Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has
joined Mayors Thomas Menino of Boston, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Ed
Lee of San Francisco in criticizing Chick-Fil-A's opposition to gay
rights.
After Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy
conceded that his company is opposed to gay marriage and supports
groups opposed to the institution (donating $5 million between 2003
and 2010), Menino wrote a scathing letter to Cathy in which he said
that his fast-food chain was not welcome in Boston. Emanuel agreed,
saying, “Chick-Fil-A's values are not Chicago values.” Lee on
Thursday messaged on Twitter: “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco
is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they do not try to
come any closer.”
(Related: Rick
Santorum defends Chick-Fil-A from Thomas Menino, Rahm Emanuel
attacks.)
After declining at first to comment on
the matter, Gray
reconsidered and tweeted: “Given my long standing strong
support for LGBT rights and marriage equality, I would not support
#hatechicken.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
however, said he “really strongly” disagrees with banning a
business based on the personal beliefs of its CEO.
“You can't have a test for what the
owners' personal views are before you decide to give a permit to do
something in the city,” Bloomberg said on Friday. “You really
don't want to ask [about] political beliefs or religious beliefs
before you issue a permit, that's just not government's job.”