Texas AG Ken Paxton Headlines Anti-Gay Marriage And Religious Freedom Event

But his criminal defense team still includes an openly gay attorney.

Fresh off yet another defeat in a same-sex marriage case, anti-gay Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is set to appear at an anti-gay hatefest near Austin.

On Tuesday night, Paxton will speak at the latest installment of “The Texas Response,” a series of anti-gay rallies sponsored by Texas Values, the Liberty Institute and Concerned Women for America:

“We are excited to announce that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will be a featured speaker at our upcoming Texas Response: Pastors, Marriage, & Religious Freedom event in Central Texas,” Texas Values wrote in an email. “The Attorney General’s public support for protecting religious freedom throughout the legislative session was critically important in building momentum for the passage of the Pastor Protection Law. Please join us as we celebrate the passage of the Pastor Protection Law and discuss the recent Supreme Court same-sex ‘marriage’ decision.”

Texas Values’ website says at the event their “team and other dynamic speakers will be there to fully explain the new Pastor Protection Law and discuss what Texas can do after the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

Of course, the so-called Pastor Protection Law did nothing but reaffirm existing protections for clergy and churches under the First Amendment, while more than 20 pieces of anti-LGBT legislation died in this year’s Texas Legislature. But the aforementioned groups are desperately trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and raise money off pointless legislation that was ultimately supported by the state’s two openly LGBT lawmakers.

At a previous installment of “The Texas Response,” panelists advocated for ex-gay therapy, compared out lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s administration to Nazi Germany, said the LGBT community wants to legalize pedophilia, and vowed to ram religious liberty down the throats of same-sex marriage supporters.

However, based on Paxton’s recent record in court, he’s the one getting marriage equality rammed down his throat.

Earlier this month, Paxton attempted to a block a lesbian widow out of her partner’s estate, despite his previous pledge — under threat of contempt — not to defy the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. But an Austin probate judge subsequently kicked Paxton out of the estate case, and recognized the lesbian couple’s relationship as a common-law marriage. 

“Lawyers for Paxton opposed the designation during a hearing before [Judge Guy] Herman,” The Austin Statesman reported, “arguing that the settlement ended the legal dispute over Powell’s estate, making any decision about [widow Sonomaly] Phrasavath’s marital status moot and beyond Herman’s jurisdiction.”

Phrasavath’s attorney, Brian Thompson, told Herman: “The denial of my client’s fundamental right to marry needs to end today, and Ken Paxton’s groundless, harassing and mean-spirited attacks on same-sex couples needs to end today. The only reason the state is attempting to continue to interfere in this case is because Som and Stella were a same-sex couple, and Ken Paxton can’t live with the fact.”

Ultimately, though, same-sex marriage may be the least of the Texas AG’s worries. Paxton is still facing those pesky felony charges for alleged securities fraud. And while he may be doing his best to conceal it, his legal team still reportedly includes an openly gay attorney, Pete Schulte of Dallas. Schulte told me Monday that although he wasn’t mentioned in an announcement from Paxton about his legal team last week, he’s still on the case.  

“I’m still part of the legal team and still represent the AG,” Schulte said in a text message. “I was already announced in August, which is why I wasn’t included in last week’s release.”

Either that or Paxton is trying to keep a secret from his right-wing supporters. 

 

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