Friday's ruling was a major setback for anti-gay Pastor Tom Brown, who may also face criminal charges.
In a victory for supporters of LGBT equality, a Texas appeals court has rejected an effort to recall El Paso Mayor John Cook and two other council members over their support of domestic partner benefits for unmarried city employees.
Texas’ 8th Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Friday that recall organizers, led by anti-gay Pastor Tom Brown, broke the law in gathering petition signatures for the recall election, which had been scheduled for this spring.
After the El Paso City Council first approved DP benefits for gay and straight city workers in 2009, Brown spearheaded a ballot measure that overturned them in 2010. Last year, after the City Council voted to restore DP benefits, Brown’s group launched its recall effort, which was challenged in court by Cook. A county judge initially ruled against Cook, but the appeals court overturned that decision.
The El Paso chapter of PFLAG issued a statement Friday saying: “It is with jubilation that the recall election, supported by Christian bigots, has finally reached the finish line. The judges clearly saw that this attempt was purely done out of hatred, disguised as the word of God.”
Brown and others may also face criminal charges based on the appeals court’s ruling, which found that his Word of Life Church violated a statute prohibiting corporate political contributions to recall elections. The court also found that Brown’s group, El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values, illegally raised money in support of the recall when it wasn’t registered as a political action committee.
Brown said recall organizers will appeal the ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, but an attorney for Mayor Cook believes it’s highly unlikely the high court would take the case. Cook, who cast the deciding vote in favor of restoring DP benefits last year, reportedly has spent $225,000 on his lawsuit seeking to block the recall. The mayor said he now plans to seek monetary damages against Brown’s group.
Fantastic! Perhaps Brown’s church should have it’s tax exempt status looked into as well.
Hooray! Separation of church and state only seems to work for the churches when they’re on the “winning” end. They want it both ways. A free ride and a ticket to discriminate.
It should come as no surprise when these christians and their christian church lose all tax-exempt status and experience REAL persecution!!! They simply will not learn their lesson until their benefits and perks as a Christian church are prohibited. Investigate them thoroughly, and all parishoners of this sect!
Why is it that Fundamentalist Christianist groups consistently feel no obligation to follow the laws that everyone else must in their pursuit of bigotry?
And I DO hope that this partisan effort in apparent violation of the church’ 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status — with donations being tax-deductible — gets referred to the IRS.