As part of CAAP’s continued work to defend state marriage laws, Rev. Owens joined Alabama Justice Roy Moore and others in Austin to rally for marriage.
See the media coverage and excerpts below for more…
Alabama Chief Justice Moore Rallies with African-American Pastors against Same-Sex Marriage
Breitbart
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore joined with an African-American pastors coalition and other conservative leaders Monday to defend the Texas constitutional ban against same-sex marriage.
Moore, who recently instructed Alabama’s state probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses according to a federal court’s ruling, traveled to Texas to keynote the event, a My Fox Austin report states. The chief justice said that states need to stand up to the federal government.
Moore and Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP), have called upon U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan to recuse themselves from the upcoming decision the high court will render on same-sex marriage. Both Ginsburg and Kagan have officiated at same-sex marriages.
“No court has the authority to redefine what God proposed in Genesis,” he said, arguing that the Constitution does not give federal courts precedent over domestic policy on family and marriage.
“I’m a judge and normally judges don’t speak out but if I should hold back my opinions I would consider myself guilty of treason toward my country,” Moore said.
The rally was hosted by the Conservative Republicans of Texas, led by Dr. Steve Hotze.
Roy Moore, Texas Officials Lay Out Biblical Case Against Gay Marriage
Texas Observer
Earlier, the Coalition of African-American Pastors hosted a press conference in a Capitol conference room to call on U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to recuse themselves from hearing lawsuits challenging state marriage bans. However, the press conference, like the rally, focused largely on defending Texas’ ban.
“We are not going to let this erosion, death by a thousand cuts, tear down and destroy what’s left of the family in the state of Texas,” said Dave Welch, executive director of the Texas Pastor Council.
Welch pointed to legislation seeking to allow same-sex couples to have both names on the birth certificates of adopted children, as well as city ordinances “criminalizing Christian business owners for practicing their faith” and “allowing men into women’s restrooms.”
Rev. Bill Owens, founder and president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, accused the gay community of stealing and hijacking the civil rights movement.
“They were never beaten. They were never hung from trees. They were never fired for nothing. They were never treated like we were treated,” Owens said, becoming animated in response to a reporter’s question. “You don’t have a clue how we were treated in the South. You don’t have a clue. … This is not a civil rights movement. It’s a civil wrong movement.”
Opposing gay rights groups rally at Texas Capitol
Austin Sun Times
Three groups will hold dueling events both for and against same-sex rights at the Texas Capitol on Monday.
One of the groups will be headlined by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and is sponsored by Conservative Republicans of Texas. Moore strongly opposes gay marriage and instructed Alabama’s state probate judges to refuse issuing same-sex marriage licenses despite a federal court ruling that the state’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
CBSDFW reports:
The group (Conservative Republicans of Texas) claims backing from 100-plus elected Texas officials. Also against gay marriage is the Coalition of African American Pastors, which will hold a Capitol news conference Monday.
Groups for, against gay rights stage dueling Capitol rallies
KXAN News
The founder of the Coalition of African American Pastors, Rev. Bill Owners, said it is wrong to compare the push for marriage equality with the fight for racial equality from the civil rights movement.
“They stole, they hijacked, the Civil Rights movement,” said Owens of the push for legalizing marriage between gay couples. “I was in the Civil Rights movement. I know about the South, and I know about the injustices and the inhumane way [African Americans] were treated.”
The coalition also wants Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan to recuse themselves from the upcoming case pertaining to gay marriage, saying they are prejudiced on the issue.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore headlining anti-gay marriage rally in Texas
AL.com
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore will headline a Monday afternoon rally sponsored by Conservative Republicans of Texas.
Staunchly opposed to gay marriage, Moore instructed Alabama’s state probate judges to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite a federal court ruling that Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
The group claims backing from 100-plus elected Texas officials. Also against gay marriage is the Coalition of African American Pastors, which will hold a Capitol news conference Monday.
