The San Antonio city council voted 6-4 Thursday to exclude restaurant chain Chick-fil-A from the city’s airport because the company, in keeping with its founder’s and current CEO’s faith, has had the audacity to donate to Christian organizations.
The council was debating a seven-year contract for concessions at San Antonio International Airport. Chick-fil-A had initially been included in the agreement, but Councilman Roberto Treviño moved that the restaurant be removed from the contract. Five other councilmen concurred, and Treviño’s amendment passed. Chick-fil-A is banned from the airport for the foreseeable future.
“With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” Treviño said in a statement, apparently oblivious to the irony of excluding Chick-fil-A to demonstrate his commitment to “inclusion.”
“San Antonio is a city full of compassion,” he added, “and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”
Treviño was likely referring to a report issued the previous day by the left-wing website ThinkProgress. In its report, ThinkProgress alleged that Chick-fil-A “gave more than $1.8 million to a trio of groups with a record of anti-LGBTQ discrimination” in 2017.
Of course, what Chick-fil-A, which was founded and is still run by Southern Baptists, actually did was donate to Christian organizations: the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and the Salvation Army. These groups, taking the Bible seriously, naturally oppose homosexual behavior, same-sex “marriage,” and special legal privileges for LGBTQ persons.
That is why the supposedly tolerant and inclusive Left cannot abide them and seeks to destroy anyone who supports them. In their minds, no matter how many corporations give to pro-LGBTQ causes, if even one fails to bend the knee, it must be hounded out of existence. Chick-fil-A knows this all too well, having been targeted by, among others, the Pittsburgh city council, various universities including New Jersey’s Rider University, and New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio. Thus far, the company has thrived despite these efforts; in fact, New York City is now home to the world’s largest Chick-fil-A.
Chick-fil-A said it was blindsided by the San Antonio decision. The company told USA Today it first learned of the amendment and subsequent vote from Treviño’s press release.
“We wish we had the opportunity to clarify misperceptions about our company prior to the vote. We agree with the council member that everyone should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A,” the company said. “In fact, we have welcomed everyone in San Antonio into our 32 local stores for more than 40 years.”
Chick-fil-A added that it “would welcome the opportunity to have a thoughtful dialogue with the city council and we invite all of them into our local stores to interact with the more than 2,000 team members who are serving the people of San Antonio.”
When news of Treviño’s amendment was first reported, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called the amendment “ridiculous.” Once it had passed and Chick-fil-A was officially banned from the airport, Cruz followed up with this tweet: “The details of this story are even worse. San Antonio City Council voted to ban @ChickfilA from the airport bc the company gave to … the Fellowship of Christian Athletes & the Salvation Army?!? That’s ridiculous. And not Texas. #LeftistIntolerance”
Cruz is correct about the intolerance of the Left, which seeks to silence anyone that dissents from the progressive agenda du jour. Leftists are, it seems, also incapable of recognizing this fact.
“Everyone has a place here,” Treviño said in his press release, “and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.” Everyone, that is, except Chick-fil-A.
Image: flickr
