HOUSTON: Anti-Gay Pastors Sue Mayor

Via Houston's CBS affiliate:

A group of pastors fighting Houston's equal rights ordinance has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Annise Parker, claiming she tried to deny voters' rights and intimidate clergymen opposing her. The legal action comes at the beginning of what's likely to be a passionate campaign leading up to a referendum on the ordinance in November. "She violated and trampled the voting rights of over a million people in the fourth largest city in the United States of America," said Andy Taylor, the attorney representing the clergymen, at a news conference with his clients. "Are you with me? Can you believe it? Is that what happened?" The clergymen who filed the suit have fought the ordinance from the beginning, focusing on its protections for gay and transgendered people. They're among the leaders of a petition drive that called for a referendum to repeal the ordinance.

Last month the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Houston must either repeal its LGBT rights ordinance or place it to a public vote. Parker has vowed to win at the polls.

RELATED: Next month the above-pictured pastors will take part in an anti-gay forum titled The Texas Response.

FRC Staffer Craig James Sues Fox Sports For Anti-Christian Religious Discrimination

Former New England Patriots running back, failed US Senate candidate, and current Family Research Council staffer Craig James has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against Fox Sports, alleging that the network fired him as a commentator over his Christian stance on same-sex marriage. Yahoo News reports:

In 2013, Fox Sports Southwest fired James two days after it hired him upon learning of a statement he made in 2012 while running for the U.S. Senate. During a debate that involved Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Ted Cruz, James said that being gay is a choice and that “right now in this country, our moral fiber is sliding down a slope that is going to be hard to stop if we don’t stand up with leaders who don’t go ride in gay parades. I can assure you I will never ride in a gay parade.” Fox Sports Southwest Senior Vice President of Communications Lou D’Ermilio took issue with the comments. “We just asked ourselves how Craig’s statements would play in our human resources department. He couldn’t say those things here.” The suit, which was filed Monday morning, claimed James was fired “because of his religious beliefs about marriage and his expression of those beliefs.”

James' suit claims that he "shows love and kindness to all those around him" including his LGBT friends and family members. That claim might come as a surprise to his LGBT friends and family members who happened to be listening as he guest-hosted on Tony Perkins' radio show in December, when he told a caller that he wasn't really sure whether gay people should be executed.

INDIANA: Fired Clerk Cites Leviticus In Federal Lawsuit Over Same-Sex Marriage

Former Harrison County, Indiana employee Linda Summers has filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit against her former boss and the county, alleging religious discrimination after being terminated last year for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Summers logically cites Leviticus as proof of her having been wronged:

Plaintiff, Linda Summers has a sincerely held religious belief, based upon the tenants of her faith and biblical teaching, such as Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27, I Cor. 6:9-10; and I Tim 1:9-10, that it is a sin for persons of the same sex to engage in sexual relations and, based upon Genesis 2:18-25, and other biblical authority, that persons of the same sex cannot and should not be morally or legally recognized as husband and wife, and that God will judge individual Christians, as well as the society of which they are a part, who condone or institute same sex marriages.

Bolding is mine. Summers goes on to cite the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She is represented by a local firm. (Via World Net Daily)

KENTUCKY: Clerk Kim Davis Testifies That She "Prayed And Fasted" About Denying Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Infamous Kentucky county clerk and alleged dog-napping conspirator Kim Davis took the stand today in the ACLU's lawsuit against her for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Via the local CBS affiliate:

Davis told the court she's an apostolic Christian and her religion says that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. She says her right to freedom of religion affords her the ability to deny same-sex licenses because she believes the wording on the certificate means she's authorizing the license. Davis said that is something she can't do. "If I authorize it, I'm saying I agree with it. I can't do that," she said. An attorney representing the couples who are suing Davis asked her how far a clerk could take their religious beliefs when it comes to denying licenses. He asked, for example, whether a clerk could refuse a license if they did not believe interracial marriage was biblical. He also asked whether a clerk could deny a license to someone who wanted to get remarried after a divorce. Davis said she couldn't speak for anyone else and didn't answer any hypothetical questions. The plaintiff's attorney asked Davis if she would change her position if the judge orders her to issue those licenses. She said she'd deal with that when the time comes.

