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Bloomberg Says Chick-fil-A Ban "Not Going To Happen"
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 27, 2012
Modified Jul 27, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 27, 2012
Modified Jul 27, 2012
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The mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco can certainly try and ban Chick-fil-A, but don't expect to see the gay-unfriendly fast food spot banned in NYC, Mayor Bloomberg said this morning. Transfats and large sugary sodas? Sure ban those. Companies that are 'guilty as charged' of being anti-gay? Never!
To be fair, Bloomberg makes a valid and reasonable point on this one—especially as Chick-fil-A itself isn't giving money to anti-gay groups, its charitable arms are. "You can’t have a test for what the owners’ personal views are before you decide to give a permit to do something in the city," Bloomberg said. "You really don’t want to ask political beliefs or religious beliefs before you issue a permit, that’s just not government’s job."
"Freedom of speech—everybody’s in favor of it as long as it’s what they want to hear," he went on. "Well the only way that you have your freedom of speech is if you give other people freedom of speech...This is just a bad idea and it’s not going to happen in New York City."
Another issue with banning the chain from the city is that, well, there already is one in the city: in NYU. And despite student protests it ain't going anywhere. Finally, if you were curious? Bloomberg has never been to a Chick-fil-A: "I didn’t even know about them until I read about them in the paper."
Tagged
antigay
bloomberg
chick-fil-a
homophobia
Garth Johnston
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