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NYU Students Voted To Keep Homophobic Chick-Fil-A On Free Speech Grounds
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 5, 2012
Modified Mar 5, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 5, 2012
Modified Mar 5, 2012
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Last week, as NYU students protested against the only Chick-fil-A in New York State, the NYU Student Senators Council released a statement announcing that the controversial yet popular chain would not be asked to leave the university's campus. The SSC explained, "There is a fundamental difference between personal boycott and institutional prohibition. To ban any entity from campus for ideological reasons is, in most every case, to limit freedom of expression." But the Council's decision was not unanimous, and today NYU Local reports there will be another demonstration this week to increase pressure on the Council.
One of the dissenting students, Whitney Coulson, tells NYU Local she voted for a Chick-fil-A ban because it's a "civil right" issue, and not a matter of "freedom of expression." "By allowing the continued existence of this franchise on campus, New York University is participating in heterosexist business practices," Coulson explains. A petition calling for Chick-fil-A's ouster has gained 11,000 signatures since it launched in January, and similar protests at Northeastern University in Boston were successful in keeping Chick-fil-A off campus.
The chain gives millions of dollars to anti-LGBT groups, and owner S. Truett Cathy once told Forbes his company regularly investigates employees’ personal lives, and if he found out anyone was engaging in “sinful” behavior, he'd fire the transgressor. The next anti-Chick-fil-A protest is planned for Thursday at 3:30, during the Student Senators Council meeting, which NYU President John Sexton will attend. At last week's demonstration a handful of counter-protesters purchased sandwiches from the polarizing poultry purveyor and set up camp just down the block. "I love gay rights and I'm not anti-gay. I'm just pro-chicken," said one NYU student through a mouth full of Chick-fil-A.
Tagged
chick-fil-a
fast food
free speech
homophobia
NYU
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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