The Cities of Plano, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio have nondiscrimination ordinances to protect the rights of minority residents, including LGBT residents. Texas Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) filed House Joint Resolution 55, and Texas Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) filed Senate Joint Resolution 10 for the 2015 84th Texas legislative session to place a constitutional amendment on ballots across the state that if passed would limit the ability of cities to enforce nondiscrimination laws. The resolutions from Campbell and Villalba would amend the Texas Constitution to state that government “may not burden” someone’s “sincerely held religious belief” unless there is a “compelling governmental interest” and it is the “least restrictive means of furthering that interest.” Such an amendment would prevent cities that have passed LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances from enforcing them. In addition to Plano, those cities include Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), and other Texas state lawmakers are also planning to introduce a Religious Freedom and Restoration bill in the 2015 84th Texas legislative session “to protect Texas business owners from unconstitutional infringements on their religious liberty.” The proposed legislation is designed to allow businesses and landlords the opportunity to refuse service to gay and lesbian customers / tenants because of the owner’s religious beliefs. The legislation, if passed, is advertised protect people from federal and local laws that would interfere with their sincerely held belief they have the right to discriminate against any citizen based on deeply held religious beliefs, unless the government can prove a compelling interest, in court, case by case. Nullification is a comservative claim that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional. A place to virtually assemble to discuss this topic: https://facebook/PlanoEqualRights
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 01:54:16 +0000