Free Republic

When I first heard that 2020’s Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina had secretly gotten married, I’ll be honest—I thought I was hallucinating. A secret queer femme romance born out of pageant culture? When my two favourite things in this world are LGBTQ+ love stories and the movie Miss Congeniality? Are you kidding me?

t has come to light that the 12 Republican senators who threw their support behind the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act” (RMA) were swayed by cash and political clout wielded by a group of prominent donors, several of whom identify as “gay.” At least ten GOP senators were needed to join Senate Democrats to reach the required 60-vote threshold for passage of the bill, which mandates that all 50 states must recognize same-sex “marriages,” even in the event that the Supreme Court overturns its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The New York Times reported: Behind the scenes, a group of...

Twelve Senate Republicans on Tuesday supported final approval of a bill securing federal protections for same-sex marriage, allowing it to surpass the 60-vote threshold needed for passage. The Republicans in the upper chamber who backed the bill were: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Todd Young (Ind.).The GOP senators’ support came as no surprise since they all supported advancing the legislation in a series of recent votes, and Tuesday’s 61-36...

A criminal prosecution against a street preacher arrested for an alleged ‘hate crime’ has been dropped in which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued that parts of the Bible are ‘abusive’ and ‘no longer appropriate in modern society.’ John Dunn, 55, a cancer survivor from Swindon who has served in the British Army’s Special Forces, was interviewed under caution and subsequently summonsed by the police for alleged ‘homophobia’ after preaching on Swindon High Street in November 2020. Mr Dunn, who regularly preaches despite having lost his voice box following throat cancer, is a Bible-believing Christian who preaches in Swindon town...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R.-Utah), who was the losing Republican presidential nominee in 2012, voted on Wednesday to move forward to a final vote in the Senate on the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which would recognize same-sex marriages in federal law. “While I believe in traditional marriage, Obergefell is and has been the law of the land upon which LGBTQ individuals have relied,” said Romney. “This legislation provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress—and I—esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.” “This legislation provides important protections for religious liberty—measures which are particularly important to protect...

Christians shouldn't attend same-sex wedding ceremonies, as attending would be to an inherent show of support, according to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr.In an episode of Mohler’s “The Briefing” podcast that aired Friday, the Evangelical theologian was asked by a listener about what to do if one is invited to a same-sex wedding ceremony.Mohler responded by noting that the “whole context of the wedding as a public event is the public exchange of vows and the public declaration of the rightness of this relationship.”“Remember that the traditional word used of those who are attending a wedding is...

[Catholic Caucus] New head of JPII marriage institute suggests Church must change its definition of familyMonsignor Philippe Bordeyne claims that 'theologians cannot continue to assert certainties about the family when we see the transformations it is undergoing today.'(LifeSiteNews) — Weeks after taking up his post as new president of the former John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne made a remarkable statement in a revealing interview with La Croix International, the English-language daily edited by La Croix, unofficial daily of the French episcopate, saying, “We theologians cannot continue to assert certainties about the family when we...

Kenya’s Film Classification Board (KFCB) has banned a documentary about two gay lovers. The film, I Am Samuel, is a movie about the romantic relationship between two men who live in Nairobi. In a statement on Twitter, the board’s head, Christopher Wambua said the documentary “propagates values that are in dissonance with our constitution, culture, values and norms.” In his review of the film Wambua said: “By deliberately advocating same-sex marriage in Kenya, the film blatantly violates Article 165 of the Penal Code that outlaws homosexuality.” Wambua also said the film was an affront to the country’s religious values. “Worse...

The Supreme Court just ruled against the city of Philadelphia, which was trying to prevent Catholic Social Services (CSS) from helping children in foster care get placed in homes, due to CSS's views on homosexual marriage. Had the Supreme Court ruled differently, the case would have been heralded as a Pride Month win. But the Supreme Court went a different way. And this should give us hope that everything doesn't have to be about sex and politics. Sometimes it can be about our common humanity and the needs of the most vulnerable. "Maximizing the number of foster families and minimizing...

[Catholic Caucus] German Catholics plan huge blessing of gay unions on May 10An LGBT choir sings outside the Pastoral Congress at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin Aug. 23, 2018. (Credit: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters via CNS.)Continuing to openly challenge the Vatican, several Catholic leaders in Germany are openly supporting the blessing of same-sex couples, with a massive blessing service scheduled for May 10, in direct opposition to Rome’s chief doctrinal office.ROME – Continuing to openly challenge the Vatican, several Catholic leaders in Germany are openly supporting the blessing of same-sex couples, with a massive blessing service scheduled for May 10,...

