Proco “Joe” Moreno, a Chicago Northside Alderman have jumped on the “Chic-fil-A Not In My City “ bandwagon alongside Boston’s Mayor Tom Menino.
And joining him Proco no less is Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.
If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, “I don’t want you in the 1st Ward,” Moreno told the Tribune on Tuesday.
Moreno stated his position in strong terms, referring to Cathy’s “bigoted, homophobic comments” in a proposed opinion page piece that an aide also sent to Tribune reporters. “Because of this man’s ignorance, I will now be denying Chick-fil-A’s permit to open a restaurant in the 1st Ward.” The alderman has the ideological support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” the mayor said in a statement when asked about Moreno’s decision. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.”
Chick-fil-A was in talks to open a restaurant, in the Logan Square neighborhood, or Moreno’s ward until Moreno and Emmanuel told the bigoted company to CLUCK OFF!
BEFORE those of you out there you bleeding heart homo’s out there start with the “Chick-fil-A has a right to open a restaurant anywhere they want despite what they think” spiel
Actually they don’t.
ESPECIALLY in this case since both Boston and Chicago have very strong anti-lgbt discrimination laws and its a proven fact that the company donates heavily with its profits to anti-gay hate groups including Exodus International.
Actually, as much as I wish it were otherwise, you’re wrong. Anti-discrimination laws cover employment practices and business operations, not charitable donations. The company can give money to whoever it wants. What it can’t do is hire, fire, or treat their employees or customers in a discriminatory manner when there’s a law prohibiting it in place in a given jurisdiction.
As an example, New Jersey has one of the strongest LGBT anti-discrimination laws in country, and also several Chick-fil-a’s throughout the state. As long as they don’t violate the law in the operation of their restaurants, they are free to donate to whoever they choose, pro-LGBT or not.
I defer to yuo and your legal knowledge but I think it would make an interesting court case given the proof that Chick-fil donates heavily to anti-gay hate groups that are listed alongside the KKK and Stormfront by the SLPC.
As for New Jersey. has anyone ever tried?
Not as far as I know, but I doubt it would get very even if someone did try. I’m not a lawyer, but I have worked in the retail industry in New Jersey for many years as both a ground-level crew member and a manager, and I’ve been doing so as an out trans woman for the last 15 years. I have to know these laws backwards and forwards, both in terms of doing my job within the bounds of the law and protecting myself. The reality is that many of these laws have religious exemptions that allow an employer with honestly-held (read: provable) religious beliefs to discriminate against certain groups if the business can be shown to be religiously-oriented.
The example of a Christian bookstore is often used by politicians opposed to these laws to justify their opposition (as in the case of ENDA at the federal level) and elevate freedom of religion (read: freedom to discriminate against those a certain religious sect finds objectionable) above the right of all Americans to be able to live and work free of discrimination. No, it’s really isn’t fair, but unfortunately it’s often only by including these kinds of exemptions that such a bill even has a chance of actually becoming law in the first place in most states.
New Jersey’s law has no such exemptions, but the law only covers actual business operations and hiring practices, not charitable donations or other non-business-related efforts.