Abbott's water park lie is textbook political theater
A religious group rented a public facility for a private event and requested Muslim-only access for their holiday celebration. That's their 1st Amendment right.
Abbott's spinning this as the park making it "Muslim only" to pass a law banning "no-go zones." It's a cynical reframing designed to look like persecution where there's just a private event.
Using state grant threats to force a city to cancel religious gatherings is the actual constitutional problem here.
A city-owned water park in Grand Prairie openly advertised a "MUSLIMS ONLY" event -- closed to the general public. That's religious discrimination. It's unconstitutional. I signed HB 4211 into law -- banning Muslim only no-go zones in Texas. The City must cancel the event and commit to never allowing something like it again by May 11th, or lose $530,000 in state grants. Let this be a lesson to local officials: Facilities funded by ALL taxpayers are not just for a subset of Texans.
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