Tag Archives: Topic: Homosexual Agenda

Think Progress: The suit asks for a permanent injunction against future discrimination and a $2,000 fine for every violation. An employee at Arlene’s told KEPR-TV that “none of us will have any comment.” Stuzman’s attorney’s warned Ferguson that “a number of national non-profit organizations… are ready for a fight,” perhaps referring to groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which regularly defends individuals when it believes their “religious liberty” has been infringed upon.

Washington AG: Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced his office has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland, Wash. On March 1, 2013, Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers, refused to provide wedding flowers to long-time customer, Robert Ingersoll, based on her opposition to same-sex marriage.

The Blaze: “SB 323′s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.”

Washington Post (AP): “SB 323’s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.” | also at NBC

Examiner.com: Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom, took not of the bill, pointing out that it is a violation of the First Amendment: “SB323′s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it. This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.”

News9.com: Two freshman Democratic senators from conservative states, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have joined the growing chorus of lawmakers who say they support gay marriage.

Newson6.com: The House approved the resolution Monday on an 84-0 vote. House Democratic Leader Scott Inman and openly gay Rep. Kay Floyd of Oklahoma City were among more than half of the chamber’s 29 Democrats who walked out of the chamber instead of voting.

The New American: As for Eurasia, its Ministry of Truth’s latest handiwork is the arrest and punishment of an American street preacher who dared speak of sin in that land once known as Scotland. The victim is 47-year-old New Yorker Shawn Holes, who was on a U.K. tour when he was arrested in Glasgow after running afoul of U.K. hate-speech laws.

Patheos: I have to admit that even I didn’t see this coming. As you read this, try to remember that homosexual couples aren’t infertile. It is simply physically impossible for them to procreate. But if gay marriage is, in fact, equal to marriage, then this is the kind of thing that no one will be able to stop.

CNSNews: Sen. Rand Paul (R- Ky.) said keeping the same-sex marriage debate at the state level will allow supporters of traditional marriage to turn public opinion that he said is shifting to the other side.

LifeSiteNews: As the French Senate is moving towards the approval of a bill to create homosexual “marriage” and adoption, pro-family Catholics are organizing daily protests on the streets outside, vowing to stay the course despite complaints from the bill’s proponents.

NPR: The court could, as some predict, strike down the section of the law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriages but leave unsettled questions related to state recognition of such unions. If that happens, health coverage problems for same-sex couples could persist, say advocates.

Jonathan Capehart at Washington Post: “I’m a lot, like other people said, my views have evolved on this. But my state has a very strong constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and I think I have to honor that,” Landrieu said. Wait. So, she believes that same-sex couples should be able to marry, but because her state has etched discrimination into its Constitution, she cannot be on the right side of the issue and of history? She can’t show some leadership?

Huffington Post: Here’s why: As the combat exclusion for women comes to an end and open service for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans edges closer to truly equal service, it becomes more and more obvious that there is no longer any rational basis on which to bar qualified transgender people from serving in our armed forces.

5 News Online: I am opposed to gay marriage,” he said in an e-mail. “In the interview with KFSM done on April 5, I also discussed whether gay couples should receive benefits if they work for the federal government. On the benefits issue, I said to ‘put me down in the undecided category.

LA Times: Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts who supports gay marriage has asked the Federal Election Commission to determine whether gay couples have the right to make joint contributions to political candidates.

Washington Blade (“the newspaper of record for the LGBT community.”): USAID will work with the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law and Olivia Companies on the LGBT Global Development Partnership that will contribute $11 million over the next four years to advocacy groups in Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and other developing countries

Charisma: Youth organizations that have benefitted America for generations should be free from harassment by politicians who don’t agree with the very values that have made these groups successful,” said Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The Constitution protects the freedom of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to promote the values that have defined them as an organization and to ensure that their leaders and members adhere to those values.” . . . “The First Amendment protects the freedom of youth organizations to associate with members and leaders who share their values,” added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Our youth deserve to continue to benefit from these groups, and bills like SB 323 severely threaten their ability to do so.” [more]

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel David Cortman says nonprofits serving youths have constitutional protection to promote their beliefs and values. “America’s youth organizations that have benefitted our country for generations should be free from harassment by politicians who don’t agree with the very values that have made these groups successful,” says Cortman. “The Constitution protects the freedom of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to promote the values that have defined them as an organization for well over 100 years.” . . . . ADF senior legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco explains further. “The First Amendment protects the freedom of youth organizations to associate with members and leaders who share their values,” he explains. “Our youth deserve to continue to benefit from these groups, and bills like SB 323 severely threaten their ability to do so.”

