Texas Governor Greg Abbott (shown) has virtually guaranteed that he will sign into law a bill passed last week by the state’s legislature, probably later on this week. Called the “Save Chick-fil-A” bill, it is designed to protect individuals and companies exercising their First Amendment rights from being discriminated against by LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer) groups.
The language — which prevents government entities from taking “adverse action” against those individuals or companies — is general in nature but is pointed specifically at the San Antonio city council. In March, in a remarkable display of hypocrisy, that council blocked the city from inking a contract with Chick-fil-A to serve airport visitors because of Chick-fil-A’s alleged past history of discrimination against the LGBTQ community. At the time, San Antonio City Councilman Robert Trevino said, “With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion. 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.”
In other words, San Antonio has room for everyone except anyone who disagrees with the LBGTQ agenda. Everyone has a place except Chick-fil-A, which has for years been exercising its First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion but is now — and has been for years — in the cross-hairs of those working to erase the last vestiges of Biblical Christianity from the culture.
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The company became a target back in June 2012 when the president of the company, Dan Cathy, had the temerity to express his views regarding same-sex marriage on The Ken Coleman Show. Said Cathy (son of the company’s founder Truett Cathy): “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, “We know better than You as to what constitutes a marriage.” I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
Cathy doubled down a month later during an interview with Biblical Recorder, during which he expanded on his beliefs:
We are very much supportive of the family — the Biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that….
We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that. We intend to stay the course. We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on Biblical principles.
Little did he know that a vicious tiny minority would make life difficult for him and his company. The faux outrage resulted in boycotts of franchisees’ stores around the country and in the process tainted the company with the odor of discrimination.
The charge was ludicrous, and in earlier times would have been laughable. Cathy’s family foundations made grants to various organizations — Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army, to name just two — which, according to the LGBTQ agenda, didn’t support “gay” marriage and therefore needed to be attacked and smeared.
Even after Chick-fil-A adjusted its giving, the taint remains. ThinkProgress uncovered the fact that the Chick-fil-A Foundation and its sister foundation, the Winshape Foundation, were still giving some modest sums to those organizations, fully exercising their right to do so, and therefore needed to be reined in, chastised, and punished. Movements in Denver, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco attacked franchisees there, along with radicalized students on college campuses including New York University, Northeastern University, and Rider College.
The backlash against San Antonio’s hypocritical caving to the radicals was almost immediate. The day after the ruling, David French, a senior writer for National Review, called the decision and Councilman Trevino’s remarks “Orwellian”: “This is Orwellian nonsense. This action isn’t based on any alleged mistreatment of gay customers. Instead it’s based on the notion that a person won’t feel “welcome” in an airport because they disagree with the charitable donations of a foundation connected to one of the airport’s vendors. That’s absurd.”
It’s also unconstitutional. Wrote French: “The government [of San Antonio] may not condition the ability to operate a business on the government’s distaste for the religious or political donations of its owners. That’s pure viewpoint discrimination, and if Chick-fil-A chooses to sue, it will not only win, but the city council’s intolerance will likely cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars.”
Six days after the council booted Chick-fil-A from the airport, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he would be investigating its decision and tweeting that he thought the move was “discriminatory.”
Once the bill is signed into law, vicious anti-Christian, anti-culture LGBTQ groups will no longer be able to intimidate city councils or companies such as Chick-fil-A into kowtowing to their radical destructive agendas, at least in Texas. It’s sad that such protections are needed against such vile and amoral groups using charges of “discrimination” to hide their real agenda, which is to remove all remaining vestiges of Biblical Christianity from the culture.
Photo: AP Images
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American, writing primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
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