Yesterday, the Texas House passed HB 3172, a bill known as the so-called “Save Chick-fil-A” bill. It forbids any level of government from taking actions against any group based on their religious or political beliefs. Because the bill already passed the Senate, it’s now headed to the desk of Republican state Governor Greg Abbott where he’ll almost certainly sign it into law.
And it’ll also most certainly blow up in Republicans’ faces too.
Basically, the bill is sort of a back-door “religious freedom rights amendment” bill that assures people and businesses that they won’t be penalized for being anti-LGBTQ.
And guess who warned the state not to pass such a bill? The business community.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
In March 2019, 1,400 organizations with the pro-LGBTQ business coalition Texas Competes — including dozens of Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook — warned the Texas legislature not to pass discriminatory state laws. They cited North Carolina’s transphobic 2017 bathroom bill as a warning — North Carolina lost more than $3.76 billion in revenue from companies boycotting the state after passing the law.
Thus far, Texas Competes hasn’t said anything about the Save Chick-fil-A bill, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t noticed.
Related: Pro-LGBTQ protesters hijack Chick-fil-A Zamboni at Cincinnati hockey match
The Save Chick-fil-A bill came to life after the San Antonio city council voted against allowing Chick-fil-A to open a franchise in the local airport. Texas’ notoriously queerphobic Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he’d open an investigation into “religious discrimination” against the fast food chain, and legislators took action to stop San Antonio and other municipalities from putting roadblocks up for other anti-gay businesses in the future.
Calling the bill the Save Chick-fil-A bill is preposterous though seeing as it’s the #3 fast-food chain in America. (It hardly needs “saving.”) LGBTQ activists and conservative Christians both see the bill as giving businesses a license to discriminate under the guise of “religious freedom.”
Chick fil-A has a nearly decade long history of giving to anti-LGBTQ religious organizations, including ones opposed to homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Last year, the company donated over $1.8 million to such organizations. When asked about the donations, the company said it gave to these groups as part of “a higher calling.”
Cam
My religion is that anybody spending money at Chik Fil Et must give me a dollar every time they go there.
If they don’t do what I say they are oppressing my religion!!!!!!
Chrisk
OMG and it’s coming from Texas rethugs. Shocking. Lol
Kangol2
Nope, we lived through this for over a century under a system called Jim Crow, and it’s not OK. Refusing business to people based on their intrinsic human characteristics is illegal, and should be outlawed. You can defend segregation all you want, but majority of us are NOT going backwards, not now, not ever.
Vince
How about the council or Airport being free to choose who they do business with or is that just one way street? It’s not about them denying anyone service but who they support. Stop with the red herring crap.
KerryB
Religious freedom = they are free to discriminate against anyone they chose, but we are not free to discriminate against them.
SnakeyJ
Yes you can discriminate against them. If a straight couple comes into your shop to buy a wedding cake you can refuse them for political reasons. The bill really focuses on punishing a business if the government, or any governing bodies, don’t like the affiliations of the business. Chick-Fil-A was denied a spot in the San Antonio airport because they donated to Christian causes. But of course this bill, if passed into law, will also make it illegal for a community to stop a gay bookshop from opening in their neighborhood.
Brian
It’s 2019, who is opening bookshops anymore?
Aires the Ram
A few points:
1. I’ve never gone into a restaurant or shop of any kind, and been asked if I was homosexual or heterosexual.
2. If I walked into any restaurant or shop to do business with them, and they treated me badly in ANY way, I’d turn around and walk out and never go back. I call that “voting with my feet.” I have a few places like that on my sh*t list.
3. Lots of businesses give $$ to Christian based organizations. More than most will ever know, and we ALL frequent them at some point.
4. If I go into any business to buy something I want, and they’re selling it, and I agree with the price, and they treat me nicely and with respect, I don’t give a tinkers damn what they do with their own personal money. It’s NONE OF MY BUSINESS.
5. The more we swallow, hook, line & sinker, that we’re poor little hapless “victims”, the more places we’ll shut ourselves out of. I have always approached life standing up straight with my balls out in front of me, and have gone anywhere I have chosen to go, and with only a few exceptions (as I mentioned above), have I ever been treated badly. If you live your life like a winner, people will treat you like one. If you live your life like a loser & a “victim”, you’ll get treated accordingly. It’s one of those ‘life lessons.’
RoughRugger
Um…Snakey? Refusing to allow CFA to be discriminatory if they want to do business with a taxpayer-funded entity is NOT discriminating against them. Nobody is saying CFA can’t do business as they see fit; San Antonio (and other jurisdictions) are simply saying that if they continue to fund patently anti-LGBTQ orgs, they will not be receiving the benefit of taxpayer dollars or be allowed to open stores in publicly-owned spaces.
Oh, and gay businesses can already refuse service to Republicans if they see fit…bigotry is not a protected class in any jurisdiction.