Free Republic

Unfortunately, after passing out of the Senate General Laws Committee last week, two bills that add sexual orientation and gender identity ("SOGI") as special legal classes passed the full Senate on Friday. One bill adds SOGI to public employment criteria. The other relates to housing and would require, for example, a faith-based university to open up it's female-only dormitories to male students who "identify" as a female. And it would require the university to open its married housing to same-sex couples. Although we anticipate these bills will be defeated in the House, the fact that these direct threats to religious...

The National Park Service is launching an initiative to make places and people of significance to the history of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual Americans part of the national narrative. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is convening a panel of 18 scholars next month that will be charged with exploring the LGBT movement’s story in areas such as law, religion, media, civil rights and the arts. The committee will identify relevant sites and its work will be used to evaluate them for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, designation as National Historic Landmarks, or consideration as national monuments, Park...

A media shield law approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee defines a “real reporter” deserving of extra protection. Bloggers, "citizen journalists," and others cry "foul!"[snip]The first version of a media shield law that handily made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday defined for the first time what constitutes a “real reporter” deserving of extra protection versus what Sen. Dianne Feinstein called a “17-year-old blogger” who doesn’t deserve a legal shield.[snip] That Congress is attempting to define “journalist” at all in order to expand protections after a number of high-profile leak cases and ensuing Justice Department prosecutions caused blog...

The vote was 13-5 for a compromise defining a "covered journalist" as an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information. The individual would have been employed for one year within the last 20 or three months within the last five years. It would apply to student journalists or someone with a considerable amount of freelance work in the last five years. A federal judge also would have the discretion to declare an individual a "covered journalist," who would be granted the privileges of the law.

Statutory rape is legally defined as: “The criminal offense of statutory rape is committed when an adult sexually penetrates a person who, under the law, is incapable of consenting to sex. Minors and physically and mentally incapacitated persons are deemed incapable of consenting to sex under rape statutes in all states. These persons are considered deserving of special protection because they are especially vulnerable due to their youth or condition.” If you are a male, say age 18 and you have sex with a 14 year old girl, in most states that constitutes statutory rape. In all but three states,...

There’s an astonishing piece in Thursday’s Salt Lake Tribune, and if you haven’t been paying attention to the sudden “evolution” of the Mormon church’s leadership on homosexuality, it will make your jaw drop. Most people associate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with overwhelming animous towards the LGBT community, heaping on the church total responsibility for 2008′s devastating Prop 8 victory. But, wait, times are a-changing, and the Mormons are now working with Utah’s LGBT leaders to help craft a statewide anti-discrimination law: Attorneys for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are in quiet discussions with...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today that using foreign aid to combat human rights abuses against homosexuals in foreign countries is “not in America’s interests” and attacked President Obama’s decision to require U.S. agencies operating abroad to promote equal rights for gays as part of the administration’s “war on traditional American values.” “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop,” Perry said in the statement. “Promoting special rights for...

A cozy town hall meeting with Michele Bachmann at the Waverly Pizza Ranch in Iowa took a twist Wednesday when a student questioned the GOP presidential contender’s views on same-sex marriage and of what she would do for the gay and lesbian community as president. “All of us as Americans have the same rights, we have the same civil rights,” Bachmann told 16-year-old Jane Schmidt, who identified herself as a member of the school’s GSA, the alliance advocating for the rights of gay and straight students. “There shouldn’t be any special rights or any special set of criteria,” Bachmann continued....

Just over one-in-five Likely U.S. Voters (22%) now support government programs that give special treatment when hiring to women and minorities. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% oppose programs that give hiring preference to women and minorities. That’s up eight points from 55% a year ago. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure about them. When asked specifically about “affirmative action programs” in general without any further description, 26% of voters favor them, while 45% are opposed. Thirty percent (30%) are undecided. A plurality (46%) of voters believes affirmative action programs discriminate against white men, but 31%...

It caused Sean Hannity to pull out of last February's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., where he had been slated to appear as keynote speaker. When Hannity withdrew from the CPAC lineup, Glenn Beck stepped in. (Though this has not been previously reported, my source is highly placed and utterly reliable.) It was also a big reason Gov. Sarah Palin opted not to speak at CPAC, long the nation's largest and most influential annual gathering of conservatives. It caused WorldNetDaily, as well as major conservative institutions like Liberty University, to drop their planned sponsorship of the event. "It"...

