A Texas-Sized Travesty

A constitutional disaster is unfolding in Houston, where the mayor, Annise Parker, has demanded that several local pastors turn in any sermons or material critical of homosexuality, Houston anti-discrimination laws, or Parker herself.

Houston’s embattled equal rights ordinance took another legal turn this week when it surfaced that city attorneys, in an unusual step, subpoenaed sermons given by local pastors who oppose the law and are tied to the conservative Christian activists that have sued the city.

Opponents of the equal rights ordinance are hoping to force a repeal referendum when they get their day in court in January, claiming City Attorney David Feldman wrongly determined they had not gathered enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. City attorneys issued subpoenas last month during the case’s discovery phase, seeking, among other communications, “all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession.”

The subpoenas were issued to several high-profile pastors and religious leaders who have been vocal in opposing the ordinance. The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion on behalf of the pastors seeking to quash the subpoenas.

I could be missing something here, but if I understand correctly, the mayor’s office in Houston believes that the sermons of local pastors not involved in the lawsuit are actually material to a case about whether the government unlawfully ignored a ballot initiative. In other words, what Houston preachers tell their congregations on Sunday is relevant to whether the government must put a discrimination law on the ballot.

Any sane person can see through this baloney. This has zero to do with the case. It is a thuggish, strong-arm tactic to scare dissidents into submission to an “equality” law. “Oh you don’t like progressive values? Well, let’s have you identify yourself and your religion so we’ll know who the enemy is.” This is a gross violation of religious liberty in every possible way. The citizens of Houston have zero obligation–none whatsoever–to identify their religious convictions to the Mayor’s government. To think otherwise is to entertain a complete fantasy about basic constitutional grammar.

As I’ve said previously and will continue to say, too much of the LGBT rights movement is fueled by fiat, not by democracy. Mayor Parker’s behavior here is appalling to anyone with a modicum of constitutional reverence. My hope is that enough opposition materializes that this action is thwarted, Parker publicly shamed, and the pastors of Houston recompensed their civil and religious liberty.