nominations with six and is an early favorite for the Best Picture Oscar. So unfortunately, due to the biased state of our educational system, this could...

Homosexual celebrations could be coming to toy aisles nationwide soon if Barbie manufacturer Mattel accepts a proposal to produce sets of same-sex “wedding” dolls. Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio are a homosexual couple in Arizona that plans to get “married” next May. In comments on Instagram and to ABC 15, they explain that they wanted to get a special birthday present for Jacobi’s 8-year-old niece, who will be a flower girl at their “wedding.” Jacobi is also an E! reality TV personality and contributor to Instinct Magazine. “We thought it would be special to give her something with a little...

While the state may have chosen to expand its definition of marriage to accommodate for some of the above legal benefits normally given to a husband and wife, it is not necessary for the Church to change its definition or understanding of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to match the State’s definition. It is time for the Church to stop functioning as an agent of the State in issuing marriage licenses.

Taiwan has rejected same-sex marriages, in a blow to the island's reputation as a rights trailblazer in Asia. The results in referendums come despite a high court ruling in March 2017 in favour of such unions. The court also gave parliament two years to amend laws or pass new ones. It is unclear how Saturday's voting will affect legislation. Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen quit as leader of Taiwan's governing party after defeats in local elections. Her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is set to lose more than half of the 13 cities and counties it won in 2014, Taiwanese media...

A bishop of The Episcopal Church whose diocese is based in the capital of New York has announced that his churches will not perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. Earlier this year, the Episcopal Church General Convention passed a resolution allowing for congregations to perform gay weddings even in dioceses where leadership objects. The new policy is scheduled to take effect on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2. This stood in contrast to a resolution passed by the General Convention in 2015 that allowed bishops opposed to same-sex marriage to maintain a ban on such unions within their diocese. Bishop William...

Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who received international attention for denying gay couples marriage licenses, lost her re-election bid Tuesday, according to local reports. Davis, a Republican, was about 700 votes behind her Democratic opponent, Elwood Caudill Jr., in her bid for a second term as Rowan County clerk. In the Democratic primary, Caudill beat David Ermold, the man whom Davis had refused to grant a same-sex marriage license, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Caudill, Rowan County's chief deputy property valuation administrator, had unsuccessfully challenged Davis in 2014 in the Republican primary. Davis switched party allegiances in 2015. “I want...

Homosexuality and transgenderism were flashpoints in a debate Tuesday night between a liberal Democrat trying to unseat a moderate veteran state representative in northern Massachusetts. State Representative Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) criticized challenger Sabrina Heiser, a member of the Dracut School Committee, for drawing the vast majority of her campaign funds from outside the district, which she charged comes from rich people trying to buy the seat to further their left-wing agenda.

I was recently confronted with a challenge about marriage at one of my events. The claim was that God permits same-sex marriage today because marriage is not clearly defined in Scripture. Adam and Eve were a monogamous heterosexual couple, but later in Scripture God allowed men to marry multiple women. This signals a trajectory in the Bible towards more openness of sexual expression and in the definition of marriage. Therefore, same-sex marriage should be allowed by Christians today. I don’t think the Bible permits same-sex marriage for a whole host of reasons, but I’ll only explain the ones I offered...

The Uniting Church in Australia's Assembly voted Saturday to change the denomination's definition of marriage and allow ministers to officiate weddings for same-sex couples. In a statement posted on the Church's website, Uniting Church in Australia President Deidre Palmer announced the changes that were made by the 265-member assembly that gathered in Melbourne, saying: "To honor the diversity of Christian belief among our members, we will hold two equal and distinct statements of belief on marriage." The first statement of belief regarding marriage is one that the Uniting Church has been following for a long time. "The existing statement of...

Bishop Michael Curry is using the attention he received while presiding over the Royal Wedding to lead a new anti-Trump protest. According to sources, Curry and other Chrisitan leaders will host a candlelight vigil to protest the “dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches” — crises that put “the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith” at stake. The event will kick off with a church service beforehand right in front of Lafayette Square, which is across the street from the White House. Who’s going?

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that same sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, support for same-sex marriage has increased substantially. Currently, more than six in ten (61%) Americans say gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry legally, while only about half as many (30%) are opposed. Strength of support for same-sex marriage has increased dramatically over the past decade, while strength of opposition has fallen in nearly equal measure. Today, Americans who strongly favor same-sex marriage outnumber those who strongly oppose it by more than a two-to-one margin (30% vs. 14%). In 2007,...

Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has died, a court spokesperson confirmed. He was 87. A liberal champion, Reinhardt was appointed to the bench by President Carter in 1980. He authored key liberal court opinions on hot-button topics ranging from abortion and marriage equality to assisted suicide and immigration. At the same time, the opinions made him a target of criticism from conservative corners — and of regular reversal from the Supreme Court.

(Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)A wedding cake is seen at a reception for same-sex couples at The Abbey in West Hollywood, California, July 1, 2013.An evangelical judge who has refused to marry same-sex couples was handed down a three-year suspension without pay Thursday by the Oregon Supreme Court, the longest suspension in the court's history.Judge Vance Day, who was found to have broken several gun laws, and in 2014 refused to marry same-sex couples, will have 14 days to file a petition for the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.One of the main charges that Day was found guilty of concerned...

Less than a year after legalizing same-sex marriage, Bermuda is reversing course, implementing a law that says same-sex couples can enter domestic partnerships but not marry. The British territory is believed to be the first jurisdiction in the world to reverse course on same-sex marriage after permitting it

A tight-knit Roman Catholic Church parish north of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, is dealing with the fallout of its new priest's decision to dismiss three men from the church's musical ensemble because they are in same-sex marriages. The Rev. John Drees, who replaced his retiring predecessor at the Church of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls and the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Shafer in July, has explained that he had no choice but to dismiss the trio, as same-sex marriage goes against the teachings of the Church. According to a report in The Pioneer Press last week, the men have...

Almost half of us are okay with the idea of two people getting married to avoid inheritance tax. In a study carried out by Amarách Research for RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, 48% of people said they would support two people getting married where the sole purpose is to avoid inheritance tax. […] The poll comes after two friends went on RTÉ’s Liveline on Friday afternoon and said they were marrying for tax reasons. The show heard from 85-year-old Matt, who told Joe Duffy that Michael O’Sullivan was his best friend and that he planned to leave him his house when...