New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has a bone to pick with Christian fast food chain Chick-fil-A because of the company's stance regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
The mayor recently urged his constituents to boycott the fast food joint. However, his call backfired on him as some New Yorkers accused him of being a bully.
Many social media users came out to defend the fast food restaurant, The Gospel Herald reports. "Chick-fil-A does NOT spread a message of hate, but of love. They have a standard they base their business on. What is your standard Mayor De Blasio?" one supporter said.
Another added: "I seldom feel more respected that I do when I visit a Chick-fil-A. Their employees are among the most friendly, courteous and respectful people. Treating people with kindness is at Chick-Fil-A's core. Just because their CEO happens to support traditional marriage doesn't make him a hate-monger. He's entitled to his beliefs. If anyone is spreading a message of hate and intolerance, it's de Blasio."
Another supporter noted how people lined up for even an hour just to eat at Chick-fil-A after De Blasio called for a boycott.
Meanwhile, the conservative organisation Liberty News Now has launched a petition telling De Blasio to "stop targeting Christian businesses." The group plans to deliver their petition to the mayor's office at the end of May with a Chick-fil-A nugget tray.
The call to boycott Chick-fil-A all started when it opened a branch at the Queens Center Mall. Councilman Danny Dromm, who is openly gay, was displeased with the development and blasted the company for financially supporting anti-gay organisations.
"I am deeply disturbed that Chick-fil-A continues to give 25 percent of their charitable contributions to anti-LGBT organisations, including over $1 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes," said Dromm. "I hope that the Queens Center mall will reconsider giving a company so deeply involved in anti-gay discrimination a lease on their property. Believers in equality should boycott these purveyors of hate."
De Blasio supported Dromm by saying he would no longer eat at the establishment. "I'm certainly not going to patronise them and I wouldn't urge any other New Yorker to patronise them," he said.
