Five fans of Chick-fil-A have filed a lawsuit against the city of San Antonio for its decision to ban the chicken-centric chain from opening up shop in the local airport.
On September 5, 2019, plaintiffs Patrick Von Dohlen, Brian Greco, Kevin Jason Khattar, Michael Knuffke and Daniel Petri filed suit against the city under S.B. 1978, otherwise known as the ‘Save Chick-fil-A Bill.
Due to the company’s alleged legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior the city council officials rejected the restaurant’s bid to open a new location in San Antonio International Airport in March.
“With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” Roberto C.
Treviño, San Antonio’s District 1 city councilman, said at the time. “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.”
In a statement, Jonathan Saenz, president of the conservative group Texas Values Action, said: “The continued religious ban on Chick-fil-A by the San Antonio City Council has left citizens with no choice but to take this case to court,”
“Any other vendor that tries to replace Chick-fil-A at the airport will be doing so under a major cloud of long and costly litigation with the city.”
Laura Mayes, chief communications officer for the city of San Antonio, told The Texas Tribune: “Among the many weaknesses in their case, they are trying to rely on a law that did not exist when Council voted on the airport concessions contract,”
“We will seek a quick resolution from the Court.”
In the past year, Chick-fil-A was criticized for anti-gay marriage remarks made by its CEO Daniel 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,'” Cathy said at the time. “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.”
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