AUSTIN– State Senator Donna Campbell wrote an open letter to Mayor Julian Castro, adding her voice to the number of concerned Texans who have come out against San Antonio’s proposed nondiscriminatory ordinance. Many community leaders are worried the LGBT ordinance will penalize families, churches, and businesses for holding traditional views about marriage or being unwilling to provide benefits to same-sex couples.
The full text of the letter is included below.
August 29, 2013
Dear Mayor Castro:
I have watched the debate over San Antonio’s so-called nondiscrimination ordinance with great interest hoping that an agreeable solution could be reached. However, with a vote quickly approaching, I feel obligated to add my voice to the number of concerned Texans opposing this measure.
San Antonio is an exceptional city in which every individual should feel welcome, and I believe that’s the intention of the authors of the ordinance. However, by alienating the majority of Texans who believe in traditional marriage and values, it is having the opposite effect. San Antonio churches, families, and businesses feel less welcome in their hometown as a result of this proposed ordinance, fearful that they may now be penalized or face costly lawsuits just for practicing their faith or expressing their opinion.
Any ordinance that ostracizes a majority of its citizens for their personal religious beliefs is wrong, whether you agree with those beliefs or not. It threatens our liberty and epitomizes the worst of Big Government. This ordinance doesn’t strengthen our rights as citizens. It weakens them.
I share the sentiments of Attorney General Greg Abbott and others who have spoken out against this ordinance. I believe it violates the Texas Constitution, will harm families and businesses, and has unnecessarily divided our city.
It is not without accident that the city of San Antonio is named after a saint. We have built a strong, vibrant, and culturally diverse community because we have always honored faith, freedom, and family. Let’s not lose sight of those guiding principles.
Sincerely,
Senator Donna Campbell, M.D.
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Senator Donna Campbell is a practicing emergency room physician representing Senate District 25, which includes all or parts of Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, and Travis Counties.
Follow Sen. Campbell on facebook: www.facebook.com/DonnaCampbellTX