‘The Constitution’s protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A’s chicken…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The city of San Antonio has spent more than $300,000 to keep Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in its airport, according to KENS-TV.
The city council voted to exclude Chick-fil-A from the airport last March because of the fast food chain’s alleged “legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”
Since then, the city has been hit with two lawsuits and an investigation by the state’s attorney general, and the total cost is now close to $315,000.
San Antonio has been accused of discriminating against the Christian restaurant simply because it adheres to religious principles.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill last year, known as the Save Chick-fil-A Bill, which prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against business or peoples on the basis of their affiliation with religions.
“The continued religious ban on Chick-fil-A by the San Antonio City Council has left citizens with no choice but to take this case to court,” said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action, according to The Texas Tribune.
“Any other vendor that tries to replace Chick-fil-A at the airport will be doing so under a major cloud of long and costly litigation with the city.”
And at least five plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the city last year, too, asking a state court to prevent San Antonio from “taking any adverse action against Chick-fil-A or any other person or entity, which is based wholly or partly on that person or entity’s support for religious organizations that oppose homosexual behavior.”
In response, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he would investigate whether San Antonio had violated religious liberty by excluding the Christian restaurant.
“The Constitution’s protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A’s chicken,” Paxton wrote in a letter to the San Antonio city council last year. “Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport.”
San Antonio has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the plaintiffs and Republican-controlled state legislature of using “the court to advance their political agenda.”