Washington Times: The CNN/ORC poll released Monday showed that 52 percent of Americans approve of Mr. Obama’s policies toward gays and lesbians, while 42 percent disapprove.

Huffington Post: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is not joining the ranks of his fellow senators who have come out in recent days and endorsed marriage equality. But he is backing civil unions for same-sex couples, saying he believes it could be a way to preserve “traditional marriage” for heterosexual couples.

Christian Post: Long-time evangelical Left leader Jim Wallis, founder and CEO of Sojourners, has changed his position on government recognition of same-sex marriage. He announced his support in a Friday interview with The Huffington Post.

National Journal: Call it Rainbow Spring, where lawmakers are coming out in support of gay marriage faster than raindrops refract colors across the land. (Note: It rather could be colored purple, red, or pink — see The Atlantic’s brief history of color use in LGBT-rights campaigns).

Chicago Tribune: State Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. of Mundelein said Sunday he will support a bill to allow gay marriage in Illinois, becoming the second House Republican to do so and first among leadership.

lliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to members of the California Legislature Friday to explain the significant legal and policy problems of a proposed bill designed to punish non-profit youth organizations like the Boy Scouts of America

AP: South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson says he now supports legalizing gay marriage.

NECN: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is drawing criticism from a liberal advocacy group for vetoing legislation that would have required the state to expedite the occupational and professional licenses of domestic partners of gay military members.

Christian Institute: The Christian owner of a printing firm in Northern Ireland faces being hauled to court over his refusal to print a gay magazine. Nick Williamson, who is being advised by The Christian Institute, says printing the material would go against his religious beliefs.

Christian Institute: Legal action could be used to force same-sex marriage on Northern Ireland, according to two groups that back gay marriage.

Patheos: And when I say that, I’m thinking of this quote from the student leading the assault on Father Greg, who, after Father Greg told him that his homosexual behavior would prevent him from having a priestly vocation, became a priest in a schismatic sect . . .

Wesley J. Smith at National Review: Leave it to my state of California to head off in radical and expensive directions. Legislation has been filed that would require group insurance to cover gay and lesbian infertility treatments just as they do heterosexual. But, as I note elsewhere, AB 460 . . .

NY Daily News: The case of a same-sex Connecticut couple accused of repeatedly raping and abusing two of their nine adopted boys is headed for trial.

LifeSiteNews: “Gay marriage is inevitable.” That’s what we’re told by gay activists. It’s a taunt devised to pick off the more faint-hearted clingers-on of traditional marriage by exploiting the human instinct to be on the winning side. And sometimes it works.

MSNBC: Ella explains who a person can and can’t marry and how in New York a person can marry anyone they love. “Girls can marry girls and boys can marry boys in New York and a girl can marry a boy in New York too,” Ella told Krystal.

Austin American Statesman via InsuranceNews.net: In December, conservative groups Texas Values and the Alliance Defending Freedom submitted a brief to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asking that his office find the Pflugerville district and other government entities in violation of the state constitution.

World Magazine: Now that the future of marriage is center stage, Kellie Fiedorek hopes that the Supreme Court does not offer a radical ruling that cuts short the debate. A lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, Fiedorek, 29, sat in the courtroom as the justices heard the arguments. She’s been to seven states this year testifying before legislatures about the ways redefining marriage would interfere with religious freedom. She’s learned that many citizens have never had to think about the meaning of marriage and why it matters. Now that people are alert, social conservatives have the opportunity to make their case to a young generation that has both rallied for life and dealt with the aftereffects of divorce. “I think that, as more young people engage in the issue, we will see more of them eager to defend marriage, recognizing how important it is to parents and children,” Fiedorek said.

Yahoo News: “The Republican Party is going to be torn on this issue. The bulk of the party is going to be very resistant and is very supportive of traditional marriage, and parts of the party are going to flake off. Parties do that,” Gingrich told a group of reporters at a breakfast meeting at National Review magazine’s Washington, D.C., office. “The country is gradually evolving. The country is thinking this thing through. It creates complexities.”

Carson Halloway at Public Discourse: The oral arguments on Proposition 8 at the Supreme Court suggest that there is very good reason to believe that the declaration of a “right” to same-sex marriage will set us on the path to polygamy.

Boston Globe: France’s upper house of parliament has begun debating a bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children, weeks after the divisive reform was passed in the lower house.

