Why the City of Houston wanted the sermons of five Christian pastors

(The Christian Science Monitor) The City of Houston ignited a First Amendment free-speech debate by issuing subpoenas to evangelical Christian leaders demanding they turn over their sermons—and all other communications—regarding a new city ordinance providing protections to the LGBT community.

But on Wednesday, the Houston Mayor Annise Parker apparently backpedaled. 

"Mayor Parker agrees with those who are concerned about the city legal department’s subpoenas for pastor’s sermons,” according to an e-mail from Janice Evans, chief policy officer for the City of Houston. “The subpoenas were issued by pro bono attorneys helping the city prepare for the trial regarding the petition to repeal the new Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) in January.  Neither the mayor nor City Attorney David Feldman were aware the subpoenas had been issued until yesterday. Both agree the original documents were overly broad. The city will move to narrow the scope during an upcoming court hearing. Feldman says the focus should be only on communications related to the HERO petition process.”