Houston Groups Sue for License to Discriminate Against LGBTQ People
Two Houston-based organizations have filed federal lawsuits against the city of Austin and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, seeking a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The lawsuits were filed Saturday, Oct. 6 by the U.S. Pastor Council and the Hotze Health and Wellness Center, a business owned by anti-LGBTQ activist Steve Hotze.
In one lawsuit, the Pastor Council alleges that the city of Austin’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which has been in place for decades, is unconstitutional because it doesn’t include an exemption for churches that don’t want to hire LGBTQ people. Austin’s nondiscrimination ordinance allows faith-based schools and organizations to limit hiring to members of a a particular religion, but the Pastor Council claims that isn’t good enough.
From the Austin Statesman:
Dan Quinn, spokesman of the Texas Freedom Network, which has opposed previous efforts by the pastor council to limit gay rights, said the lawsuit is an unnecessary and mean-spirited attempt to obtain a court-granted license to discriminate.
“I know of no instance in which a church or religious association has been forced to hire a gay person in violation of their religious beliefs,” Quinn said, adding that church hiring practices are already protected by the Constitution.
“This lawsuit isn’t about protecting religious freedom. This is about sweeping away anti-discrimination protections that have been on the books for decades,” he said.
Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2018/10/houston-groups-sue-for-license-to-discriminate-against-lgbtq-people/
