From Newsmax: Chicago and Boston might want to keep Chick-fil-A out of their cities
but that doesn’t mean they have the right to do so, according to the
ACLU.
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s recent comments supporting the
“biblical definition” of marriage as between a man and a woman has led
to calls by gay rights advocates to boycott the chain. The mayors of
Boston and Chicago have recently promised to stop further expansion of
the restaurants in their cities. Emanuel weighed in after Chicago
Alderman Proco Joe Moreno said he intends to block the chain from
opening its second Chicago location because of Cathy’s remarks.
Legal experts said the cities’ push to stop Chick-fil-A doesn’t stand a
chance because barring Chick-fil-A over the personal views of its owner
is an “open and shut” discrimination case,
Fox News reported.
“The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against
customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for
their words,” Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil
Liberties Union of Illinois, told Fox News. “When an alderman refuses to
allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint
the government disagrees with, the government is practicing viewpoint
discrimination.”
The ACLU “strongly supports” same-sex marriage, Schwartz told Fox, but
said that if a government can exclude a business for being against
same-sex marriage, it can also exclude a business for being in support
of same-sex marriage.
“But we also support the First Amendment,” he said. “We don’ think the
government should exclude Chick-fil-A because of the anti-LGBT message.
We believe this is clear cut.”
Patel, the Wishful Thinker/Dreamer
1 minute ago
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