Episcopal Request for Civil Unions in Latvia Bishop Zbignevs Stankevics In Latvia, the episcopate has just asked the executive to grant legal status to homosexual “couples.” An astonishing statement that comes after recent remarks by Pope Francis on civil unions between people of the same sex.The Latvian episcopate did not take long to rush into the breach opened in the high walls of the Leonine enclosure by the documentary film screened in October 2020, previewed at the Rome Film Festival, organized by the Vatican.In this award-winning film, viewers were shocked to discover an interview in which the successor to...

In a major win for the LGBTQ community, Switzerland lawmakers approved the legalization of same-sex marriage last week. At the same time, the law also allowed transgender people to alter their legal gender at civil registry offices in the country and allows lesbian couples to conceive children using donated sperm, Reuters reports. Despite passing parliament, the same-sex marriage law may have to pass a national referendum in the coming year. However, activists expect a potential referendum to succeed, after a recent survey found support for marriage exceeding 80% in Switzerland. Campaign group Marriage For All posted a statement on their...

Official Church teaching describes homosexuality as ‘intrinsically disordered’ and something that ‘can in no case be approved of.’WASHINGTON, D.C., November 19, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A report released by the Pew Research Center (PRC) shows that a majority of Catholics surveyed in Western Europe, the Americas, and across the world support either homosexual “marriage” or homosexuality as such — contrary to the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The comprehensive report, released earlier this month, focuses on Catholics’ view on homosexuality. Compiling the results of studies conducted over the past few years, the figures demonstrate a wide-scale rejection of Catholic teaching...

Homosexuals in Ireland believe that Pope Francis should initiate church blessings for same-sex couples. On October 21, 2020, We Are Church Ireland, a Catholic reform group that supports LGBT values, announced that the pope, who spoke out in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, should initiate a church blessing for these marriages, according to Novenanews.com. We Are Church Ireland said in a press release that the organization "warmly welcomes the excellent news that Pope Francis is supporting civil unions for couples of the same sex." According to representatives of the organization, this is "a very important step for Pope Francis and...

No country should allow the sale of children or the intentional creation of orphans, which, make no mistake, is exactly what is happening with surrogacy. A British man living in the United States who has recently begun a romantic relationship with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend bought a baby and is being praised by media for it. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow paid about $100,000 for his new daughter, Valentina Willow. He is most proud of the baby girl’s looks.“Every parent thinks their baby is the best-looking baby in the world, but the truth is Valentina Willow is the best-looking baby in the world,” Drewitt-Barlow...

Tim Miller is a Republican campaign operative who has worked for leading Republican politicians. Now he’s co-leading an organization to get party members to vote against Donald Trump. DW asked him about his motivation. […] Deutsche Welle: Who did you vote for in the general presidential election in 2016? Tim Miller: I decided the last week to vote for Hillary [Clinton, the Democratic candidate]. I was initially persuaded by the argument that maybe there should be a third-party candidate. But I determined that Donald Trump was just too great of a threat to the country to cast a throwaway vote...

Never look a gift horse in the mouth, they say, though when Mayor Bill de Blasio is on hand, the other end of the animal is usually involved. Gotham’s chief executive this week might have accepted with some grace an offer of assistance from a crisis-tested, and devoutly Christian, emergency-relief organization — but he gave it the fisheye instead. It seems that in Blasville, evangelical Christians armed with tons of the sophisticated medical equipment so sorely lacking in the city right now, plus the expertise to use it, are presumptively suspect. And are perhaps to be expelled. Thus it was...

A new exit poll suggests that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are tied when it comes to first preference votes, making the result of the General Election too close to call. The exit poll, carried out by Ipsos MRBI for RTÉ, The Irish Times, TG4 and UCD, indicates all three parties have 22% of first preference votes. The margin of error in this exit poll is ±1.3% — which means any of the three parties could be as low as 20.7% support or as high as 23.3%. […] The poll suggests a move toward Sinn Féin among younger...

It’s San Francisco. Rightly, when it comes to love, anything goes. But one wedding this month garnered attention for breaking one of the last barriers in this country’s long fight for marriage equality. Rick Welts, president of the Golden State Warriors, married Todd Gage, a Southwest flight attendant, in Room 200. It is believed to be the first time an executive for a professional men’s sports team married his same-sex partner. According to the Advocate, there are no out players in professional male sports and just a smattering of out executives and coaches. Same-sex weddings in the macho world of...

HIV that is being transmitted in large population clusters in the United States is more likely to cause high viral load in people who acquire it, leading US researchers to conclude that natural selection is causing HIV in the United States to become more infectious and virulent. The study by Dr Joel Wertheim of the University of California San Diego, Dr Walid Heneine of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues is published in Nature Communications. Scientists have previously theorised that rapid onward transmission of HIV after primary infection would tend to favour the selection of HIV variants...