Texas Court Erred In Declaring Gay Church Not `Main Line,' Says AU.

A Texas judge violated the First Amendment when he ruled that a divorced woman could not take her child to a predominantly gay Christian church because the congregation is not "main line," Americans United argues in a recently filed friend-of-the-court brief.

In the brief, which AU filed with three other organizations, Americans United argues that the 78th District Court Judge Keith Nelson of Wichita County erred when he ordered the mother not to take her child to services at the Metropolitan Community Church. The brief was filed before the Texas Court of Appeals, Second District.

"A court-imposed ranking of religions and determination as to which are sufficiently `main line,' or orthodox, constitutes impermissible state assessment of ecclesiastical matters and partiality concerning religious denominations," observes the brief. "The trial court's order also violates the mother's free exercise fights because the court made a determination concerning the mother's visitation rights based on an evaluation of her religious beliefs and the church she attends."

The case centers on a divorce involving a Christian mother and a Jewish father. In the decree, both parents agreed to provide religious training for their 5-year-old daughter. When the mother began taking her daughter to services at the MCC congregation in Wichita Falls, the father objected and asked Judge Nelson to intervene.

Nelson ruled that only "main line churches would be utilized by the parties for the religious training of the child .." The court listed a number of houses of worship that would qualify as "main line," including Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian and Catholic congregations as well as Jewish synagogues but added the Metropolitan Community Church does not fall within the category."

The MCC was founded by the Rev. Troy Perry in Los Angeles in 1968. The denomination has over 300 churches worldwide that serve predominantly gay congregations.

Perry called the judge's decision shocking, adding, "For the first time in the 30-year history of the [denomination], a judge has overstepped boundaries provided by the U.S. Constitution and has ruled that [the church] is not a suitable church for our children. This is appalling and patently illegal. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically requires government to stay out of religion."

Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn agreed, saying that courts have no business deciding which churches qualify as "main line" and which do not.

"It is not the job of any branch of government to rank denominations in a type of `Top Ten' list, with those failing to make the cut being assigned second-class status," said Lynn. "In the eyes of the government, all religions should be considered equal."

In addition to Americans United, other groups filing the brief in the case include the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, People For the American Way and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A second joint brief has been filed by the American Jewish Congress, the National Council of Churches, the American Friends Service Committee and the Universal Fellowship of the Metropolitan Community Churches.

In their brief, the religious organizations argue that "a loosely worded divorce agreement has led to an improper judicial intrusion into the sacred domain of religious belief.... [T]he decision of the court--arrogating to itself the power to decide what churches are theologically acceptable--is untenable." (In the Interest of WKG, a Minor Child)