Gay Agenda in Campaign Against Chick-fil-A Not About Civil Rights?
The backlash against gay activists and their political supporters for their campaign against Chick-fil-A for espousing the "biblical family unit" appears to be growing. Conservative activist Star Parker went so far as to describe the gay agenda as not a movement about civil rights but the advancement of the homosexual political agenda.
"The vile attacks on the firm and its owners, the Cathy family, should make clear, finally, that the 'gay rights' movement is not about refining and advancing American freedom, but about rewriting American values and advancing, not freedom, but the homosexual political agenda," Parker wrote in her syndicated column published on Friday.
"The current hate campaign being waged by homosexual activists against fast food chain Chick-fil-A, because of the firm's Christian values, may well turn out to be a bridge too far. The effort may prove to be a setback for homosexual activism," she began in her column titled, "Is it un-American to be a Christian?"
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Key elected leaders in Chicago, San Francisco and Boston have said they would oppose and even block future Chick-fil-A stores from opening in their communities.
Former White House chief-of-staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel chimed in earlier last week after a city alderman suggested they block Chick-fil-A from expanding into his district. "Their values aren't reflective of our city," said Emanuel, who has long been a supporter of same-sex marriage.
However, legal experts maintain that elected city officials have no solid grounds to block a business from setting up shop because of company executives' personal views. An attorney for the ACLU, a group that supports same-sex marriage, weighed in on the issue by saying one cannot reject an application for a permit simply because of someone's words or opinions.
"The government can regulate discrimination in employment or against customers, but what the government cannot do is to punish someone for their words," Adam Schwartz, senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told Fox News. "When an alderman refuses to allow a business to open because its owner has expressed a viewpoint the government disagrees with, the government is practicing viewpoint discrimination."
Parker points out that UCLA law professor and constitutional scholar Eugene Volokh wrote in his blog that "denying a private business permits because of such speech by its owner is a blatant First Amendment violation."
In her column, she then asks, "The Constitution? The First Amendment? Religious liberty? Do these apply to Christians?"
Parker, who is the founder and president of CURE (Center for Urban Renewal and Education), said that "one court decision after another over the last 50 years has, step by step, purged any hint of religion and traditional values from our schools and public spaces.
"Has it made this a fairer, better, freer nation? If you think breakdown of family, 40 percent out-of-wedlock births, a million abortions a year, $16 trillion in national debt, and government dependence is better and freer, yes."
She states that society must embrace civility, respect and tolerance. "But this doesn't mean that the sexual proclivities of some should provide license to rewrite our language and the traditions that define our faith and virtue."
Parker is hoping that many people will participate in FOX News analyst and show host Mike Huckabee's appeal to patronize Chick-fil-A on Aug. 1 "as a display of support for traditional Christian values and as a reminder that our Constitution protects religious freedom."
She concludes her column by asking the question, "Have we really gotten to the point where being a Christian is considered un-American?"
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