Matthew Schmitz

1 month ago | firstthings.com | Matthew Schmitz

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, announcing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, was not so much a legal argument as an ode to the wonders of matrimony.

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Matthew Schmitz

Much of the right's changing attitude toward institutions like U.S.A.I.D. can be traced to 2011, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a announcing that "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights." On the same day, the Obama administration issued a memo directing that all foreign aid and diplomacy be conducted in a way that promotes and protects the human rights of L.G.B.T. people.

Mar 17, 2025 | communitynewspapergroup.com | Matthew Schmitz

On Wednesday, March 5th, City Staff posted the Max Levy Hearing notice, as Iowa State Law requires. It’s important to point out that the notice posted, which shows a levy rate of 20.64424 and a percentage increase on residential taxes of 19.01%, is not what the Staff has proposed to the Council. It’s also worth noting that this percentage rate is largely outside of the City’s control as it is a function of three things, only one of which is within the City’s power – the levy rate.

Feb 11, 2025 | nytimes.com | Matthew Schmitz

Between the first presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the arrival of the #MeToo movement in 2017, progressive activists and social critics increasingly warned us about something called toxic masculinity. The term, vaguely academic in nature, referred to traditional norms of manliness (emotional stoicism, physical aggressiveness) and their potentially dangerous consequences. There were certainly many examples of appalling male behavior, and these were taken as expressions of a deeper problem.

Jan 10, 2025 | firstthings.com | Matthew Schmitz

American Heretics:Religious Adversaries of Liberal Orderby jerome e. copulskyyale, 384 pages, $40 In the summer of 1775, amidst the heat of revolution, two hundred armed men gathered in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to prevent a Loyalist preacher from entering his own church. But the Rev. Jonathan Boucher would not be deterred.