A judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Christian activists who claimed Houston Library’s Drag Queen Story Hour violated the First Amendment Establishment Clause.

Drag Queen Story Hour, a non-profit program that started in San Francisco several years ago and has grown to other cities, invites drag queens to visit libraries and bookstores to read to children whose parents bring them there to participate. The group Christ Followers that is opposed to the story hour filed the federal lawsuit last October, alleging that Houston’s hosting of the event promotes an “ideology [that] is immoral, obscene and subversive to human flourishing and that the LGBTQ ideology is inseparably linked to the religion of Secular Humanism.” The group further argued that Drag Queen Story Hour should not be hosted at Houston libraries if Christian events are not allowed to be hosted there.

Recently, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal dismissed the case on the grounds the plaintiffs failed to state a viable claim. In her decision, Rosenthal rejected the idea that secular humanism is a religion and noted that drag queens had not discussed it at any events. Moreover, she said the plaintiffs could not prove they had been in any way damaged by the events because “they purposefully avoided ‘Drag Queen Storytime’ because of its alleged immorality and potential to harm their children. Instead of witnessing the event, the plaintiffs ‘researched [it] online.’”

According to news reports, one of the plaintiffs, Chris Sevier, has filed a lawsuit in Louisiana for the same reason, and previously filed lawsuits in several states trying to marry his laptop, in misguided protest against the legalization of gay marriage. The plaintiffs have indicated they plan to appeal this decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

—Source: pride.com