The Hill: Salmon continued that his father’s opposition centers on the definition of marriage. “As far as it goes with marriage for him it’s a matter of what marriage means to him — to him marriage is defined as between a man and a woman,” Salmon said. “It has nothing to do with the way he views a person’s relationship, and that’s the thing that I think is hard for people to understand.”

Kellie Fiedorek at Washington Examiner: In their recently filed brief before the U.S. Supreme Court, advocates for redefining marriage argued that “gay men and lesbians are a suspect class” and thus need special judicial protection of the “politically powerless.”

Ross Douthat at NY Times: The notion that nobody would have entertained what Drum later calls the “esoteric” idea that marriage has an essential link to the way that human beings procreate if desperate social conservatives hadn’t grasped at it is apparently quite a popular view, judging by the fact that other writers raised it on Twitter over the weekend, and its popularity testifies to the way that the gay marriage debate has encouraged a strange historical amnesia about the origins of marriage law.

ChrisAdamo.com: So perhaps the Supreme Court in its arrogance believes it can forcibly impose a redefinition of marriage on America. Let it next endeavor to strike down the law of gravity as “unconstitutional” on the basis that it clearly affects citizens in a decidedly disproportionate manner and thus is a primary source of “inequality” among the people. Then every concurring jurist, bureaucrat, and countercultural activist who regards the court’s decision as credible will be free to find a high precipice from which to test its merits. We will then see benefit that can actually be reaped from blind faith in liberal arrogance.

Minneapolis Tribune: The fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota is about to get a new twist at the Capitol as a group of legislators unveil a proposal to allow civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Joan Frawley Desmond at NC Register: Cooper would not retreat: “[S]ociety’s interest in responsible procreation isn’t just with respect to the procreative capacities of the couple itself,” he said.
“The marital norm, which imposes the obligations of fidelity and monogamy, Your Honor, advances the interests in responsible procreation by making it more likely that neither party, including the fertile party to that … marriage will engage in irresponsible procreative conduct outside of that marriage,” Cooper continued. “That’s the … marital norm.”

Herb Silverman of the Secular Coaltion at Washington Post: The most obvious and effective lesson atheists are learning from gays (including all LGBTs) is to come out of the closet. Attitudes toward gays changed rapidly when people learned that their friends, neighbors, and even family members were gay. Attitudes about atheists are slowly changing as atheists are slowly coming out.

BuzzFeed: Although most people think sodomy laws have been unconstitutional since the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli would like to explain why — in his view — that’s not so.

Christian Institute: Over two thirds of Christians feel part of a victimised minority and David Cameron is making that worse by redefining marriage, the Coalition for Marriage says. In a new poll commissioned by the group, almost eight in ten said the Prime Minister’s same-sex marriage plan will lead to those who back traditional marriage facing the sack.

Houston Chronicle: This leaves just seven Democratic senators and 11 House Democrats opposing gay marriage. The trend of flip-flopping on the issue hasn’t hit Texas. Of those 11 House Democrats, three are Texans.

Daily Caller: CWA President and CEO Penny Nance explained in the email, which was sent to supporters on Tuesday, how the conservative women’s organization has been “maligned by the radical Left” for opposing same-sex marriage, labeled a hate group and identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of “a dozen major groups [that] help drive the Religious Right’s anti-gay crusade.”

Dallas Morning News: If passed, the bill would outlaw the discrimination of employees or potential employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. That includes segregating the employee or failing to hire them on the basis of gender preference. It would add on to the state labor code that already prohibits discrimination because of race, color, disability, religion, sex or national origin.

AZ Republic: Horne’s decision comes hours after the small southeastern Arizona city of Bisbee ignored vociferous opposition and threats of lawsuits and legalized civil unions for same-sex couples Tuesday night. It was an historic council vote that turned into a political circus, as nearly 100 people packed the chambers in both opposition and support.

Las Vegas Sun: The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit challenging Nevada’s “infamous crime against nature” statute with the National ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and AIDS Project. | ACLU press release

NY Times Editorial: This may seem like ancient history. But there is a danger now that overblown fears of a backlash based on a false reading of politics before and after Roe v. Wade could lead the Supreme Court to shy from doing as it should — enforcing equal protection by declaring same-sex marriage a constitutionally protected right in every state.

AZ Republic: Ignoring vociferous opposition and threats of lawsuits, the small southeastern Arizona city of Bisbee legalized civil unions for same-sex couples Tuesday night in an historic council vote that turned into a political circus, as nearly 100 people packed the chambers in both opposition and support.

