Texas Values Urges Texas Supreme Court to Reconsider Same-Sex Benefits Case
Will Texas Court Force Taxpayers to Subsidize Same-Sex Marriage?
Today, Houston taxpayers Pastor Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks have formally asked the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider hearing a case against former Houston Mayor Annise Parker (and the City of Houston), the lesbian mayor who violated the Texas Constitution by issuing same-sex benefits long before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell same-sex marriage ruling. The case Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks v. Mayor Sylvester Turner and City of Houston (formerly Pidgeon et al, v. Parker) began in 2013 and 2014 when Mayor Parker directed city staff to violate the Texas Constitution and specific state statutes on “benefits” by giving legal status and recognition to same-sex marriages in Texas and offering benefits to “spouses” of employees who “legally” obtained a same-sex marriage in another state. These illegal benefits were paid for by Houston taxpayers.
Mayor Parker is the former Houston official that shocked the nation when she issued a subpoena for pastor sermons on sexuality issues in 2014. Houston’s current mayor, Sylvester Turner, has continued to defend these unlawful actions in court. Texas Values President and Attorney, Jonathan Saenz, and Texas Values Action Board Member Jared Woodfill are the lawyers representing Houston taxpayers in the case.
Texas Values President & Attorney for the Taxpayers said:
“We urge the Texas Supreme Court to take up this case to bring justice to the Houston taxpayers who were robbed because of Mayor Annise Parker’s illegal political agenda. Allowing Mayor Parker to change state law on taxpayer funded benefits by an executive order and bypass the Texas Legislature is embarrassing and unlawful. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling was about requiring access to a same-sex marriage license. To now use that ruling to force private taxpayers to pay for same-sex benefits of government employees is judicial activism to the highest degree.”
Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine disagreed with Court’s initial refusal to hear the case and issued a strong dissenting opinion. The other Texas Supreme Court Justices have not commented on the case. All of the justices are Republicans.
About Texas Values
Texas Values is a nonprofit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvalues.org.