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No clear decision on Houston equal rights ordinance as jurors reach mixed verdict
The city of Houston claimed victory after a jury found that opponents of a controversial Equal Rights Ordinance submitted petitions that contained forgery and other flaws, but the outcome remains undecided.
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Jury deliberates over petitions at center of embattled Houston equal rights ordinance
A jury is being asked to weigh about six questions that ultimately will help a judge decide whether the city incorrectly invalidated a petition that opponents of the law submitted in an attempt to force a repeal referendum.
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Pat Robertson warns God may punish Houston for defending ‘militant homosexuals’
Last week, Pat Robertson reacted to a case in Houston in which a group of pastors were subpoenaed as part of the discovery process in a lawsuit over the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance by calling gay rights advocates “terrorists.” The subpoenas have since been withdrawn, but that has done nothing to rein in Robertson, who warned today on …
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How Fox News is trying to kill Houston’s LGBT equal rights ordinance
Fox News helped turn a bogus story about subpoenas sent to a handful of Houston pastors into a national rallying cry for religious liberty. Now the network is helping promote an event that will pit some of the country’s most extreme anti-LGBT voices against the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance. In May, the city of Houston made history by enacting the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a measure that prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and several other categories…
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Houston withdraws subpoenas for Texas pastors’ speeches
HOUSTON — Houston city attorneys have withdrawn subpoenas that sought speeches and other information from five pastors who publicly opposed an ordinance banning discrimination of gay and transgender residents, the mayor said Wednesday.
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Houston city attorneys change approach to sermon subpoenas
HOUSTON — Houston city attorneys are no longer seeking through subpoenas sermons from five pastors who publicly opposed an ordinance banning discrimination against gay and transgender residents. Mayor Annise Parker said Friday that the city was backing off the sermon request but would not withdraw the subpoenas, which seek other…
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Ted Cruz criticizes Houston subpoenas as ‘abuse of government power’
HOUSTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told congregants of his home church Thursday that the city of Houston abused power by subpoenaing sermons and other documents from pastors who publicly opposed a local ordinance banning discrimination against gay and transgender residents. Cruz, standing among more than a dozen clergy at First Baptist Church…
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No, the city of Houston isn’t bullying anti-gay pastors – this is basic lawyering
Conservative media outlets, led by Fox News, are attacking the city of Houston for subpoenaing a number of local pastors who were part of the right-wing opposition to the city’s LGBT non-discrimination ordinance that is suing the city now that the anti-discrimination law is in effect. But their claims that religious liberty should keep the pastors’ public addresses secret ignores the fact that subpoenas of parties relevant to a lawsuit are a typical part of the legal discovery process.
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Houston subpoenas sermons in challenge to LGBT rights ordinance
HOUSTON — The dispute over Houston’s LGBT-inclusive equal rights ordinance has extended to the pulpit. Houston city attorneys recently subpoenaed sermons by several local pastors who oppose the measure and are tied to conservative Christian activists. The activists have sued Houston, claiming they had enough valid signatures to put a repeal…
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Judge schedules hearing on Houston LGBT ordinance, no vote in November
HOUSTON — A judge in Houston has scheduled a hearing for next January in a challenge over the city’s LGBT-inclusive equal rights ordinance, squashing opponents’ efforts to put the measure on the ballot in November in hopes voters would repeal the law. State District Judge Robert Schaffer on Friday ruled that the ordinance should not be enforced prior to the trial…