“The United Methodist Church is expected to split into more than one denomination in an attempt to bring to a close a years-long and contentious fight over same-sex marriage,” the Washington Post reports.
“The historic schism would divide the third-largest religious denomination in the United States.”
McKrae Game, who founded one of the nation’s biggest conversion therapy ministries, tells the Charleston Post & Courier that he’s gay.
“Now, the man once billed as a leading voice in the conversion therapy movement is trying to come to terms with the harm he inflicted while also learning to embrace a world and community he assailed for most of his adult life.”
Tim Miller: “The kiss itself wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy, as far as kisses go. It wasn’t Al and Tipper tonguing down in Los Angeles. Or hot Instagram stars trying to lure more followers to their account. Nor was it a perfunctory peck on the cheek or the forehead. It was quite simply a married couple, lips locked, arm around each other’s shoulder.”
“What stopped me wasn’t the kiss, but the kissers. They were both men and one of them is Pete Buttigieg, candidate for president of the United States.”
“And that’s why that kiss, to borrow a phrase from one of Pete’s prospective primary opponents, was a ‘big fucking deal.'”
“After failing to advance last session, Republicans have again filed legislation to keep Tennessee from permitting same-sex marriages, a bill officials previously estimated could cost the state more than $9 billion in federal funding,” the Tennessean reports.
“The bill would prohibit government officials — presumably including clerks issuing marriage certificates — from giving recognizing any court ruling that affirms same-sex unions, and specifies they cannot be arrested for failing to comply with court orders that do so.”
“The Trump administration on Monday began denying visas to same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats and United Nations employees, and requiring those already in the United States to get married by the end of the year or leave the country,” Foreign Policy reports.
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The Supreme Court ruled for a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple, the Washington Post reports.
New York Times: “Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in the 7-2 decision, relied on narrow grounds, saying a state commission had violated the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom in ruling against the baker, who had refused to create a custom wedding cake for a gay couple.”
A new Gallup poll finds that approval for same-sex marriages hit an all time high of 67% — a near mirror image of public opinion on the issue just 22 years ago.
A new PRRI poll finds that 61% of Americans overall support same-sex marriage, while only 30% are opposed.
It’s also the majority position in 44 states. The exceptions: Alabama (41%), Mississippi (42%), Tennessee (46%), West Virginia (48%), Louisiana (48%), and North Carolina (49%).
Birmingham News: “When Deidre Downs was crowned Miss America more than a decade ago, the idea of legalized gay marriage and Miss America later marrying her same-sex partner in Alabama would have been an unimaginable future.”
“Times have changed.”
“Former Miss Alabama 2004 and Miss America 2005 Deidre Downs Gunn married her girlfriend, attorney Abbott Jones, in a ceremony Saturday, April 14, at the Birmingham Museum of Art. They flew out Sunday night from Atlanta for a honeymoon in Ireland.”
Pat Robertson said on The 700 Club that homosexuals are drowning out voices like his.
Said Robertson: “We have given the ground to a small minority. You figure, lesbians, one percent of the population; homosexuals, two percent of the population. That’s all. That’s statistically all. But they have dominated — dominated the media, they’ve dominated the cultural shift and they have infiltrated the major universities.”
He added: “It’s just unbelievable what’s being done. A tiny, tiny minority makes a huge difference. The majority — it’s time it wakes up.”
When The Guardian told Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) that Ronald Reagan once called Russia “the focus of evil in the modern world,” Moore replied, “You could say that very well about America, couldn’t you?”
He added: “We promote a lot of bad things,” specifically citing same-sex marriage.
When the reporter suggested that’s an argument Vladimir Putin makes, Moore said, “Well, then maybe Putin is right. Maybe he’s more akin to me than I know.”
“The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from a Colorado baker with religious objections to same-sex marriage who had lost a discrimination case for refusing to create a cake to celebrate such a union,” the New York Times reports.
“The case will be a major test of a clash between laws that bar businesses open to the public from discriminating based on sexual orientation and claims of religious freedom. Around the nation, businesses like bakeries, florists and photography studios have said, so far with little success, that forcing them to serve gay couples violates their constitutional rights.”
A new Pew Research survey finds that by a margin of nearly two-to-one, 62% to 32%, more Americans now say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry than say they are opposed.
“Views on same-sex marriage have shifted dramatically in recent years. As recently as 2010, more Americans opposed (48%) than favored (42%) allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. In the past year alone, support has increased seven percentage points.”
A new Gallup poll finds 64% of U.S. adults say same-sex marriages should be recognized by the law as valid.
“Although not meaningfully different from the 61% last year, this is the highest percentage to date and continues the generally steady rise since Gallup’s trend began in 1996.”
Pat Robertson said on The 700 Club that homosexuals have taken over the media and universities.
Said Robertson: “We have given the ground to a small minority. You figure, lesbians, one percent of the population; homosexuals, two percent of the population. That’s all. That’s statistically all. But they have dominated — dominated the media, they’ve dominated the cultural shift and they have infiltrated the major universities.”
He added: “It’s just unbelievable what’s being done. A tiny, tiny minority makes a huge difference. The majority — it’s time it wakes up.”
Ben Carson urged a conservative audience to be strong in their faith and stand by their beliefs in the face of “ever-growing government,” the Springfield News-Leader reports.
He said that tyranny will reign otherwise, “and there will be mass killings once again. The peace that we experience now will be a memory only. This is the nation that stands between peace and utter chaos.”
When asked later how he thought such a grim future might come about, Carson referenced “the whole gay marriage issue.”
He added: “I believe the reason is, if you can change the word of God in one area, then you can change it in every area. It’s the camel’s nose under the tent, and it will just be an avalanche of one thing after the other.”
“With the Republican National Convention less than two weeks away, moderate Republicans are drafting an amendment that would soften the GOP’s official position on gays and lesbians,” CBS News has learned.
“Outside Republican groups have been publicly pushing the party to modify its stance on same-sex marriage for over a year, but multiple sources told CBS News that the effort has officially taken hold among a group of platform committee members who are furiously polishing their amendment ahead of the party gathering in Cleveland.”
“It’s unclear if Donald Trump, the party’s likely nominee, supports the changes or is actively involved in shaping the platform. Perhaps more surprising than the effort itself is the fact that staunch social conservatives from the Midwest and South are prepared to accept rhetorical tweaks.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.