GOQNotes: “No state employee should experience discrimination on the job because of the color of their skin, their age, their religion, where they were born, any disability they may have, or who they love,” Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake), the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill introduced Thursday, said in a press release

DNews.com: Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney and a score of residents were outraged by the City Council’s decision Monday to pass an antidiscrimination ordinance without taking public comment from many who had come out and waited hours for such a chance.

Todd Starnes at Human Events: A federal civil rights complaint has been filed against the Salt Lake City School Board after a principal booted a Cub Scout pack from an elementary school.

Kellie Fiedorek at Alliance Defending Freedom: As I walked out of the Supreme Court last Tuesday, I had the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy and Justice Samuel Alito in my ears.

Washington Post: Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk on Tuesday became the second Republican senator and the fourth GOP Member of Congress to support gay marriage. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) are the other three. Here’s a closer look at each of them — and their reasons for breaking with their party’s long-held position on marriage.

Cliff Kincaid at Canada Free Press: A big news story came out of Tuesday’s March for Marriage demonstration in Washington, D.C. But it didn’t make “news” in the major media. As one who covered the event, it was significant that there were so many members of minority groups. This was not a mostly white crowd. In addition to the presence of black, Hispanic and Asian supporters of traditional marriage, there were some notable Democrats, such as New York State Senator Ruben Díaz, and he let people know he was several minorities in one.

DW.de: France has just taken a big step towards equal rights for homosexuals by allowing same-sex couples to marry. Across the EU, however, acceptance of civil partnerships varies considerably.

Christian Concern: One of Britain’s most influential family lawyers has attacked the Coalition’s same-sex ‘marriage’ plans, saying they go against principles established for thousands of years. Baroness Butler-Sloss said plans to redefine marriage would lead to the destruction of the meaning of marriage without giving same sex couples any significant new rights.

Toni Meyer of NJ FPC at NJ.com: Since 1994, the number of homosexual men has increased 18 percent, but the number of women who identify as such has gone up 157 percent. This suggests there are strong cultural factors at work in encouraging same-sex behaviors, and at least indirectly, it undermines the whole theory of being “born that way.”

Huffington Post: That leaves just seven Senate Democrats against gay marriage: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). Two among that list, Landrieu and Pryor, face tough reelection battles in 2014 in conservative states.

Albert Mohler at LifeSiteNews: The Court’s oral arguments on the DOMA case made the risks of moral argument clear. Justice Elena Kagan, pressing Attorney Paul Clement, the lawyer defending DOMA, asked him if Congress had made a moral judgment in adopting the Defense of Marriage Act. She then read from a House of Representatives report, issued in advance of the vote on DOMA, in which a clear moral argument was made. That report included these sentences: “Civil laws that permit only heterosexual marriage reflect and honor a collective moral judgment about human sexuality. This judgment entails both moral disapproval of homosexuality, [and] moral conviction that heterosexuality better comports with traditional (especially Judeo-Christian) morality.”

USA Today: The debate pits those who believe a person is born gay or lesbian versus those who think it is a choice.

The Florida Family Policy Council sent this letter to the Senate Children and Families Committee in connection with its consideration of domestic partnerships/

Herald Tribune: In a landmark vote that may signal a shift in legislative attitudes, a Senate committee on Monday narrowly endorsed the creation of a statewide domestic partnership registry that could extend some legal protections to same-sex couples. “We have made history in the Florida Senate,” Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said, as the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee voted 5-4 for the registry bill (SB 196).

Buzz Feed: Key votes on same-sex couples’ marriage rights are scheduled within days in Uruguay and Colombia.

Politico: “There is a split,” said Santorum, on the views of younger Republicans on gay marriage and abortion. “But the marriage issue is still a very new issue in America, and people said in the 1970s it was just a matter of time before everybody became pro-choice. So, I think we’ll see the pendulum swing back once young conservatives see the real consequences to the destruction of marriage.”

Chicago Tribune: Kirk’s decision brings to 50 the number of U.S. senators who support gay marriage, including 46 Democrats, two independents and two Republicans, according to Charlie Joughin, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

AP: Massachusetts prison officials have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling granting a taxpayer-funded sex change for a transgender inmate.

Adam J. MacLeod at Public Discourse: It’s a myth that marriage law “bans” same-sex relationships because it treats marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

AP: Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled last week that he has no jurisdiction to approve the divorce because Arizona doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages and there isn’t enough evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii.