Judge rejects conservative Christian group’s request to halt Drag Queen Story Hour

Tatiana reads a book to children during the monthly Drag Queen Story Time at Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library, Saturday, September 29, 2018, in Houston. Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the story hour, which happens on the last Saturday of every month. less Tatiana reads a book to children during the monthly Drag Queen Story Time at Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library, Saturday, September 29, 2018, in Houston. Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the story ... more Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Judge rejects conservative Christian group’s request to halt Drag Queen Story Hour 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

A federal judge in Houston swiftly ended a chapter Wednesday for a group of conservative Christian activists seeking to stop the Drag Queen Story Hour at a local public library.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal put it simply in her four sentence order, issued just days after the lawsuit — blasting gay marriage and transgender public events— was filed against Mayor Sylvester Turner and Rhea Lawson, the head of the city’s library system. The judge explained the four litigants applied for injunction to halt the story hour on the grounds that it violated the freedom or religion clause in the Constitution and said, “There is no basis to support the requested relief. The application is denied.”

Tex Christopher, a 45-year-old Houston businessman who is one of the people who filed the lawsuit, said he is taking the judge’s denial in stride and looking forward to making his arguments in court that drag queens and transgender storytellers indoctrinate children to believe in another religion, which he identifies as Secular Humanism.

“I’m taking a stand for righteousness,” Christopher said. “I’m calling out Mayor Turner.”

'I LOVE IT': Drag Queen story time events draw critics, fans at Houston libraries

He said the group fears the storytellers are grooming children to be transgender.

“Why would they want to do that? Transgender (people) have the highest suicide rate. Why would we want to groom our children to be transgender?” he said.

Mayor Sylvester Turner had a succinct reaction to the news on Wednesday that the group’s request had been denied: “It’s a frivolous lawsuit,” he said, adding that no public money is used to fund the event, which was created by community members at the Freed-Montrose Library.

Turner recently touted Houston as “the most diverse city in America.”

“We acknowledge and celebrate that diversity in all its dimensions,” he said. "As mayor of this city I want us to be diverse and inclusive and I want to live in a city where people can be who they are and we can be tolerant of people ‘s opinions, ideologies, sexual orientation, ethnicities, religion and... cultures.”

The story hour, one of many such events that is held around the country, is meant to inspire children to read and offer diverse role models, according to its organizers.

Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and send her tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com.