A Texas, a grassroots Christian group called Texas Values launched a campaign to overturn a measure passed by the city of San Antonio to ban notoriously homophobic fast-food chain Chick-fil-A from the San Antonio Airport.
The group launched their efforts, declaring April 17 “Save Chick-fil-A Day.” They also declared support for a pair of bills in the Texas legislature that would allow for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly where it pertained to marriage.
“If there’s a couple of things that are certainly clear in Texas, it’s that you don’t mess with Chick-fil-A, and you don’t mess with religious freedom,” said group president Johnathan Saenz in a press conference at the Texas Capitol. Saenz also released a video with Sen. Ted Cruz via the Texas Values website. Predictably, it claimed that LGBTQ equality and protections from discrimination are tantamount to religious persecution.
Related: Pro-LGBTQ protesters hijack Chick-fil-A Zamboni at Cincinnati hockey match
The queer community in Texas would not let the protests over Chick-fil-A or the pending legislative bills go unanswered. “LGBTQ Texas are vital members of every community in Texas, and deserve the same opportunities as everyone else, to live, work, and contribute to this state,” declared Samantha Smoot, Interim Executive Director of Equality Texas. “But these most basic rights are again under attack in the Texas legislature. Under the leadership of Dan Patrick, the Senate has already passed, as of last night now, five anti-LGBT bills.”
Activist Alison Roth Weigel echoed Smoot, albeit in more pointed terms. “One of my fears is that the language that’s being used in a lot of this legislation defines biological sex as binary and immutable, which basically writes me out of existence in the eyes of Texas law,” she said in a video posted to Twitter. “I’m here to just remind people that I exist, and I’m a living, breathing human being staring them here in the face. I will be here each and every time to fight legislation that seeks to erase people like me. We’re not going anywhere.”
Chick-fil-A has encountered similar blowback at other airports and college campuses for its perceived homophobia. After voting to allow a Chick-fil-A to open in the San Jose airport, city officials also mandated the inclusion of Pride Flags to make the location “the gayest in the country.”
We are STILL at the Capitol tonight for a long night of hearings. Some bills define sex as binary and immutable. This worries intersex activist @xoxy_alicia who refuses to be written out of existence. #LGBTQ #intersex #TXlege #wontbeerased pic.twitter.com/NF1HDi3CwH
— Equality Texas (@EqualityTexas) April 18, 2019
Jared MacBride
Just ask any Bible-thumper: Jesus believes exactly what they do. What a versatile guy he is.
Chrisk
They want the freedom to deny people services because that’s religious freedom but when an airport says that we don’t want your business all of a sudden it’s religious persecution.
The christains are so full of bullshit.
DCguy
Save Bigotry Day
GentlemanCaller
Maybe we’ve been wrongheaded all along about LGBTness. We should declare that Yes, bigots, you’re right that it’s a choice. Because it’s our religion. Suddenly we’d be protected by a whole bucketful of federal and state religious freedom laws!
loren_1955
Chuckling. So them thar Texan ‘Christians’ are going to save Chick-fil-a from the evils of the homosexuals, eh? Gees, how about saving the rest of us from Chick-fil-a’s mediocre at best food?
bamboo_child
“Them Texans” are the same ones who banned it from the San Antonio airport! Don’t generalize a state of 30 million people. Ignorant isn’t a cute look on you sweet heart
draven
I’m so sick of this food chain getting so much press. Wasted space and energy. I don’t eat there. I wish this chick would fly the coup. Look at the protesters…..lol You would think they would have something better to do than waste time and energy and gas on protesting a fast fool chicken chain in a airport. Boring duh.
DCguy
Sweetie, if you’re going to try to pretend you aren’t here supporting Chik Fil Et’s bigoty, you may want to avoid 80% of your post attacking the protesters and lamenting that the bigotry of this company is calling attention to itself.
gregj777
Losers and sore losers at that.