The San Antonio City Council is being sued after its stopped a Chick-Fil-A from being built at the city's airport for its stance on gay issues.
The President of Texas Values, Jonathan Saenz, who opposed the ban, responded to the lawsuit, Monday.
STATEMENT BELOW:
San Antonio, Texas - Today, Jonathan Saenz, Esq., President of Texas Values, joined a press conference with citizens of the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and Comal County announcing a lawsuit against the San Antonio City Council under the Save Chick-Fil-A Religious Freedom Law. According to the plaintiffs,
“The lawsuit asks the Court to enjoin the city from allowing any vendor other than Chick-fil-A to operate in the space that had been reserved for Chick-fil-A in the original concession agreement between the city and Paradies Lagardère. It also seeks an injunction that would order the city and Paradies Lagardère to install a Chick-fil-A restaurant in the 985-square-foot space across from Gate A6, consistent with the original proposal from Paradies Lagardère.”
Jonathan Saenz, Esq., President of Texas Values, stated:
“If you thought we were bluffing, now you know we’re not. This is just one of many lawsuits that we expect to be filed against the San Antonio City Council for their illegal ban of Chick-fil-A. The continued religious ban on Chick-fil-A by the San Antonio City Council has by left citizens with no choice but to take this case to court. Any other vendor that tries to replace Chick-fil-A at the airport will be doing so under a major cloud of long and costly litigation with the city.”
The Save Chick-fil-A Religious Freedom law, SB 1978, ensures, just like the First Amendment intended, that no one is discriminated against by the government for associating with, or donating to, a religious organization. The law prohibits state and local governments from denying a contract, loan, scholarship, grant, license, registration, admission to a school or university, or employment because of a business or an individual’s support or donation to a religious organization. SB 1978 was authored by Senator Bryan Hughes and Representative Matt Krause.
The #SaveChickfilA religious freedom effort became a statewide and even national movement during the 2019 Texas Legislative Session after the San Antonio City Council banned a Chick-fil-A location from their airport in March because of past donations to the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Texans, including Governor Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz, expressed their overwhelming support for the Save Chick-fil-A effort with over 150,000 phone calls, emails, and social media messages to the Texas Capitol.
This attack on Chick-fil-A and religious freedom by the San Antonio City Council also has led to an ongoing investigation by the Texas Attorney General’s office and the United States Department of Transportation. San Antonio City Council member Roberto Trevino has refused to reverse the ban on Chick-fil-A in light of this new law. The Mayor, Ron Nirenberg, who was forced into a runoff and barely won re-election because of this issue, has tried to rewrite history in regards to the embarrassment he has brought to the city on by discriminating against a Christian owned business. This law removes all doubt on where Texas stands protecting religious freedom.
After the city of San Antonio banned Chick-fil-A from the airport, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority banned Chick-fil-A from the Buffalo Niagara Airport and faculty at Kansas University are calling for Chick-fil-A to be banned from the campus.