State must pay $71,214 to attorney

Arkansas must pay $71,214 to the Heber Springs lawyer who got the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the state's discriminatory birth-certificate practices, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled Friday. The judge found that attorney Cheryl Maples is entitled by federal law to reimbursement for the time and expenses she has devoted to the 2 A1 2-year long legal battle that saw the nation's highest court summarily overturn the Arkansas Supreme Court on the issue last year.

Jimmy Kimmel Absolutely Butchers Gay Wedding Cake Ruling And It’s Not Even Close [VIDEO]

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel tried to mock a court ruling protecting the free speech rights of bakers but instead only revealed that he has no idea what he's talking about. A California judge ruled on Monday that the state can't force Tastries Bakery owner Cathy Miller to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding.

Dems seen as caving after agreeing to end gov’t shutdown

Sen. Chuck Schumer was seen to cave after Senate Democrats agreed to end the U.S. government shutdown. Democrats are widely viewed as having caved on their pledge to fight for young, undocumented immigrants to remain in the country, after agreeing to end a U.S. government shutdown shortly after supporting it.

CT Resident Carl Higbie Resigns From Trump Administration

AmeriCorps VISTA members Kyllie Harris, left, and Alyss Smith weigh food donations. The chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, has resigned following controversial comments as an Internet radio host.

Spain Features Gay Float In Three Kings Parade

Madrid's 2018 Three Kings Parade featured a gay themed float to encourage LGBT normalization on the eve of Epiphany, stirring outrage among the country's Catholic faithful. The controversial float in Friday's parade featured a female stripper, a female hip-hop artist, and a drag queen, according to Crux Now.

Gay Cakes Are Not a Constitutional Right

One wonders what would have happened if the Sweet Cakes by Melissa case involved not the owners refusing to be coerced to violate their religious conscience by providing a cake not to two same-sex people celebrating their union and calling it a marriage, but rather a Muslim bakery being forced to bake a cake decorated with a cartoon picture of the prophet Muhammad covered with bacon sprinkles.

Travel ban case likely to end up before Supreme Court in 2018

The Supreme Court already has heard major cases on gay and First Amendment rights and police searches, and the justices are likely to add a momentous case about presidential power to their list early in the new year. With President Trump's travel ban policy once again before the high court, legal analysts predict the justices will agree to speed the case onto their docket in 2018, setting up a ruling by the end of June.

D.C. Circuit Appeals Court Denies Trump Attempt to Delay Trans Enlistment

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected a Trump Administration request to stay District Judge Kollar-Kotelly's order that the military allow qualified transgender people to enlist beginning January 1. On December 11, District Judge Kollar-Kotelly denied the same request. Both the appeals court and Judge Kollar-Kotelly rejected the Administration's argument that the military would not be prepared to accept transgender recruits by January 1-a claim undercut by a Department of Defense memorandum issued December 8 which lays out guidance for processing transgender enlistees.

Oklahoma regents vice chair to resign after anti-gay comment

The vice chair of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents announced Thursday he would resign after an uproar over a comment on public affairs television that appeared to liken gay people to pedophiles. Following a two-hour closed-door meeting of the board, Vice Chair Kirk Humphreys said he does not want to be a distraction and announced plans to step down before the start of the spring semester in 2018.

Reported CDC ban on terms such as ‘fetus,’ ‘science-based’ alarms health leaders

Health leaders say they are alarmed about a report that officials at the nation's top public health agency are being told not to use certain words or phrases in official budget documents, including "fetus," ''transgender" and "science-based." The health community was reacting to a story in The Washington Post published late Friday citing an anonymous source who said the prohibition was made at a recent meeting of senior budget officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

a CDC ban on a fetusa and a transgender?a Experts alarmed

Health leaders say they are alarmed about a report that officials at the nation's top public health agency are being told not to use certain words or phrases in official budget documents, including "fetus," "transgender" and "science-based." The health community was reacting to a story in The Washington Post published late Friday citing an anonymous source who said the prohibition was made at a recent meeting of senior budget officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Oklahoma college board member chided for anti-gay comments

In this Aug. 24, 2006 file photo, Kirk Humphreys, the former mayor of Oklahoma City, speaks at a news conference in Oklahoma City. Humphreys, a member of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, is being criticized Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, for comparing gay people to pedophiles and politicians who have resigned recently after allegations of sexual misconduct.