Chick-fil-A, that glorious fast-food fried-chicken joint founded by a Christian, cannot operate its franchise in two airport locations, in New York and Texas. Local politicians say they made the decision to either disinvite or exclude Chick-fil-A from coveted airport spaces due to the company’s anti-LGBTQ positions.
Chick-fil-A was disinvited from opening a location in the Buffalo, N.Y., airport. Assemblyman Sean Ryan, a Democrat, fought to ban the fast food joint because of its so-called “long history of supporting and funding anti-LGBTQ organizations.”
Nearly the same thing happened in Texas at the end of March. On March 21, the City Council of San Antonio voted to approve a contract with Paradies Lagadère to operate concessions in the San Antonio International Airport. San Antonio Express-News reports Councilman Roberto Treviño “said he couldn’t support Chick-fil-A’s inclusion because of its anti-LGBT reputation, a concern echoed by Councilman Manny Peláez. Treviño suggested the council approve the deal while directing city staff and its new vendor, Paradies Lagardère, to find a replacement for Chick-fil-A.” The council then agreed to Treviño’s motion to approve the contract, but only if Chick-fil-A was excluded.
In response, First Liberty Institute, a law firm that handles First Amendment issues, sent a letter to United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao asking her to investigate the City Council of San Antonio for religious discrimination after it excluded Chick-fil-A from participating in a contract. The letter asks whether city officials failed to comply with the assurances of nondiscrimination required as a federal grant recipient.
[Read more: Texas AG will investigate council’s decision to block Chick-fil-A from San Antonio airport]
“Federal taxpayers should not be required to subsidize religious bigotry,” said Hiram Sasser, general counsel to First Liberty Institute. “The city council cannot operate in a way that brazenly violates the Constitution and federal law, but if it chooses to, then the federal government should pull its grant.”
Chick-fil-A has long been attacked for its Christian origins, which influence how the company operates. Their restaurants are notoriously closed on Sundays (the only day I really crave a fried chicken sandwich) to let its employees worship and spend time with family. In April 2018, the New Yorker published a scathing hit piece about the company’s Christian ethos, bashing everything from their cow slogans to their “creepy infiltration of New York City.”
The company might dictate that their employees remain the most polite servers ever, and they certainly might support nonprofit organizations with a Judeo-Christian foundation, but that also hasn’t stopped them from delivering a top-notch product, particularly to others in need. After the awful shooting at Pulse, the gay nightclub in Florida, folks gathered to donate blood. Chick-fil-A employees, for once, opened their restaurant on a Sunday and fed everybody while they waited.
It’s not only bigoted to ban a Chick-fil-A from an airport ,claiming the organization is anti-LGBTQ when it’s simply adhering to Judeo-Christian values, but it’s a stupid business move: Chick-fil-A is one of the top ten grossing fast-food franchises in the country. For every one person who may refuse to eat at the establishment because of its Christian values, there are hundreds more who will happily eat a fried chicken sandwich with honey mustard sauce.
[Related: Pete Buttigieg, a fan of Chick-Fil-A chicken]
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
