Anti-LGBT activists in Texas are showing no signs of giving up in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
Last week, we told you about a new anti-LGBT coalition that launched in Dallas to fight the ruling, amid absurd warnings that it will lead to teachers encouraging kindergarteners to try anal sex.
Now, anti-LGBT hate groups are planning a rally — called “The Texas Response: Pastors, Marriage, & Religious Freedom” — at a church in Dallas’ northern suburbs. The groups include Texas Values, the Texas Pastor Council, the Liberty Institute and Concerned Women for America. And the event will be held at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church, where the executive pastor is anti-gay state Rep. Scott Sanford (right), the author of both a so-called “Pastor Protection Act” and a failed license-to-discriminate adoption amendment.
From Texas Values:
You are invited to attend our exciting upcoming event, The Texas Response: Pastors, Marriage, & Religious Freedom!
Please join us as we celebrate the passage of the Pastor Protection Law and discuss the recent Supreme Court marriage decision. The Texas Response will be on August 11th at 6:30 p.m. at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, Texas!
Our team and other dynamic speakers will be there to fully explain the new Pastor Protection Law and discuss what Texas can do after the Supreme Court’s ruling. We will also talk about the impact of the Court’s decision on religious freedom and free speech. The event will educate and inform Texans like YOU on these important issues!
As we’ve mentioned before, the Pastor Protection Act did nothing more than reaffirm existing protections under state and federal law, against clergy members being forced to participate in same-sex weddings. And it was supported by two openly LGBT representatives. But now Texas Values is claiming that the law does much more:
So what does the Pastor Protection Law do about all this? First, you should know that it doesn’t only protect pastors. It defends any religious organization, any group supervised by a religious person or person acting on behalf of a religious group, and any employee of a religious organization. And it protects far more than just their speech. The bill shields people of faith from being forced to “… solemnize any marriage, provide services, accommodation, facilities, goods or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation or celebration of any marriage” against their sincerely held beliefs. And it protects tax exemptions specifically! ….
Make no mistake, homosexual activists have their eyes on your towns, your schools, your churches. The Supreme Court gave them “marriage” but that is not enough. They also want to redefine religious freedom and free speech.
Texas Values is led by Jonathan Saenz, whose ex-wife left him for a woman. The Texas Pastor Council, led by Dave Welch, has unsuccessfully fought nondiscrimination ordinances in Houston, Plano and San Antonio. In Houston, Welch’s group was found to have engaged in widespread forgery when gathering signatures on a petition to repeal the ordinance.
