We Need Your Support for our Texas Supreme Court Case
1-20-17 UPDATE: Thanks to your prayers and support, the Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear out case! Read more.
I have an urgent request for your prayers and financial support!
Texas Values has just filed an appeal on behalf of Texas taxpayers (Pastor Jack Pidgeon and Larry Hicks) to the Texas Supreme Court to reconsider hearing a case against former Houston Mayor Annise Parker for violating the Texas Constitution by issuing taxpayer funded benefits to homosexual couples long before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell same-sex marriage ruling.
This case, which we have been essentially fighting since 2013, began when Mayor Parker directed city staff to violate the Texas Constitution and specific state statutes by giving legal status and recognition to same-sex “marriages” in Texas and offering benefits to same-sex “spouses” of employees – at Houston taxpayers’ expense. We won this case in trial court in 2014 but then the 14th Court of Appeals reversed in favor of the City of Houston after the Obergefell ruling in 2015. Houston’s current mayor, Sylvester Turner, has continued to defend these unlawful actions in court.
Please make an immediate emergency financial contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or even $1,000 or more to help us cover the cost of this critically important case.
Our appeal was put together by our expert team of lawyers and strongly argues three main points: (1) There is no “fundamental right” by same-sex couples to receive tax-payer funded benefits or subsidies, (2) the Texas Supreme Court should narrowly apply Obergefell ‘s same-sex “marriage” ruling because the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling has no basis in the Constitution, and (3) the Texas Supreme Court should also narrowly apply Obergefell because it threatens our religious freedom.
Our appeal states, in part:
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell imposes a “right” that cannot be found anywhere in the Constitution…Obergefell violates the tenth amendment by intruding on powers reserved to the States, and this Court should not aggravate that unconstitutional intrusion by allowing Obergefell to further undermine the State’s policies. The need for this Court to narrowly construe Obergefell and clarify state law on same-sex-benefits issues has become even more urgent since we filed our brief on the merits last May.
It is critical that we succeed in this case to defend what’s left of our state’s marriage laws, our religious freedom, and taxpayers’ right to not be forced by government to fund illegal same-sex benefits. Further, we need the Texas Supreme Court to protect Texas from the growing ideological and activist rulings by the federal judiciary. We are committed to continuing to fight on this case regardless of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision, but we need your immediate support to help fund this case.
We are the only organization in Texas fighting on this critical front and have spent tens of thousands of dollars as a result of this fight – that’s why I am counting on you right now as we are before the Texas Supreme Court in a critical moment. Please make an immediate contribution of whatever you can afford — $25, $50, $100, $250, or even $1,000.
Whatever amount you can give, please act today so that we can limit the damage done by the federal courts. And please be in fervent prayer that the Texas Supreme Court decides to grant our petition for rehearing.
Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine disagreed with Court’s initial refusal to hear the case and issued a strong dissenting opinion. Our prayer is that the other eight Texas Supreme Court Justices, who are all Republican, will agree to take up this case and ensure that Texans are not forced to subsidize same-sex “marriage.”
Please read our full motion for rehearing by clicking here. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!.
Faithfully,
Jonathan Saenz
President, Texas Values