Free Republic

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- The debate over same-sex marriage shifted Tuesday to a Cherokee Nation courthouse, where justices heard arguments in the case of a lesbian couple who want the tribe to recognize their union. Dawn McKinley, 33, and Kathy Reynolds, 28, have asked the tribe's highest court to throw out a lawsuit that halted their effort to file their tribe-issued marriage certificate. They contend that Todd Hembree, the tribe member and attorney who brought the complaint, had no standing to do so because he hasn't been harmed by their attempt to be recognized as a married couple. ''It doesn't affect...

Punishing Naughty Boys - Pakistani Style Actually, the 11-year old boy didn't do anything that could be considered even marginally naughty. Unless it's a crime to walk unchaperoned with a girl from a different tribe. If he does that, he'll be severely punished. Correction, not him, his sister. She will be forced to atone for her brother's 'sin' of walking with a girl from a higher-class tribe, by being brutally gang-raped, to bring shame on the whole family. Raping the sister presumably punishes the brother for doing what boys do naturally. In this instance, four members of the tribal council...