Via email from hate group leader Brian Brown: In an expected but nonetheless exceedingly disappointing decision, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled today that the state may punish a Christian florist, Barronelle Stutzman, for declining to violate her religious beliefs and be forced into participating in a gay ‘marriage’ that is against her religion. This outrageous ruling confirms what we …

Gay Star News reports: Marine Le Pen is planning to abolish same-sex marriage if she wins the French election. The French presidential hopeful made the pledge as part of her 144-page Projet Présidentiels plan. Point 87 on her list states she wants to improve civil unions to ‘replace the provisions of the Taubira law’, which made same-sex marriage legal. The …

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: Yesterday, Pat Robertson declared that Donald Trump is God’s anointed leader and those who criticize him are really going up against God. Today, the “700 Club” host stayed on message, repeatedly linking Trump to God and condemning intelligence leaks as an unlawful attempt by Obama administration holdovers to “destroy Trump.” “These Democrats would …

The Week reports: President Trump declared during his Thursday press conference: “The leaks are real. The news is fake.” Trump was insisting that the leaks that informed the media’s reports on Trump’s campaign aides’ alleged contact with senior Russian intelligence officials were “real,” but the resulting reports on those very “real” leaks were “fake.” A reporter later asked Trump to …

SUPER SADZ! Via press release: Family Research Council (FRC) expressed outrage after the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling today that puts at risk the home and personal assets of Barronelle Stutzman, a florist shop owner who told two men that she’d be happy to sell them flowers but couldn’t — in good conscience — arrange them for a …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump will announce Alexander Acosta as his new Labor Secretary choice on Thursday afternoon, NBC News confirmed. Trump is set to announce the pick at a Thursday afternoon press conference. CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder withdrew his nomination Wednesday ahead of his confirmation hearing amid mounting bipartisan opposition. In a statement, Puzder did not specify why …

The Associated Press reports: The Washington state Supreme Court has ruled that a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding broke anti-discrimination laws. The nine justices posted their unanimous ruling on Thursday. Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in Richland, Washington, had been fined by a lower court for denying service to a gay couple in 2013. Stutzman had …

Bloomberg reports: Days before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump made two surprise calls to the Air Force general managing the Pentagon’s largest weapons program, the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 jet. Listening in on one of those calls was Dennis Muilenburg — the CEO of Lockheed’s chief rival, Boeing Co. Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the $379 billion F-35 program as …

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: A press conference was abruptly ended when protesters began shouting and yelling over the Republican lawmakers speaking at the podium. State Representative Mark Pody (R–Lebanon) and State Senator Mae Beavers (R–Mt. Juliet) held the press conference to discuss the recently proposed “Bathroom Bill” and “Defense of Marriage Act.” The room was full of people who, at …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. is not ready to collaborate militarily with Russia, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday, appearing to close the door for now on any effort to work more closely with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria. His blunt rejection came after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for increased intelligence cooperation with …

A massive and suitably horrifying Trump float dominated this year’s carnival parade in Viareggio, Italy. Watch below as scores of cowgirls, cowboys, and a bearded male Statue Of Liberty cavort on a gigantic mechanized Trump head to a techno version of Thank God I’m A Country Boy and Green Day’s American Idiot. Pleasant dreams.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper writes for the Charlotte Observer: North Carolinians are tired of hearing about this. As I travel across the state, people from Murphy to Manteo tell me that they want their elected officials to come together to solve this problem before HB2 does even more damage. We came close to repealing it in December. The Republican …

The Independent reports: More than 1,000 advertisers have pulled out of advertising with far-right news outlet Breitbart, a campaign group has claimed. Kelloggs, BMW, Visa, T-Mobile, Nordstrom and Lufthansa have all severed ties with the company over the last few months, according to a database from Sleeping Giants. A petition for Amazon to cancel its relationship with the website has …

ABC News reports: The top Republicans on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have asked the Department of Justice inspector general to investigate potential leaks involving classified information at the department following the resignation of White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In a Wednesday letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, …

Deadline reports: Journalist Jeremy Scahill, a frequent guest of Real Time with Bill Maher, has canceled his appearance set for this Friday in protest of the show’s booking of Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial Breitbart News editor who Scahill says will use the HBO platform to “legitimize his hateful agenda.” Real Time has replaced Scahill with Malcolm Nance, author of The …

NPR reviews: Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce are radiant beings who make every minute louder, more glamorous and deeply personal as PWR BTTM. The punk duo has announced Pageant, its follow-up to 2015’s Ugly Cherries, with the outrageous “Big Beautiful Day.” “There are men in every town / Who live to bring you down,” Hopkins sings. “My advice is to …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday called for The New York Times and other publications to apologize after reporting leaked information, saying the spotlight is on “low-life leakers.” In a subsequent tweet, the president said those who leaked information will be caught. The president, who praised WikiLeaks during the campaign, has been going after the intelligence community recently and …

The Associated Press reports: Congress on Wednesday sent President Donald Trump legislation blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people. On a vote of 57-43, the Senate backed the resolution, just one of several early steps by the Republican-led Congress to undo regulations implemented by former President Barack Obama. The House …

Via Mediatite: During this today’s broadcast of CNN’s The Lead, host Jake Tapper took aim at President Donald Trump’s continuing war with the mainstream media, who the president now blames for the ouster of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Pointing out that the president today attacked reports surrounding Trump advisers being in contact with Russian intelligence officials, Tapper highlighted the …

Calling all gay graphics designers. Via press release: Why a new flag? A flag is more than just a symbol, it is a source of civic pride that makes people feel more connected to their city. As the City of Orlando’s story continues to evolve, so does the need for a visual identity that is unique to Orlando. The contest …