Public Advocate Is Right Again: City in Texas May Force Churches To Hire Homosexual Pastors
CAN, Christian Action Network reports:
After Houston rejected similar measures three years ago, churches in Austin may be forced to hire homosexual and transgender pastors and ministers due to a city ordinance.
Ground zero in the turmoil because of non-discrimination reforms that fail to protect religious and moral objections to sinful lifestyles has shifted to Austin.
The city's leaders passed an employment discrimination ordinance much like 2015's "HERO" measure in Houston, prohibiting decisions against hiring based on sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to other reasons.
The ordinance provides no limit to enforcement against churches that decide against hiring of homosexuals and transsexuals on moral and religious grounds.
Not even pastoral and other leadership positions at churches are excluded from possible city oversight and regulatory management in the capital of Texas.
KVUE ABC TV NEWS REPORTS:
A Texas religious group has filed a lawsuit against the City of Austin, claiming its anti-discrimination laws violate churches' rights to not hire people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Pastor Council, lists Mayor Steve Adler and Chair of the Austin Human Rights Commission Sareta Davis as the defendants.
"The City of Austin's employment-discrimination ordinance prohibits employers from discriminating on account of "race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability," the lawsuit states. "But the ordinance provides no exemptions or accommodations for employers who hold religious objections to homosexuality or transgender behavior. It does not even exempt church hiring decisions from its prohibition on sex discrimination, nor does it exempt churches from the ban on discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity. Every church in Austin that refuses to hire practicing homosexuals as clergy or church employees is violating city law and subject to civil penalties and liability."
The plaintiffs believe the City of Austin's failure to exempt churches from the discrimination laws violates the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Constitution and the Texas Religious Freedom Act.
kvue article here, along with a copy of the federal lawsuit filed by U.S. Pastor Council: