Texas GOP Attorney General, Lt. Governor Push For Indiana-Style Religious Freedom Bills

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton have launched a fresh assault on LGBT rights, calling on state legislators to revive Indiana-style religious freedom legislation that was defeated in this year's session.

The proposals from Patrick (photo, left) and Paxton, both Tea Partiers, would nullify local nondiscrimination ordinances protecting LGBT people, give state-funded adoption agencies a license to discriminate against same-sex couples, ensure that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges doesn't "needlessly trample the religious liberties of State and local government employees," and preserve the right of mental health professionals to provide so-called "ex-gay" therapy.

More than 20 similar anti-LGBT proposals died in this year's session, largely due to opposition from the state's chamber of commerce. But Patrick and Paxton are calling on legislative committees to study the proposals in the interim before the next Legislature convenes in January 2017.

"Examine measures to affirm 1st Amendment religious liberty protections in Texas, along with the relationship between local ordinances and state and federal law," Patrick wrote atop a to-do list of 21 items for the Senate. "Make recommendations to ensure that the government does not force individuals, organizations or businesses to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs."

Read more: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/texas_gop_leaders_revive_indiana_style_religious_freedom_bills?recruiter_id=838695