The San Antonio proposed anti-discrimination ordinance forbids the city from appointing, employing or contracting with anyone who has ever said, or privately believed, that homosexual behavior is sinful. City Council members say the old ordinance is outdated because it doesn't address sexual orientation and gender identity.
For background, read Gay Agenda Attacks America One Town at a Time as well as Media Say Law Forces Christians into Gay Agenda
Also read about the Colorado baker and myriad other Christians sued because of anti-discrimination laws.
In addition, read how special privileges are being given to the transgendered by the Obama administration and by state governments as well as by public schools.
UPDATE 9/5/13: City Council Passes "Gay Rights" Ordinance 8-3 (see UPDATE excerpts below)
-- From "Debate on changes to S.A.'s anti-discrimination laws heats up" by Phil Anaya, KENS-TV5 (San Antonio) 7/25/13
Critics argue the ordinance threatens to silence religious freedom because it proposes “No person shall be appointed to a (city) position” or board, if they ever “engaged in discrimination or demonstrated a bias, by word or deed, against any person, group or organization.”
According to [Councilman Diego] Bernal, the ordinance puts San Antonio’s anti-discrimination laws on par with other Texas cities. He also admits any potential changes to the ordinance are just a draft right now and could be changed.
“The people of San Antonio need to know litigation will start, small business owners need to know it will impact their business and the city needs to know we will file a lawsuit against them based on the fact it’s blatantly unconstitutional,” said Patrick Von Dohlen of San Antonio Family Association.
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From "‘Unprecedented’ language targets those with traditional values" by Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow.com 7/23/13
“The ordinance also says that if you have at any point demonstrated a bias – without defining what a bias is or who will determine whether or not one has been exercised – that you cannot get a city contract,” [Pastor Charles Flowers of Faith Outreach International] tells OneNewsNow. “Neither can any of your subcontractors [who have demonstrated a bias] sign on to the contract.”
Moreover, according to a draft of the revised policy, no one who has spoken out against homosexuality or the transgender lifestyle can run for city council or be appointed to a board. Flowers says the Arizona-based legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom has taken a look at the ordinance.
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From "U.S. city looks to penalize Bible believers" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 7/23/13
Opponents of the plan, which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the nondiscrimination ordinances, charge it is a violation of constitutional Article VI, paragraph 3, which states, “[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”
The opponents explain that the ordinance would bar anyone from office who has “demonstrated a bias” against someone based on categories that include “sexual orientation.”
The proposal, however, does not define “bias,” which, according to local church leaders, could mean someone who declares homosexual behavior is sinful.
Church leaders who oppose the proposed change argue it violates First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of association. It also violates, they say, the Texas Religious Freedom Act and the Texas Constitution.
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UPDATE 9/5/13: "San Antonio adopts disputed gay rights measure" by Paul J. Weber, The Associated Press
San Antonio joins nearly 180 other U.S. cities that have nondiscrimination ordinances that prohibit bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Supporters in red shirts and opponents in blue sat on opposite sides of the ornate council chamber Thursday. Church leaders vowed petitions to recall council members, and the shouts of protesters outside City Hall often carried through the stone walls of the century-old building.
More than 700 people registered to speak Wednesday during a marathon session of citizen testimony that stretched past midnight. Just a few hours later, 100 people signed up Thursday morning to get in a final word before the vote.
"The problem I have is that you criminalize us if we speak our faith," said Marc Longoria, 42, a pastor at My Father's House Church. "We are Christians all the time. We don't have an on and off switch."
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UPDATE 9/6/13: "San Antonio's 'Non-Bias' Ordinance Is Pro-Gay, Anti-Christian, Charge Opponents" by Dave Bohon, The New American
. . . Christian and conservative leaders in the city and throughout the state warned of the consequences of giving special treatment to a group of individuals based on behavior a majority of the community's residents consider morally wrong. Days before passage of the ordinance a group of local African-American pastors showed up at city hall with hundreds of black and Latino Christians to voice their strong disapproval of the proposed measure. Speaking for the group, local pastor Charles Flowers said that he and other minority Christian leaders opposed the ordinance “because it is based on the notion that those who choose to practice a certain lifestyle cannot change. Yet the preponderance of evidence refutes this.”
Before the vote, a conservative group called the San Antonio Human Rights Coalition warned that while empowering homosexuals, the ordinance would effectively make acting on one's opposition to homosexuality against the law. While agreeing that “all people should be treated with dignity and all share the same fundamental human rights,” the coalition warned that the ordinance “punishes certain people of faith if they attempt to peacefully live in accordance with their beliefs or share their beliefs with others, thereby violating these believers’ human rights of conscience and speech.”
. . . One of the key supporters of the ordinance, City Councilman Diego Bernal, insisted that “we are not breaking new ground or doing anything revolutionary. We are merely doing what more than 180 cities and towns have done, which is to say that everyone deserves to live free from discrimination.”
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Also read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
