Hood County Bows to LGBT Machine, Pays $44K In Frivolous Case

Hood County Clerk Katie Lang

August 18, 2015 – Today, attorneys for a gay couple that sued Hood County, Texas over a same-sex “marriage” license, have announced that they cut a deal in which the County agreed to give nearly $44,000 of taxpayer dollars to LGBT attorneys.

Last month, a homosexual couple filed a lawsuit against the County related to the timing of the issuance of a same-sex “marriage” license in spite of the fact that the County had already made preparations to issue the license, the same-sex “marriage” license was in fact issued on that same day, and there were media reports that “there [was] a marriage license waiting for the couple…” on the same day the lawsuit was filed. Inaccurate media reports reported at the time that Hood County Clerk Katie Lang had given in, did an “about face,” and issued and signed the license herself. But as seen in this link, Deputy County Clerk Kristi Jackson signed the same-sex “marriage” license, not Katie Lang.  Our view is that County Clerk Katie Lang has maintained her stated-position regarding her sincerely held religious beliefs from the beginning, a legally defensible position.

Jonathan Saenz, President and attorney of Texas Values, released the following statement:

“We salute Katie Lang for holding her ground and for showing how this issue works in law; an employee asserts their First Amendment religious freedom rights and the government must seek to reasonably accommodate those beliefs, as was the case here when Lang delegated her role to another employee. This frivolous lawsuit is about intimidation and money for the LGBT machine. The same-sex “marriage” license in this case was issued less than an hour after the marriage application was submitted. Claims of 150 hours of legal time are ridiculous. Hood County attorney Lori Kaspar essentially caved in to the extortion efforts of the LGBT machine. If she was unable to stand up to the LGBT machine and reject their demands for money, she should have had other attorneys get involved in the case. It is our understanding that the personal lawyers for Katie Lang, Liberty Institute, were not a part of the deal-making agreement with the LGBT lawyers. The people of Hood County should be outraged that their county attorney gave away thousands of dollars on a case that was essentially over before it started.”

Texas Values continues to support Katie Lang and the protection of her religious freedom and the religious freedom of other Texas clerks like her. Texas Values helped lead a religious freedom rally in support of Katie Lang last month.

About Texas Values

Texas Values is a non-profit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvalues.org.