(Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) After two conservative Christian groups filed lawsuits against the city of Austin over the past week challenging an ordinance that protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination, Texas LGBTQ advocates said Wednesday they do not think the lawsuits will hold up in court. The first lawsuit , filed in federal court Saturday against the city by the United States Pastor Council, a conservative Christian organization based in Houston, argues that Austin’s non-discrimination ordinance is unconstitutional because it does not allow churches the religious freedom to refuse to hire gay or transgender individuals. Texas Values, another conservative Christian organization, filed a separate, broader lawsuit in state district court, also on Saturday, seeking to invalidate the ordinance as it applies to both employment and housing decisions. Austin’s city code prohibits employers in the city from discriminating against employees based on "the individual’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability." The lawsuits claim the non-discrimination ordinance forces individuals to take actions contrary to their religious beliefs. The U.S. Pastor Council, which also backed the 2017 session’s failed "bathroom bill" that would have restricted access to public restrooms for transgender Texans, said in its lawsuit […]
