(Reuters)
The San Antonio City Council recently approved an amendment to a seven-year agreement that includes removing Chick-fil-A from any concessions in the local airport
Councilman Robert Trevino said, “San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior. Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.”
Trevino’s statement is as true as it is completely irrelevant to the matter at hand. Despite the false implication, Chick-fil-A has no “legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”
OP-ED: BANNING CHICK-FIL-A IS NOT ONLY BIGOTED -- IT'S ILLEGAL
Last week, Buffalo Niagara International Airport announced it was nixing plans to open a Chick-fil-A at one of its terminals after a lawmaker accused it of discrimination.
According to Chick-fil-A, their company’s “restaurants and licensed locations on college campuses welcome everyone. “Our corporate office and our more than 2,300 restaurants nationwide are equal opportunity employers and we have no policy of discrimination against any group. We do not have a political or social agenda and more than 120,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand.”
Trevino and his allies appear to lack the courage to honestly articulate the motivations for their decision. The City Council’s amendment came just one day after the far-left provocateurs at ThinkProgress reported that, in 2017, Chick-fil-A donated $1.65 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as other smaller donations to the Salvation Army and Paul Anderson Youth Home. These facts in the ThinkProgress report appear true, as Chick-fil-A proudly acknowledged, “Since the Chick-fil-A Foundation was created in 2012, our giving has always focused on youth and education.”
Make no mistake, the City Council is not protecting the LGBTQ community against persecution; rather they are persecuting Chick-fil-A for backing Christian-oriented youth and education causes.
CHICK-FIL-A'S BANISHMENT FROM SAN ANTONIO AIRPORT PROMPTS INVESTIGATION BY TEXAS AG
No one has ever been denied service at Chick-fil-A because of their sexual orientation or any other characteristic that defines them. But Chick-fil-A is being kicked out of the San Antonio airport because of the company’s support for Christian kids.
This may seem like a local problem, but it isn’t and it won’t stay that way. Other, equal parts ambitious and dishonest, politicians will take note, and, in an effort to cater to the fringe, anti-Christian crowd, will try to follow San Antonio’s shameful lead.
Whether you’re a church-going Christian, an LGBTQ activist or both, what San Antonio’s City Council has done should disgust you. If people of conscience will raise their voices and callout elected leaders who pander and feign outrage in order to appeal to those who just don’t like Christians, we might be able to shame those who see division as their path to increased power.
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No company should be denied an opportunity to serve their customers because its foundation supports a particular faith group. There are real disagreements in this country that are worth debating, discussing, and – God willing – resolving. America doesn’t need politicians manufacturing outrage to appeal to those who hate Christians or any other group. So when this issue comes to a city council near you, join hands and speak up. Because we’re all God’s children, we’re all Americans, and we all deserve the chance to buy a really good chicken sandwich.
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