The leftist blackballing of Chick-fil-A never ends, no matter how popular and successful the fast-food chain becomes. Now, the city of Pittsburgh wants to ban the chicken sandwich empire from sponsoring a children’s event because the company leadership believes in Christian values.
The Pittsburgh City Council has signed a letter asking Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon to drop as part of their event the Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Kids Marathon one-mile run for children and their families, LifeSiteNews reports. All nine of the council members have called for the fast-food chain’s removal.
“The leadership of Chick-Fil-A has openly and passionately promulgated hateful beliefs against the LGBTQIA+ community,” the letter reads. “Additionally, the company has financed organizations staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage and non-discrimination laws and other groups that equate ‘homosexual behavior and lifestyle’ with lawlessness and in opposition to the ‘the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society.'”
The letter goes on to warn that Chick-fil-A’s “sponsorship of an event designed to encourage healthy living represents a significant setback” for the city’s desire to be a “more progressive and welcoming city,” asserting that the company’s inclusion will send a “wrong message” to LGBT children
Furthermore, Pittsburgh’s school board will vote on a resolution that would “forbid formal district participation in the race if Chick-fil-A remains affiliated with it,” reports LifeSiteNews. This move aligns with the school board previously approving a “Transgender and Gender Expansive Students” policy allowing children to use whatever pronouns they wish.
School solicitor Ira Weiss claims that Chick-fil-A has “several beliefs […] that are quite discriminatory and are quite inconsistent with the district’s policies regarding discrimination on the basis of gender, race, etc..”
Simultaneously, a petition posted at Action Network calls on the Pittsburgh Marathon CEO Patrice Matamoros to ban Chick-fil-A because the fast-food chain is “an openly homophobic and transphobic business.” The petition asserts that the restaurant’s sponsorship is an attempt “to normalize homophobia and transphobia for our children” while characterizing their partnership as “unacceptable, damaging, and offensive.”
Over 1,200 people have signed the petition.
Fortunately, Pittsburgh Marathon has no intention of caving to the angry mob.
“We have and will continue to be accepting of any individual or family who wants to participate in our events,” the organizers said in a statement. “This partnership with Chick-fil-A will help us ensure even more children in southwestern Pennsylvania can learn and share in our love of running.”
The move to ban Chick-fil-A could not have come at a more inopportune time. A recent survey found that Chick-fil-A is killing the competition and is beating out the more progressive Starbucks among teenagers. Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A was crowned America’s number one fast-food chain for the third year in a row in the 2018 American Customer Satisfaction Index’s Restaurant Report, beating out notable names such as Pizza Hut, Arby’s, Taco Bell, and Subway.
Just this year, two major publications wrote scathing articles begging people to boycott the business: The New Yorker and Huffington Post. “If You Really Love LGBTQ People, You Just Can’t Keep Eating Chick-fil-A,” wrote Noah Michelson of HuffPo. When Chick-fil-A wanted to set up shop in New York City, Dan Piepenring of The New Yorker called it a “creepy infiltration” of the city.