Those traveling to and from the San Antonio International Airport will not be able to enjoy Chick-Fil-A sandwiches because the city council voted against including the restaurant in the airport’s Terminal A.
In a 6-4 vote, with one abstention, the San Antonio City Council voted March 21 to deny the chicken restaurant a spot in the terminal’s 10,000 square feet of available space, according to a report from Out In SA, the sister publication of the San Antonio Current. The restaurant was one of ten stores that was planned to inhabit the space. Paradies Lagardere, which operates numerous stores in airports and hotels in the U.S. and Canada, is the company behind the renovation of the terminal space, Out In SA reported.
“Besides Chick-Fil-A, Paradies plans to open concessions for The Luxury, Smoke Shack BBQ, Local Coffee, Boss Bagels & Coffee, Spurs, IStore, Sip Brew Bar and Market, and Adina’s Market,” the outlet wrote.
The reason the city council voted against Chick-Fil-A is the same reason leftists continue to attack the restaurant chain — the company’s religious views. Out In SA reporter Sam Sanchez claimed the restaurant “has long had a reputation for being anti-LGBTQ.”
As evidence, Sanchez pointed to Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy’s stance on same-sex marriage. Cathy famously opposed the policy in 2012 based on his religious convictions. Reporters then revealed that the company donated millions to faith-based organizations, which Sanchez described as “hostile to LGBTQ rights.”
In 2017, the leftist organization Think Progress revealed that Chick-Fil-A, through its non-profit foundation, donated $1.8 million to religious organizations even after the company said it would “leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
The city council’s decision appears to have been made based on personal politics without any discussion with the restaurant.
“This is the first we’ve heard of this. It’s disappointing,” Chick-Fil-A told Sanchez 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.”
Roberto C. Trevino, San Antonio’s district 1 city councilman, told Sanchez that he was the one who made the motion to keep Chick-Fil-A from the airport, and that his motion passed after a prolonged discussion.
“With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” Treviño said. “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.”
Trevino added that “everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.” Everyone, except apparently, those with religious convictions.
The Left has been trying to destroy Chick-Fil-A since Cathy came out in opposition of same-sex marriage. An attempted boycott of the organization had the opposite effect, as many more came out to support the restaurant. Since then, the Left continues to claim the restaurant as a whole discriminates against LGBTQ Americans, even though no such discrimination has been reported inside a restaurant.