A demand that pastors hand over sermons that mentioned homosexuality to lawyers acting for the lesbian mayor of Houston, Texas was withdrawn on 29 October.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker said that as important as it is to protect the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), the subpoenas became a distraction. The law had called for ‘all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession’.
The row stems from Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) – a law which aims to ‘prohibit discrimination’.
A petition against HERO was rejected which prompted a lawsuit from those opposed to HERO, which led to the city’s lawyers calling for sermons from five pastors in the area.
Although the law would have only applied in Houston, it drew criticism from further afield. Dr Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the actions were an ‘immoral power grab’.
