Chick Fil-a Not Welcome in Chicago } Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Against: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Chick-fil-A doesn't belong in Chicago because of its stance on gay marriage
Chick-fil-A isn't welcome in Chicago after the company's CEO couple out against gay marriage -- at least as far as Mayor Rahm Emanuel is concerned.
The head of the nation's third-largest city hopes to hit the fast food chain where it hurts most -- its pocketbook -- by vowing to block its plans to build a new restaurant in his hometown.
Emanuel is the second mayor of a major city to oppose Chick-fil-A over its gay marriage stance. Tom Menino, the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, sent a letter informing Chick-fil-A executives last week that their plans to open a restaurant there are not welcome, either.
San Francisco Mayor Ewdin Lee also joined the chorus opposing Chick-fil-A with a tweet saying: 'Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.'
'Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values. They’re not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values,' Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday.
The Democrat mayor, who was previously President Barack Obama's first chief of staff, said the comments by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy run against the grain of the city, which allows civil partnerships for gay couples and is working to recognize gay marriage.
Gay marriage, however, is not legal in Illinois.
Chick-fil-A has filed permits to open its first stand-alone restaurant in Chicago. The chain already has a store near Loyola University's campus downtown.
At least one city legislator agrees with the mayor. Alderman Joe Moreno says he will do everything he can to hold up, delay and otherwise block the company from opening a new store.
Chick-fil-A also won a detractor in Mayor Menino, the longtime Democratic leader of Boston. In a letter to the company's president Dan Cathy, Mayor Menino pointed out that Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage.
'There is no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and there is no place for your company alongside it,' he wrote of Chick-fil-A's plans to open a restaurant in the city.
The company made enemies of Emanuel and Menino, but it found a friend in former Republican presidential candidate Famous Homophobe Rick Santorum.
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