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Family, activists want attack on gay Texas teen investigated as a hate crime
HOUSTON — The family of a Texas teen who says he was lured to a local park only to be jumped and beaten because he is gay, is calling for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime. Dylan Beard, 17, suffered a bloodied tongue, a broken nose, a black eye, a bruised rib, chipped teeth and lacerations to his knees and elbows after the alleged …
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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 The subpoenas have since been withdrawn, but that has done nothing to rein in Robertson, who warned today on …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HOUSTON — Houston city attorneys have withdrawn subpoenas that sought speeches and other information from five pastors who publicly opposed an ordinance banning discrimination of gay and transgender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 mayor: ‘two moms’ caused daughter’s driver’s license woes
HOUSTON — Houston Mayor Annise Parker says her daughter faced difficulty in getting a Texas driver’s license because she listed two mothers as her parents on her application.
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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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Houston gay couple kicked out of taxi for kissing, told they’re going to hell
HOUSTON — Two Houston men are the latest same-sex couple to be kicked out of a taxicab for being affectionate. Travis Player and Andres Orozco tell KTRK-TV they were booted from the cab during a ride home from a local bar. “We thought he was joking until he actually pulled over,” said Player.