A New York City councilman says
Chick-fil-A is not welcome in his city until the chicken chain
welcomes all New Yorkers.
“We don't need bigots coming to New
York City,” openly gay Councilman Daniel Dromm told The
Huffington Post about the eatery's plans to expand into the
Big Apple. “They are not welcome here unless they can embrace all
of New York's diverse community, including the LGBT community.”
Two years after he created a firestorm
of controversy, CEO Dan Cathy recently said he'll leave the issue of
gay marriage to politicians, which in turn unleashed harsh words
from social conservatives who suggested Cathy had “sold out.”
(Related: Chick-fil-A's
Dan Cathy says he'll leave gay marriage to politicians.)
“We don't need bigoted people even
keeping their opinions to themselves,” Dromm added. “They need
to wake up and see reality.”
Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), the nation's most vociferous
opponent of marriage equality, criticized Dromm's comments.
“These remarks are outrageous and
intolerant, and sadly seem to be part of a trend developing in the
public debate surrounding this issue,” Brown said in a blog post.
“When Dan Cathy's pro-marriage views were first reported in 2012,
we saw mayors and city councils saying similar things – it was a
disgraceful circus then, and it is now.”
“What Dromm has effectively said here
is that anyone who believes in marriage as the union of a man and a
woman is unwelcome in New York City. His remarks, coming amidst a
climate of such unseemly attacks on pro-marriage people as we saw
with the Mozilla controversy last week, simply reinforce a growing
manifestation of hostility and intimidation in the public square
toward folks with traditional values. Christians and others are now,
it seems, going to be considered guilty of 'thought-crimes' and
threatened with all manner of reprisals simply for holding their
beliefs.”
Brown called on the New York City
Council to condemn Dromm's comments.