More from Kentucky.com:

"It was something I had prayed and fasted over. ... It wasn't a spur of the moment decision," Davis told U.S. District Judge David Bunning, her voice breaking. To authorize licenses, she said, means "I'm saying I agree with it, and I can't." Her choice to also deny licenses to straight couples was because "I didn't want to discriminate against anyone." Two of those straight couples and two gay couples from Rowan County sued Davis shortly after her office stopped issuing marriage licenses to anyone in the wake of the June 26 decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage and declared the practice legal across the country.  After the hearing, Davis' lawyer, Roger Gannam of Liberty Counsel, a non-profit firm that specializes in religious-freedom cases, said the plaintiffs could have obtained licenses in Ashland, the site of the previous hearing, or in Covington. "This case is not about these plaintiffs' desire to get married," Gannam said. "This case is about the plaintiffs' desire to force Kim Davis to approve and authorize their marriages in violation of her Constitutionally protected religious beliefs."

The judge said today that he will issue his ruling during the week of August 11th. Kentucky's county clerks are elected and can only be removed by the state legislature, which does not reconvene until January. Renegade clerks face jail time for contempt of court should they refuse an order to issue licenses. 

TEXAS: Hate Group Denounces "Frivolous" Lawsuit Filed Against County Clerk

Via press release from Texas Values:

It has come to our attention that a same-sex ‘marriage’ license has been issued in Hood County, Texas. However, we are also aware of false reports that County Clerk Katie Lang “gives in” and did an “about face” and issued and signed the license herself. As seen in the attached link, Deputy County Clerk Kristi Jackson signed the same sex marriage license, not Katie Lang. Our view is that County Clerk Katie Lang has maintained her position regarding her sincerely held religious beliefs as she clearly stated last week, that other staff members in the clerk’s office would issue same sex marriage licenses, which is what happened today. Therefore, the lawsuit filed today by a homosexual couple is frivolous and is simply being maintained to punish Katie Lang for exercising her religious beliefs and to request money for lawyers.

Lang is being defended by the Plano-based Liberty Institute.

KENTUCKY: ACLU Sues County Clerk For Refusing To Issue Marriage Licenses

Via press release:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky today filed a lawsuit on behalf of four Rowan County couples, two same-gender couples and two opposite-gender couples, denied marriage licenses by County Clerk Kim Davis. Since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a sweeping and historic decision that affords gay and lesbian couples the legal right to marry, Ms. Davis has refused to provide marriage licenses to any couple applying for one in Rowan County citing “religious concerns.” In explaining the ACLU’s decision to file suit on the couples’ behalf, ACLU of Kentucky Cooperating Attorney Laura Landenwich stated, “Ms. Davis has the absolute right to believe whatever she wants about God, faith, and religion, but as a government official who swore an oath to uphold the law, she cannot pick and choose who she is going to serve, or which duties her office will perform based on her religious beliefs.”

Davis spoke to Kentucky.com on Monday: "What has happened is that five lawyers have imposed their personal view of what the definition of marriage should be on the rest of us. And I, as a Christian, have strong views, too. And I know I don't stand alone."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/06/29/3923157_some-kentucky-county-clerks-refusing.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

BREAKING: SPLC Wins Fraud Suit Against New Jersey "Ex-Gay" Torture Group

NJ.com reports:

A New Jersey jury on Thursday found a non-profit group that provides gay-to-straight conversion therapy guilty of consumer fraud for promising clients they could overcome their sexual urges by undressing in front of other men, pummeling an effigy of their mothers, and re–enacting traumatic childhood experiences.

In the first case in the nation to put the controversial practice on trial, the jury concluded that Arthur Goldberg and Elaine Berk, the founders of Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing in Jersey City and life coach Alan Downing to whom JONAH referred patients, "engaged in unconscionable commercial practices" and misrepresented their services.

The verdict requires JONAH and Downing to refund thousands of dollars paid by former clients Michael Ferguson, Benjamin Unger, Sheldon Bruck, Chaim Levin, and parents Jo Bruck and Bella Levin for the individual and group counseling sessions and the "journey into manhood" weekends in the woods. Downing charged $60 to $100 for group and individual sessions but shared 20 percent with JONAH to help defray its administrative costs.

The SPLC says they will now seek an injunction to force JONAH from operating. They'll also seek legal fees. What a terrible, terrible month for Maggie Gallagher!

