A gay Texas school administrator has been confirmed as superintendent of a Houston area school district, despite a weeks-long smear campaign led by a local conservative pastor.

Tiffany Regan, 52, was offered the post overseeing 1,865 teachers and staff and 12,800 students by the Deer Park Independent School District board of trustees at a meeting Monday night. The appointment was applauded by supporters and trustees.

“There’s nobody as passionate as she is about helping the kids be successful, and she’s proved to herself time after time they don’t have anything to worry about. This district is going to be in great shape for the future,” outgoing Superintendent Stephen Harrell told the Houston Chronicle.

Regan, a Deer Park ISD native, comes to the job after serving as former assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in the district. After graduating high school, she returned as a college student teaching assistant. Her son graduated from the district and her daughter attends middle school there. 

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The board announced Regan was their choice for the job in March and invited public comment before offering her the post.

The next day, local Pastor Douglas Harris began a smear campaign directed at Regan’s sexuality, vowing to be the “tip of the spear” resisting her appointment. 

“When you live a lifestyle of sexual immorality and that is your corrupted worldview, everything that you do stems out of the worldview of which you have,” Harris said in a Sunday sermon at Central Baptist Church in Deer Park. “Which means it will only be a matter of time before the wokeism and the (liberalism) and the sexual immorality begins to be pushed at a fast pace in our district.”

The sermon brought a smattering of applause from congregants and an outpouring of support for Regan in Deer Park.

A petition launched by supporters demanded a public apology from the pastor and a statement from the church disavowing hate speech. It has earned nearly 2,400 signatures.

“This is not about policy. This is not about performance,” the petition states. “This is targeted, identity-based discrimination against a public servant.”

District officials said they wouldn’t be distracted by arguments unrelated to Regan’s qualifications.

“I recognize that there are differing perspectives within our community, and the engagement and passion of those invested in our schools is appreciated,” Deer Park ISD school board president Jason Cable said. “However, the board will remain steadfast in our commitment to making decisions rooted in qualifications, integrity, and what is best for our students and district.”

Harris doubled down on his efforts to deny Regan the job behind the scenes in emails and texts to trustees. He also enlisted other far-right pastors to write a letter backing up his homophobic opposition to Regan.

“Pastor Harris is standing solidly on thousands of years of Judeo-Christian doctrine as well as the biblical and historic role that the pulpits have served in being a moral anchor to communities,” the pastors wrote. “The fact is that Ms. Regan cannot separate her worldview and deeply embedded sexual identity from her actions. Our concern is that the profoundly distrurbing [sic] pattern of the LGBTQ+ to push that agenda on our children is simply irrefutable.”

At Monday’s meeting, another area pastor begged to differ.

Deer Park United Methodist Church Pastor John Black said Jesus did not care one way or another about sexuality in general, and Regan’s in particular.

“I’m aware that some folks in our community have raised issues because of her sexual orientation, and worse than that, they have tried to cloak their objections by saying this is something that Jesus is in favor of. Well, I’m going to tell you something. As a Christian pastor, I want to be very clear that is not the voice of the gospel. That is not what the God I believe in, the God most people believe in, thinks about what Jesus talked about,” Black said.

To the board, Black added: “I applaud you for your dedication, for checking on credentials and making sure that the most important thing around this area is not who somebody loves or what other people think, but about what’s best for our kids … Thank you for not letting fear run the day.”

Minutes later, Regan was offered the job.

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