RELIGION HEADLINES FRI 8-1-25

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(SRN NEWS  )  The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has struck down a colonial-era law in St. Lucia that criminalized homosexuality.  In fact, the law hadn’t been enforced for decades but LGBT pressure groups are calling the ruling a victory.  Similar statutes have been struck down in Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis.  Efforts to change laws are also underway in five other Caribbean nations.  The region is generally considered to be socially conservative, but LGBT groups have had much success in the courts, as they have in the Far East — another part of the world that has been conservative for decades.

(  )  California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order aimed at supporting men and boys mental health and lowering suicide rates among them.  The order directs the California Health and Human Services Agency to recommend ways to address suicide rates among young men, including with mental health, education and career opportunity solutions.  Newsom wants to run for president in 2028 and has been moving in a more conservative direction of late.  Political experts say he is hoping that a turn to the right will cause people to forget his more radical leftist policies as governor.

(  )  A program has been established in Michigan to encourage motherhood at a time when the U.S. birth rate is in sharp decline.  The program helps pregnant women and new moms by giving them cash over the first year of their children’s lives.  Launched in 2024, the program comes at a time when many voters worry over high child care costs.  Backed by a mix of state, local and philanthropic money, Rx Kids gives mothers of newborns up to 7,500 dollars, with no income requirements and no rules for how the money is spent.  Supporters believe the program could be a model for mitigating the high cost of having children.