Several athletes competing in this year’s World Cup have been openly sharing their Christian faith. Marc Guehi (pronounced GAY-ee), a defender on England’s national team and son of a London pastor, is playing his first season with Manchester City. While serving as captain at his former club Crystal Palace, Guehi broke English Football Association rules by writing religious messages on his uniform during a Premier League Gay Pride Game. Despite the violation, he faced no punishment and received widespread public support. A number of Muslim players have also joined Guehi in speaking out against being required to participate in Gay Pride celebrations during matches.
The national battle over abortion pills is still very much alive in the courts. Louisiana filed a lawsuit against the FDA last year, challenging the agency’s 2023 decision to eliminate a requirement that abortion drugs be dispensed in person. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to take up Louisiana’s appeal this summer after a lower court refused to grant the state a preliminary injunction against the FDA. Meanwhile, pro-life organizations and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas are calling on the Justice Department to enforce the Comstock Act, which would effectively ban the mailing of abortion pills. If the DOJ moves forward with that position, sending abortion pills through the mail could become a federal crime.
Starting this month, Texas Tech University is requiring its faculty to teach in accordance with a 2025 Texas state law declaring that only two genders exist. The law mirrors language from a Trump administration executive order issued in January of last year, which stated, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” Under the new policy, Texas Tech instructors will largely be barred from teaching concepts such as “gender fluidity” or the idea of gender as a spectrum. Limited exceptions do exist — for example, discussions about intersex traits are permitted — but faculty may not “advocate for or validate sociological frameworks” around gender.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged that the San Francisco Giants did not adequately inform players that they had the right to opt out of wearing special Gay Pride caps during the team’s annual Pride Night event earlier this month. Several Giants players chose to write Bible verses on the themed caps, which prompted a warning from the league stating that writing on caps violates league rules. Manfred addressed the situation in a letter to Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who has raised the possibility of a congressional investigation into whether the players’ religious freedoms were infringed upon by the league’s policies.