Scott Lively's Crimes Against Humanity Trial Begins, Liberty Counsel Demands More Information From Ugandan Plaintiffs

The crimes against humanity lawsuit against Scott Lively began today with his Liberty Counsel lawyers demanding more information from the plaintiffs, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Via MassLive:

Lively is being represented by the Liberty Counsel, based in Orlando, Florida, which bills itself on its website as "an international nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family." It has provided pro bono legal assistance on these and related topics since 1989. Attorney Roger Gannam on Tuesday argued that lawyers for the plaintiffs were being so surreptitious in turning over documents - already subject to an "attorney's eyes only" restriction - that it was hindering Lively's ability to wage an effective defense.

"Scott Lively has no desire for the information except for this lawsuit," Gannam argued to U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson. "SMUG has not proved that it's reliable in deciding what Scott Lively should see and shouldn't see." In particular, the lawyer cited an email relating to a SMUG fund-raiser geared toward paying fees in the Lively case, which he said was so heavily redacted even the subject line was blacked out. Gannam also referred to images the plaintiffs have withheld of participants at the 2009 workshop in Uganda, which he argued Lively couldn't confirm were there if he can't see their faces. Gannam also suggested the plaintiffs' representation of the significance of the 2009 workshop in Uganda was overstated.

Lively did not attend today's hearing. According to the above-linked report, he is planning to move his ministry from Springfield to Riverside, California in order to "expand the brand."

RELATED:  On May 11th SMUG issued a subpoena which demands that notoriously anti-gay Ugandan Pastor Martin "Eat Da Poo Poo" Ssempa appear to testify at the trial. The subpoena included a $1900 check to cover Ssempa's travel costs from Uganda. Normally a prolific many-times-per-day Twitter user, Ssempa has not tweeted since the subpoena was issued.

NEW JERSEY: SPLC Attorney Shreds Head Of "Ex-Gay" Group During Fraud Trial

The SPLC's fraud lawsuit against the New Jersey-based "ex-gay" group JONAH has been underway since last week. Via New Jersey Jewish News:

On the trial’s second day, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Lina Bensman pointed out that Goldberg was a disbarred attorney who in 1989 was incarcerated for six months on federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges while heading a New York underwriting firm. She asked why he had occasionally identified himself as a “doctor,” although he was not a physician and had no PhD. “I am a JD, a juris doctor,” he explained. Goldberg also acknowledged that he used the title “rabbi” on occasion, although he was not ordained. “I was not a rabbi,” he said. “I have no formal religious training other than going to a yeshiva in grade school.”

Goldberg also testified, “I have never been a licensed counselor. I give advice.” But after being shown a signed document projected on a video screen, Goldberg acknowledged he had applied to the American Psychotherapy Association to become a certified relationship specialist and a certified professional counselor. “But these certifications were revoked?” asked Bensman. “Yes, ma’am” he replied. “And the certifications read, ‘I certify I have not been convicted of a felony’?” “That is correct,” he said. Under questioning by his own attorney, Goldberg said he believed that his felony fraud and conspiracy convictions were essentially nullified more than 20 years after his guilty pleas in 1989, allowing him to check “no” on the application.

More about Goldberg from the Village Voice:

In 1987, prosecutors accused Goldberg of orchestrating a massive municipal-bond fraud scheme, essentially selling more than $2 billion in bogus bonds between 1985 and 1986 to finance public works projects in smaller, rural, and often poor communities in the Midwest. Most of the projects were never completed, and Goldberg was eventually charged with 52 counts of bribery, fraud, and conspiracy, among other things, by a federal grand jury. He later pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud in California. The scheme cost the U.S. Treasury millions in lost taxes, and Matthews & Wright Inc. lost its license to sell securities and later dissolved completely.

Goldberg, who testified before a jury on June 8, declined on several occasions to speak on the record for this article. One day at the JONAH offices in Jersey City he confronted a Voice reporter, asking her to leave the building and calling her presence "absolutely inappropriate and out of line." He would later agree to answer a few questions, through his lawyer, via email. "Over 100 people lost their jobs and a good career because of what Arthur did, and that's just pure greed," Goldberg's former colleague says. "And he never apologized to anyone. I hoped he'd get life [in prison]. If I'd run into him on the street, I'd grab him by the throat."