In America we are quickly reaching the critical point where expansion of freedom is viewed by some as a threat to religious liberty. Advocates for religious freedom who once took an almost permissive approach so long as the rights and safety of innocent third parties were protected are now actively calling for those types of freedoms to be curtailed. It is a delicate balancing act, and churches do well to protect their integrity. But if they are also using the power of this unity to “reform laws” and “rebuild the culture” then we are witnessing the emergence of a new...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 26, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a case that is the first of its kind, a federal court has ruled that laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the District of Columbia must also include former homosexuals as a protected class. The Superior Court of the District of Columbia has ruled that under the D.C. Human Rights Act, a former homosexual must have the same protections as an active homosexual against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The decision handed down by Judge Maurice Ross says that the D.C. Office of Human Rights (OHR) was wrong to dismiss...

One month after successfully tucking an amendment into the credit card reform bill that expanded gun rights, a small number of Senate Republicans are looking at the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as another chance to score a victory for the Second Amendment. The possible plan — to add an amendment that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. The possible rationale — to defend gay rights. “It makes sense for a group of people who would be protected by hate crime legislation to support something that...

The real reason for hate crime laws is not the defense of human beings from crime. There are already laws against that - and Matthew Shepard's murderers were successfully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a state with no hate crimes law at the time. The real reason for the invention of hate crimes was a hard-left critique of conventional liberal justice and the emergence of special interest groups which need boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and luxurious buildings. Just imagine how many direct mail pieces have gone out explaining that without more...

The state Assembly has passed a bill requiring prison authorities to consider inmates' gender identity when making housing decisions. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat, says his bill is needed because studies show gay and transgender inmates are vulnerable to physical and sexual assaults behind bars. He urged lawmakers to support his bill as a way to reduce prison violence. The bill was adopted on a 60-8 vote on Monday, with no lawmakers speaking against it. It now heads to the state Senate. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation assigns housing based on inmates' physical gender, even if prisoners...

The "hate crimes" plan pending in the Senate that has been dubbed the "Pedophile Protection Act" would "break" the U.S. Constitution if adopted and enforced, according to an Arizona congressman. And citizens are expressing their concern by dispatching hundreds of thousands of letters to senators. U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., was interviewed today on WND columnist Janet Porter's radio program for the Faith2Action Christian ministry. "They have to necessarily break the Constitution for this bill to have any effect," Franks said. WND has reported multiple times on the developing legislation – a plan that failed under President George W. Bush...

A Republican lawmaker has enraged supporters of "hate crimes" legislation for suggesting that the horrible murder of Matthew Shepard was not motivated by anti-homosexual bigotry. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) drew the ire of homosexual activists and other supporters of hate crimes legislation last week when she suggested that the tragic 1998 murder of college student Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime. "We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay," Foxx said on the House floor. "The bill was named for him -- the hate crimes bill was...

Gay victims of violence would gain new federal protections under a revived and expanded hate crimes bill passed by the House. Conservatives strongly objected but lacked the votes to stop the legislation. The bill could provide a financial bonanza to state and local authorities, with federal grants to help pay for prosecution of hate crimes. The federal government could step in and prosecute if states requested it or declined to exercise their authority. A weaker bill died two years ago under a veto threat from President George W. Bush. But President Barack Obama urged support before the vote. Democratic Sen....

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- A man said he was fired from his hotel job for his sexual orientation and claims the owner who let him go dared him to sue. David Hill is looking for a new job after he said he was fired Tuesday from a former Brentwood Holiday Inn, which now goes by the name Artee Hotel. "They literally said to me because of my orientation and my alternative lifestyle, that I was not a fit for the hotel," said Hill. Hill said he used to be the human resources director and is shocked at the owner's decision to...

Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to ban smoking in all public places, including bars, is likely to reignite a longstanding feud between local tavern owners and casinos owned by American Indian tribes. The casinos would be exempt from the proposed ban because they are located on tribal lands not subject to state or local laws.The smoking ban proposal announced Wednesday "would probably not apply to us," said Katie Funmaker, a spokeswoman for the Ho-Chunk tribe, which operates casinos in Wisconsin Dells and Black River Falls and the Dejope gaming facility on Madison's east side.Funmaker noted that smoking is allowed at Dejope...