Austin fire chaplain ousted over blog post about women's sports asks court to protect his speech

WHO: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys

WHAT: Available for media interviews following oral arguments in Fox v. City of Austin

WHEN: Immediately following hearing, which begins at 1:30 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, Aug. 14

WHERE: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, Austin Courtroom 2, 501 W. 5th St. Suite 1100, Austin. To schedule an interview, contact ADF Media Relations Specialist Hattie Troutman at (771) 200-7630.

AUSTIN, Texas – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a former volunteer chaplain of the Austin Fire Department will be available for media interviews following oral arguments Wednesday at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, in Fox v. City of Austin. Dr. Andrew Fox is asking the court to protect his free speech and religious freedom after city officials fired him after he shared his religious views on his personal blog.

Fox is an ordained minister who helped start Austin’s fire chaplaincy program and served as the city’s lead chaplain—a volunteer position—for eight years. After sharing on his personal blog the fact that men and women are biologically different and his view that men should not compete on women’s sports teams, city officials demanded that Fox apologize and then fired him. ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit in 2022 asking the court to uphold Fox’s First Amendment rights.

“Everyone should be able to speak freely without fear of punishment just for expressing a view the government disagrees with,” said ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau. “Dr. Fox served Austin’s fire department—without pay—for eight years with excellence and integrity, serving everyone, including those in the LGBT community. No matter your personal view on whether men should be allowed to compete on women’s sports teams, it should deeply concern every American that the government can fire someone who expresses that widely held view. We are urging the court to hold Austin officials responsible for this undue violation of his constitutional right to free speech.”

ADF attorneys filed a brief in the case explaining that fire department officials highly respected Fox for walking side by side with first responders and their families and for providing a listening ear and source of prayer as they encountered deaths, suicides, and other tragedies. Most fire department employees were unaware of Fox’s personal blog, but after one employee contacted the fire department’s LGBT liaison about Fox’s blog post about men competing in women’s sports, Fox was eventually fired in violation of his First Amendment rights.

Fox served in a voluntary capacity as lead chaplain of the Austin Fire Department for eight years until his dismissal in December 2021.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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