Hit the first link for more about the trial and the second for an excellent and lengthy history of the "ex-gay" movement. Equality Case Files is attending the trial and is posting transcripts of the proceedings. JONAH is being defended by a legal group headed by Maggie Gallagher.

UPDATE: Check out how hate group leader Austin Ruse characterizes Goldberg over at Breitbart:

All his life Arthur Goldberg was a liberal New York Jew, almost stereotypical. He fought for civil rights for African Americans, he fought for better housing for New York’s poor, the whole schmear of respectable liberal causes. And then his son came out as gay and Arthur wanted to help him. When they founded JONAH, neither Goldberg or Berk knew that choice in sexual orientation or choice in psychological counseling would become a third rail in progressive politics. Now they are the target of one of the richest and most powerful left-wing groups in America. The Southern Poverty Law Center — with $340 in the bank and revenues of $50 million a year — is a group with almost limitless money to spend on litigation and it, along with activist Wayne Besen of a group called Truth Wins Out, have spent millions to put JONAH out of business and to punish Goldberg and Berk for trying to help those with unwanted same-sex attraction.

NEW YORK: Couple Sues Chili's For HIV Exposure After Waiter Spits In Drink

After the police used a DNA test to confirm that a waiter had spit into their drink, an upstate New York couple is suing a Chili's restaurant and the waiter for potential exposure to HIV and hepatitis.

The Yerdons plan to sue Lamica and the owners of Chili's this week. They want compensation for the psychological trauma they endured not knowing whether Yerdon had contracted HIV or hepatitis because he'd sipped from the cup twice before seeing the spit. Ken Yerdon, 45, a traveling operator for a power company, tested negative for HIV and hepatitis immediately after the incident. But he had to wait six months to be tested a second time to ensure he was in the clear. "It was a long six months of anxiety," Julie Aluzzo-Yerdon said. Marissa Rice, director of youth services at ACR Health in Syracuse, said today that saliva is not one of the four bodily fluids through which HIV can be transmitted. Even if someone had blood in his or her saliva, swallowing that person's saliva would not transmit the disease because it has to get into someone's bloodstream, said Rice, who's trained by the state in AIDS prevention education.

The couple says that they are suing Chili's because the company took no action against the waiter before he quit. The spitting reportedly occurred after the couples complained about their meal and then asked for drinks to go. The waiter's Facebook page has been screencapped at the above link.

NEW JERSEY: Jury Hears Openings In "Ex-Gay" Fraud Suit Filed by SPLC

Via the Associated Press:

The four plaintiffs sued Jersey City-based JONAH in 2012, claiming the group violated state consumer fraud laws by characterizing homosexuality as a mental disorder and claiming it could successfully change patients' sexual orientation. The plaintiffs say they underwent treatment that included being told to spend more time naked with their fathers and participating in role-playing in which they were subjected to anti-gay slurs in a locker room setting. "My clients needed help but JONAH lied and JONAH made it worse," plaintiffs' attorney David Diniello told jurors. "All they got was junk science and so-called cures."

Three of the four plaintiffs were young men from Orthodox Jewish families in Brooklyn, Diniello said, who were grappling with their sexuality in a culture in which "there were no gay people" and there was pressure to marry and have children. The fourth, Michael Ferguson, is a Mormon who sought out JONAH. Attorney Charles LiMandri, representing JONAH, said none of the four asked for their money back at the time. "All four of these men left JONAH on good terms, speaking glowingly" of their experience and referring it to friends, he said. It was only after being contacted by activists that they denounced the organization, he said. "The plaintiffs became aggressors after they left JONAH to destroy JONAH," LiMandri said.

One plaintiff reports that the "therapy" included beating a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming about his mother. (You might remember "ex-gay" nutter Richard Cohen demonstrating this on CNN.) In 2012 plaintiff Chaim Levin told Truth Wins Out that his JONAH treatment included "removing my clothing and touching myself in a locked room" while the counselor watched.

