Paxton’s office: AISD can’t bar church rental
School officials’ recent statements prompt 1st Amendment point.
Georgetown church that opposes gay marriage has rented school district’s Performing Arts Center to hold its services.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Friday warned Austin school district officials against blocking a Christian church that opposes gay marriage from using district facilities, saying such action would violate state law and the First Amendment.
Celebration Church of Georgetown has been holding services most Sundays since Aug. 26 at the Austin district’s Performing Arts Center under a short-term rental agreement, prompting protests from gay rights and civil rights advocates.
District officials recently announced that they were considering limiting the ability of outside organizations to use district facilities, including the Perform-
ing Arts Center in the Mueller neighborhood, to reduce wear and tear and to ensure that district resources are available to students without interruption.
Changes to facility-use policies were not directed at Celebration Church and will be revealed once they are finalized, district Chief of Staff Jacob Reach said.
But a letter sent Friday from Jeff Mateer, Paxton’s first assistant attorney general, cautioned against adopting policies that are hostile to religion.
“The district should welcome churches who want to rent its facilities after school and on weekends, not discriminate against some of them based on their beliefs,” Mateer said in the letter to Austin Superintendent Paul Cruz. “The Constitution and state law require the district to provide churches with equal access to facilities it opens to community organizations.”
Mateer said efforts to change rental policies were troubling because of recent statements by two Austin school district leaders:
■ Trustee Ann Teich, who told the American-Statesman that she is “not in favor of renting to any entity that doesn’t support our values ... and that’s full inclusion of our LGBTQ community.”
■ Trustee Jayme Mathias, who told the Austin Chronicle that Celebration Church’s “values did not align with those of the district.”
The Austin school district’s anti-discrimination statement prohibits harassment of any kind based on gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
But Mateer, in correspondence written on Paxton’s letterhead, said the U.S. Supreme Court this summer found that government actions based on “impermissible hostility toward ... sincere religious beliefs” violated the Constitution. That ruling involved a Christian baker in Colorado who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple.
In addition, Mateer wrote, the district risks violating the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act if it adopts policies that would require churches “to abandon their core beliefs about marriage as a condition of renting school facilities.”
Reyne Telles, the school district’s executive director of communications, said staff members were reviewing the letter Friday afternoon.
“The district is continuing a review of its regulations concerning facility use agreements relating to the Performing Arts Center. No final determinations have been made,” Telles said.
Paxton has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and sharply criticized the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that tossed prohibitions against same-sex unions in Texas and other states. In 3½ years as state government’s top lawyer, Paxton also has made it a priority to protect religious freedom, particularly when conservative Christian beliefs are involved.