The cluck stops here, apparently.
Mayor Thomas Menino said he would try to block an attempt by Atlanta-based fast food chain Chick-fil-A from coming to Boston after the company’s president said they believe in a traditional family.
“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion,” Menino recently said, according to the Boston Herald.
“That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail,” Menino added, according to the Herald.
The comments from Menino come after reports that the chain, which closes its restaurants on Sundays, is looking to expand into Boston, possibly in the building near Faneuil Hall that once housed a McDonald’s.
The chain’s president, Dan Cathy, came under fire recently when he made comments to the Baptist Press that the company believes in “the biblical definition of a family unit.”
The company’s stance on same-sex marriage led to it being uninvited from opening in Northeastern University’s student center earlier this year after students voted against allowing it there.
In a statement posted last week on its Facebook page, Chick-fil-A said the company’s culture is “to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.”
“Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena,” the statement said.