Beleaguered Manhattan Hoteliers Hit With Employment Discrimination Lawsuit

The Advocate reports:

Out NYC Hotel owners Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, still doing damage control after their ill-fated dinner with antigay presidential candidate Ted Cruz, recently received more bad news — four former and current employees at the KTCHN restaurant and XL Nightclub, located within the Out NYC, are suing the establishment. The suit, alleging discrimination and withheld pay, is on behalf of specific plaintiffs and “all others similarly-situated.” The allegations by James Stress, Paul Shreve, Donald Shorter, and Jonathan Taylor are twofold. All four employees named in the suit claim KTCHN and XL failed to pay for overime work and withheld part of their tips, resulting in violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as New York City and state law. Shorter and Stress also allege discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity — by establishments that are owned by and cater to LGBT people.

In addition to claims about withheld tips, the complaint states that only male employees were recently told they could not wear makeup or nail polish. Such restrictions may be in violation of NYC's Human Rights Act, which forbids gender-based employment discrimination. Former Out NYC staffers James Stress and Donald Shorter contend that management targeted them specifically because they don't "adhere to masculine stereotypes." Hit the link for much more.

NEW JERSEY: SPLC's Fraud Suit Against "Ex-Gay" Group Begins This Week

Via the SPLC:

Jury selection is underway in the SPLC’s landmark consumer fraud case against a New Jersey provider of conversion therapy, which purports to turn gay people straight. Opening arguments in the Superior Court of New Jersey are expected to begin on either Tuesday, June 2 or Wednesday, June 3. The SPLC filed the suit – Michael Ferguson, et al., v. JONAH – in 2012 against conversion therapy provider JONAH for deceptive practices that lured plaintiffs into the expensive, harmful therapy. The case, brought under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, is the first of its kind nationally. “This case is about exposing the lie that LGBT people are mentally ill and that they need to be cured,” said David Dinielli, SPLC deputy legal director. “Groups like JONAH should not be allowed to use bogus therapy, based on junk science, to scam LGBT people and their families out of thousands of dollars.”

More from Mic.com:

According to the complaint filed at the case's inception, customers of JONAH's services typically paid a minimum of $100 for weekly individual counseling sessions and another $60 for group therapy sessions, with some paying as much as $10,000 a year for the services. The lawsuit describes sessions in which unlicensed therapists ordered them to strip naked and touch their genitals while saying negative things about themselves in front of a mirror, group exercises involving the reenactment of childhood sexual abuse and the use of homophobic slurs while the plaintiffs tried to grab a pair of oranges meant to symbolize testicles.

"Stuck in the past": According to every mainstream mental health authority in the United States, JONAH's practices fall so far outside the mainstream as to be unethical, even dangerous. "It's unethical for counselors to be involved in reparative therapy," David Kaplan, chief professional officer and former president of the American Counseling Association, told Mic. "It's not a mental health intervention — it's a religious practice."

Kaplan is such an outspoken critic of conversion therapy that he dislikes even using the word "therapy" to describe the practice. "A lot of us refer to it as 'sexual orientation change efforts.' 'Therapy' connotes a mental health intervention. This is not a mental health intervention. A mental health intervention relates to the diagnosis and treatment of a mental disorder. Homosexuality is not a mental disorder. There's nothing to fix, there's nothing to repair, there's nothing to convert."

Former NOM chairman Maggie Gallagher heads the legal group defending JONAH. Yesterday Gallagher told CBN that "it will be fun to beat the Southern Poverty Law Center."

Conductor Sues Amtrak Over Philly Crash

Via NBC News:

One of the conductors aboard the Amtrak train that derailed last week in Philadelphia has sued the rail carrier. Emilio Fonseca, of Kearny, New Jersey, filed the lawsuit Monday in Newark. It seeks unspecified damages. The complaint accuses Amtrak of "negligence and carelessness'' in the May 12 derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200. Fonseca's attorney, Bruce Nagel, says he suffered broken bones and head trauma and is still hospitalized in Philadelphia. Four passengers have also sued Amtrak, which has said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

In 1997 Congress passed a law which caps the maximum lawsuit payout over a single rail incident at $200M. It's expected that Philadelphia crash settlements will hit that liability ceiling very quickly.

RELATED: The top Google result for "Amtrak crash."

