GAY TRUTH

President Obama says he backs "The Equality Act ," which would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. "Upon that review it is now clear that the administration strongly supports the Equality Act,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced on Tuesday. “That bill is historic legislation that would advance the cause of equality for millions of Americans. “We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that the legislative process produces a result that balances both the bedrock principles of civil rights...with the religious liberty that we hold dear in this country,” said Earnest. The bill was introduced in July in the Senate by Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, and in the House by Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island. LGBT advocates are praising the bill, which is considered to be a long-shot with GOP control of Congress. The Human Rights Campaign

If passed, the Equality Act would empower the government to discriminate against those who do not accept a sexually permissive understanding of human nature that denies sexual complementarity. Building on the momentum from the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling that redefined marriage throughout America , LGBT activists working with Democratic lawmakers have unveiled a new bill titled “ The Equality Act .” The brevity of the bill’s title matches neither its scope nor its impact on federal law and fundamental liberties found in the Constitution. If enacted into law, the Equality Act would further erode religious liberty , transform public opinion on sexuality, and harm the public perception of those who believe in traditional or biblical sexual morality. The bill would create federal anti-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, education, employment, and housing. To do so, it would amend the 1964 Civil Rights A

The White House endorsed legislation Tuesday that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration had been reviewing the bill “for several weeks.” “Upon that review it is now clear that the administration strongly supports the Equality Act ,” he said. “That bill is historic legislation that would advance the cause of equality for millions of Americans. “We look forward to working with Congress to ensure that the legislative process produces a result that balances both the bedrock principles of civil rights . . . with the religious liberty that we hold dear in this country,” Earnest added. Although there is little chance that this Congress will approve the legislation — which was introduced in July by Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), and Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) — President Obama’s sup

Three GOP presidential candidates took their campaigns to a religious freedom convention in Des Moines, IA late last week, making strong statements on both the event's theme and Planned Parenthood . Governors Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee and Senator Ted Cruz appeared at the Freedom 2015 National Religious Liberties Conference on Friday. The two-day event, presented by the Denver-area-based Generations, a faith- and liberty-focused ministry, made use of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus status to draw more than 1,700 attendees from across the U.S.    The three presidential contenders have all made   strong   statements   in   defense   of   life and religious liberty during their campaigns, with Jindal and Cruz   vowing to prosecute   Planned Parenthood for its trafficking in human remains and   Huckabee holding a   rally   for embattled Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. The candidates held the line on these messages before the largely evangelical Christ

TASMANIA, Australia , -- An Australian Catholic archbishop is facing legal action from a transgender Green Candiate for Federal Parliament - after recently distributing a pamphlet to local Catholic school children that supported Catholic teaching on marriage being between a man and woman. “Dear Friends, I have received notification from the Office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner that a complaint made about me has been viewed as a possible breach of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas),” Archbishop Julian Porteous from the Archdiocese of Hobart in Tasmania posted yesterday to Facebook about the allegations of discrimination against him. The 18-page pamphlet titled “ Don’t Mess With Marriage ” was put out by the country’s bishops and details the Church’s teaching on sexuality and marriage. The pamphlet states that it is “gravely unjust” to children, adults, and society to redefine marriage to allow for homosexual partnerships to be called “marriage.” “The Catholic C

Giving voice to concerns that many faithful have given recent events, Bishop Athanasius Schneider gave a strong defense of marriage on Friday, October 16, at Human Life International headquarters in Front Royal Virginia. Speaking to about 100 in attendance, his passionately-made case for the unchangeable nature of marriage was grounded in the proclamation of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Matthew: Our Lord Jesus Christ the Eternal Word and the Eternal Truth in Person, restored the original dignity of human nature in a most wonderful manner, also regarding the sexuality of the human being, which was created in a wonderful manner in the beginning. Through the fall in sin, the dignity of human sexuality had also been wounded. Because of the hardheartedness of the fallen man, there was introduced by Moses even divorce, and this contrary to the absolute indissolubility which God commanded. Also the Pharisees and scribes had known the divine truths about the beginning of marriage, t

Why Can’t Christians Just Join the Revolution? Why not just join the revolution? This question seems obvious to many people who look at  conservative Christians and honestly wonder why we cannot just change our views on homosexuality, same­sex marriage and the entire LGBT constellation of issues. We are constantly told that we must abandon the clear teachings of the Bible in order to get “on the right side of history.” It’s not that we don’t understand the argument – we just cannot accept it. Clearly, many more liberal churches and denominations are not only accepting that argument, they are running away with it. Each of these churches once defined marriage exclusively as the union of a man and a woman, and every one of them once defined human sexuality and gender in agreement with the Bible and with historic Christian teachings. Now, at least some people seem genuinely perplexed that conservative Christians will not just go along with the program to redefine Christian morality

Why might a Christian refuse to attend, cater, or participate in a same-sex marriage ceremony? For simplicity's sake, let's assume this is a discussion among traditional  Christians who believe-as the church has always believed and as most of the global church still believes-that same-sex behavior is sinful and that marriage is a covenantal, conjugal  union of a man and a woman. With that clarifying comment, we can address the question head-on:  Why would a Christian feel conscience bound not to attend or participate in a gay wedding?  It's not because of bigotry or fear or because we are unaware that Jesus  spent time with sinners that leads us to this conclusion. It's because of our desire to be obedient to Christ and because of the nature of the wedding event itself. A wedding ceremony, in the Christian tradition, is first of all a worship service. So if the union being celebrated in the service cannot be biblicaly sanctioned as an act of worship,

Without question, evangelical Christians face a new reality in post-Obergefell America. And they are wondering how to move forward. They hear some leaders counseling retreat and disengagement from the culture. They hear other leaders say that we need to engage the  culture war with the kind of politicking that marked the old Moral Majority of the 1980s. Neither option really captures what Jesus taught us about our enduring relationship with the world. John 17 records the words of Jesus' prayer just before He was handed over to be crucified. His prayer focused not only on the eleven remaining disciples, but also on all those who would believe in Him through His disciples' testimony. In short, Jesus was praying for us. Among other things, Jesus prayed that we would be in the world, not of the world, for the sake of the world. 1. Jesus prayed, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one .... As you sent me into the wor