Gay Marriage
Several US mayors have threatened to block a pro-marriage fast food chain Chick-fil-a after its president said he supported the biblical definition of the family unit.
According to reports from CBN, the mayors of Boston and Chicago threatened to punish the US multi-billion dollar fast food chain because it backs traditional marriage.
Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston, said he would do everything he could to stop the restaurant from setting up shop in the city. Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel —formerly chief of staff to President Obama — said he would block any new outlets opening in his area. The Mayor of San Francisco said he ‘strongly recommends’ that the company doesn’t try to open a restaurant within 40 miles of his city.
However, speaking to a local radio station, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg said, ‘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. You really don’t want to ask political beliefs or religious beliefs before you issue a permit. That’s just not government’s job’.
Quoted on the Christian Institute’s blog, the Los Angeles Times said public officials ‘have a responsibility to carry out their ministerial tasks fairly and even-handedly — and to uphold the principle of free speech’.