Subpoena Issued For Martin Ssempa In Civil Lawsuit Against Scott Lively

Last month the Center For Constitutional Rights surprised us with the revelation that Ugandan Pastor Martin "Eat Da Poo Poo" Ssempa is a US citizen and is therefore subject to a subpoena in their civil lawsuit against Scott Lively, who stands accused of crimes against humanity. The Ssempa subpoena has now been issued along with a $1900 check to cover his travel expenses to Massachusetts. Ssempa is very prolific on Twitter and has not yet publicly commented there about this development. (Via Equality Case Files)

OKLAHOMA: Court Awards $300K In Legal Fees To Attorneys In Marriage Case

So far various federal courts around the country have ordered states to pay about $5M in legal fees to the attorneys representing winning same-sex marriage plaintiffs. On Thursday that amount grew in Oklahoma. Via Tulsa World:

Tulsa County will be on the hook for nearly $300,000 in attorney fees that were incurred during its unsuccessful defense of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. U.S. District Judge Terence Kern awarded attorneys for a lesbian couple $298,742.77 in fees and costs related to the county’s appeal of a lower court ruling. Kern found that the attorneys for Mary and Sharon Bishop-Baldwin “expended reasonable hours on the appeal” and “exercised sound billing judgment.” Three attorneys for the couple had requested $368,827 in attorney fees and $1,942 in costs. Attorneys for Tulsa County argued that just over $108,000 was a more appropriate amount for the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Tulsa County was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. Earlier this year the state GOP failed to advance a bill that would require the state government to reimburse any Oklahoma county for legal fees incurred in defense of the state constitution.

Brian Brown says that the losers should not pay: "This is an outrageous ruling. A rush to judgment on a case that could very well be reversed by the US Supreme Court. We encourage the state not to pay anything until we get a ruling on the underlying issue from the US Supreme Court. Even then, it is wrong to reward activists for challenging a validly enacted constitutional amendment."

NEBRASKA: Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against All Homosexuals

Via Omaha.com:

A federal judge will not allow a Nebraska woman to be a legal spokeswoman for God and his son, Jesus Christ. Judge John Gerrard dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday filed against all homosexuals. Sylvia Driskell, 66, of Auburn, Nebraska, had asked the court last week to decide whether homosexuality is a sin. In a strongly worded opinion, the judge said it is not up to the court to decide whether homosexuality is sinful. Gerrard said Driskell lacked subject matter jurisdiction and cannot sue a class of unidentified defendants. Driskell did not set forth a factual or legal basis for a federal claim.

Aw, we were still having fun with this. (Tipped by JMG reader Thom)

UPDATE: JMG reader Mike sends us the ruling.

Driskell V Homosexuals

Sylvia Driskell's lawsuit against all homosexuals has been assigned to former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice John Gerrard, who was nominated to the federal bench by Obama in 2011.

NEW YORK CITY: Pam Geller Wins "Killing Jews" Transit Ads Battle With MTA

Via the New York Times:

A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to display an ad from a pro-Israel group on buses after the agency declined to run it last year. The group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, sued the authority in October, saying it had infringed on the group’s First Amendment rights by rejecting the ad. The authority had argued that the ad could be seen as a call to violence against Jews. The ad shows a man with a scarf across his face next to the words, “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah,” attributed to “Hamas MTV.” Below that, it reads: “That’s his Jihad. What’s yours?” The judge, John G. Koeltl, of United States District Court, ruled that the ad qualified as protected speech and granted a preliminary injunction ordering the transportation authority to run the ad. He said the order would not take effect for 30 days so the agency could consider whether it would appeal the decision.

In 2012 Geller first prevailed over the MTA and was allowed to post subway platform messages that called Muslims "savages." Geller has won similar court cases against transit agencies in San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

CHILE: Opus Dei Sues LGBT Group For Ownership Of "Opus Gay" Web Domain

The secretive Catholic group Opus Dei has filed a lawsuit against a Chilean LGBT group whose name translates as the Movement For Homosexual Integration & Liberation (MOVILH). The suit seeks control of the OpusGay.cl web domain and claims that the words "Opus Gay" create confusion in the public's mind and suggest that MOVILH's mission is supported by the Catholic Church. The domain was registered in 2002 and the URL redirects to the group's digital magazine. The suit further claims that the word "Opus" is "inextricably linked to the prelature." The lawyer for MOVILH notes that other sites begin with the word "Opus" and accuses Opus Dei of "irrational homophobia." At the time of the domain's registration Opus Dei filed an objection against the use of  "Opus Gay" as the title of a Chilean print magazine. That demand was granted in 2007.