Chick-fil-A location at DIA paused after Denver Council cites chain’s LGBT stances

Author: Kresta in the Afternoon Published on: August 24, 2015 Published in: Marriage & Family

A Chick-fil-A team member loads up orders at the restaurant near Southlands Mall in Aurora. Denver Council is debating on whether to let the restaurant chain return to DIA. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Chick-fil-A’s reputation as an opponent of same-sex marriage has imperiled the fast-food chain’s potential return to Denver International Airport, with several City Council members this week passionately questioning a proposed concession agreement.

Councilman Paul Lopez called opposition to the chain at DIA “really, truly a moral issue on the city.”

His position comes despite ardent assurances from the concessionaires — who have operated other DIA restaurants — that strict nondiscrimination policies will include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Robin Kniech, the council’s first openly gay member, said she was most worried about a local franchise generating “corporate profits used to fund and fuel discrimination.” She was first to raise Chick-fil-A leaders’ politics during a Tuesday committee hearing.

The normally routine process of approving an airport concession deal has taken a rare political turn. The Business Development Committee on Tuesday stalled the seven-year deal with a new franchisee of the popular chain for two weeks.