Kerby Anderson

Here we go again. This time the San Antonio City Council banned Chick-fil-A from serving food at the San Antonio airport. If this sounds familiar, the same thing happened about four years ago at the Denver airport. Taking a stand for traditional marriage can get you banned by progressive council members. That was the issue in Denver. But the ban in San Antonio added another twist. The council members also took issue with the fact that Chick-fil-A gives contributions to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which has a statement of faith based on a biblical perspective about human sexuality. As I explained back in 2015, the Denver city council backed down because Denver attorneys warned that barring a business on the basis of political prejudice would result in a First Amendment lawsuit they would most likely lose. We will have to see what happens in the next few weeks in San Antonio. The ironies here are significant. One councilman said, “Everyone has a place here, and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.” But it doesn’t seem like Chick-fil-A or other similar businesses are welcome. A representative of the company said the first they heard about this was from the press release from the councilman. The representative reminded him and anyone else that “everyone is and should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A. We have a fundamental code of conduct at Chick-fil-A: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” They serve more than 140,000 people on a daily basis without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. A bill in the Texas legislature (The Free to Believe Act) is being debated that would ensure that the government cannot punish religious groups, businesses, counselors, wedding vendors, and others for their sincerely held religious beliefs. That is one remedy to blatant viewpoint discrimination.