San Diego Mayor Targets Pastor for Religious Beliefs

Advocates for Faith & Freedom asks the nation’s highest court to protect religious expression and prevent government officials from imposing ideological tests on public service.

ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2026
CONTACT: NICOLE VELASCO AT
MEDIA@FAITH-FREEDOM.COM

Washington, D.C. — Advocates for Faith & Freedom has filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Pastor Dennis Hodges, a longtime public servant who was denied reappointment to a San Diego advisory board because of his Christian beliefs about human sexuality.

The case raises a fundamental constitutional question: Can government officials exclude Americans from public service simply because they disagree with their religious convictions?

Hodges dedicated decades to public service as a California Department of Corrections captain and special agent, San Diego Police Department chaplain, and volunteer member of the City’s Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations.

In 2021, while serving on the separate San Diego County Human Relations Commission, Hodges abstained from voting on an initiative to amplify transgender voices, citing his belief that God created human beings male and female. He also affirmed that all people deserve love and respect.

Nearly two years later, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria vetoed Hodges’s reappointment to the City’s police advisory board because of his sincerely held Christian beliefs. Hodges had not voted against the initiative. Rather, he chose to abstain out of respect for his religious convictions while remaining fair and impartial. Despite his measured approach, the Mayor used his expression of faith as grounds to deny him continued public service.

Advocates challenged the Mayor’s actions as violations of Hodges’s First Amendment rights. However, the district court dismissed the case, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision in February 2026.

Now, Advocates is asking the Supreme Court to intervene, warning that the ruling opens the door for government officials to impose religious and ideological tests on Americans seeking to serve their communities.

Significantly, Judge J. Campbell Barker, concurring in the Ninth Circuit’s decision, questioned whether the court’s approach was consistent with Supreme Court precedent and identified a conflict among federal appellate courts.

“Pastor Hodges was punished for expressing Christian beliefs that had nothing to do with his ability to serve,” said Joel Oster, Vice President and Chief of Trial Litigation for Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “If this ruling stands, government officials could effectively silence religious viewpoints by declaring them politically unacceptable. The First Amendment does not exist only for those whose beliefs align with the government.”

“This case is about far more than one pastor or one city,” said Robert Tyler, President and Chief Counsel of Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “It is about whether the government can demand ideological conformity as the price of public service.” The petition asks the Supreme Court to reaffirm that public service cannot come at the expense of religious freedom and free speech.

ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, November 8, 2023

CONTACT: nicole velasco @
media@faith-freedom.COM

Murrieta, CA – Today, a lawsuit was filed by Advocates for Faith and Freedom on behalf of Pastor Dennis Hodges, who was removed from an advisory board on police and community relations in San Diego County because of his deeply held religious convictions. This lawsuit alleges the Mayor violated Pasto-r Hodges’s First Amendment Rights by removing him from the commission because of his religious beliefs.

Mr. Hodges was appointed to the advisory board because of his law enforcement experience and African-American heritage. Mr. Hodges has dedicated his life to public service and served as a bridge between law enforcement and the community. The Mayor’s removal of Mr. Hodges was not based on his credentials but on his beliefs on human creation and transgenderism – issues that are unrelated to his role on the advisory board.

“People of faith should never be discriminated against because of their convictions,” said Mariah Gondeiro, Vice President and legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “Pastor Hodges’s removal from this Commission sets a dangerous precedent for the prejudicial hiring and firing practices of government boards. It is unacceptable that individuals of faith are being explicitly forbidden from serving in government simply because of their faith. The Mayor of San Diego must be held accountable for his unconstitutional actions.”

“I have dedicated my life to service,” said Pastor Dennis Hodges. “I am standing up for religious people nationwide who have been discriminated against solely because of their faith. What happened to me at the hands of our government should never happen to anyone else.”

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ADVOCATES FOR FAITH & FREEDOM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 10, 2022

CONTACT: nicole velasco @
media@faith-freedom.COM

For Immediate Release 06/10/2022, Murrieta, California – Yesterday, the San Diego Human Relations Commission held a special meeting to remove Dennis Hodges for saying “discriminatory” and “hateful” comments towards the transgender community. Thirteen brave Commissioners refused to remove him, but the threat of removal still exists so long as the Commission can rely on a vague and overbroad Code of Conduct to silence dissenting beliefs.

Mr. Hodges has dedicated his life to public service and ministry. He believes all creation is made in the image of God, and that we are to love all individuals, regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Mr. Hodges is unabashed about his Christian beliefs, though, and has expressed that humans are to express their biological and creational differences as men and women.

The event that precipitated the removal of Mr. Hodges was on November 9, 2021, when the Commission discussed an agenda item regarding amplifying the voices of the San Diego transgender community. Mr. Hodges abstained from voting because of his sincerely held religious beliefs.

“The Commission’s effort to remove Mr. Hodges sets a dangerous precedent that one can be removed from their position for holding traditional, religious beliefs,” says Nate Kellum, Chief Litigation Counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “Mr. Hodges never discriminated against the transgender community. He simply refused to endorse an agenda that is antithetical to his Christian beliefs.”  

Pastor Hodges has retained Advocates for Faith and Freedom. Advocates is exploring all legal options available to Mr. Hodges.

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