Houston Pink Shirt PR Lies

Lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker and her fellow pink shirts discovered yesterday that Americans and Texans do not take kindly to government bullying of churches.  So the Mayor and her City Attorney backed away from their own actions, claiming they did not know the subpoenas were that broad, that wasn’t their intent, they had been misinterpreted, etc.

But there is one problem.  They lied.

“The intent, [City Attorney] Feldman said, was simply to get all communications between pastors about the signature gathering instructions, a key part of a lawsuit opponents have brought against the city. Critics filed suit after Feldman announced they had failed to gather enough valid signatures to force a repeal referendum, claiming the city attorney illegally inserted himself in the signature verification process.”

That’s a blatant lie. The communications sought were not just about “signature gathering instructions.” They were, instead, an attempt to gather materials that would expose what the mayor and her cronies obviously consider to be the Neanderthal, homophobic attitudes of people who supported the petition. If that was not the case, why ask for stuff like “All speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity,” or “all documents and communications…[dealing with] the topics of equal rights, civil rights, homosexuality, or gender identity”?

Then there is this tweet from the Mayor’s keyboard itself on exactly 11:12pm Tuesday night, the night before yesterday’s backtracking.

If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game. Were instructions given on filling out anti-HERO petition?-A
— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) October 15, 2014

In case she or her staff deletes it, it reads, "If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game.  Were instructions given on filling out anti-HERO petition?-A"

So on Tuesday night, Mayor Parker is defending going after sermons. But on Wednesday, she did not really know about going after sermons.  Uh, huh.

But I’m nit-picking.  Besides, it is nice to see the pink shirt bullies nervous for a change.