Chick-fil-A’s notoriously anti-LGBTQ reputation is preceding it once again and the restaurant chain has been banned from opening a concession at the San Antonio International Airport in Texas.
Thursday, the San Antonio city council passed a new concessions agreement that excludes Chick-fil-A from opening at the city’s airport after some members voiced concerns about the chain’s history of anti-LGBTQ donations and discrimination, the San Antonio Current reports. The vote was 6-4, with one person abstaining.
“With this decision, the city council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” Councilman Roberto C. Treviño wrote in a statement to the newspaper. “San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we don’t have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”
According to The Advocate, the city council was spurred to act after discovering the chain donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay organizations in 2017.
Treviño told NBC affiliate WOAI the airport is the first place visitors form their impressions city.
“Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport,” he said.
Chick-fil-A officials aren’t happy about the situation.
“This is the first we’ve heard of this. It’s disappointing,” the company said in a statement. “We would have liked to have had a dialogue with the city council before this decision was made. We agree with councilmember Treviño that everyone is and should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A. We plan to reach out to the city council to gain a better understanding of this decision.”
Chick-fil-A Dan T. Cathy is well known for his anti-gay sentiments, saying that the company supports “the biblical definition of the family unit,” The Hill reports. Cathy has also said people who support same-sex marriage “shake their fist at [God].”
But that’s not all. Chick-fil-A rarely takes inclusionary steps for its LGBTQ employees, The Advocate notes. And it regularly donates to anti-LGBTQ causes, including a youth group where “homosexual activity” is banned and has also failed to provide non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ employees.
This video from KSAT 12 provides more information.
Featured image by Elvert Barnes, license SA 2.0 via Flickr
