After Chick-fil-A’s arrival to a New York airport was scrapped over a top executive at the company’s conservative political beliefs, a surprising and powerful advocate has come to the company’s defense.
The New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has sided with Chick-fil-A after the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority decided the fast-food chain could not open a store at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in the fall.
New York Civil Liberties Union Assistant Director for Legislative Affairs Erika Lorshbough told The Hill on Wednesday that the First Amendment does not allow the authority to take action against the restaurant chain for its political beliefs.
“Government actors cannot officially silence speech or take punitive actions based on a person’s or private entity’s political viewpoints,” Lorshbough said in a statement.
“The First Amendment does not permit the NFTA to base its contracting decisions on the political views of a vendor,” she added.
Plans to scrap the Chick-fil-A branch came after New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan, a Democrat, pressured the authority. Ryan wrote in a Facebook post, “We can’t allow companies who support anti-LGBTQ groups to do business at state owned facilities.”
Chick-fil-A’s CEO, Dan T. Cathy, has been quoted as opposing same-sex marriage.
The controversy at the New York airport comes as the company also faces a challenge in Texas. The San Antonio City Council voted 6-4 last month to block the fast-food chain from coming to that city’s airport, citing the company’s “legacy of anti-LGBT behavior.”
Since then, the Texas attorney general has launched an investigation into the San Antonio City Council’s decision. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has also expressed his disagreement over the decision. In a statement, Chick-fil-A said it was disappointed by the decision and “would have liked to have had a dialogue with the city council before this decision was made.”
