– Advertisement –

Religious Freedom: Texas Passes “Save Chick-Fil-A” Bill

by | May 23, 2019 | News, Politics | 0 comments

✪ Read this article ad-free and leave comments here on Substack

AUSTIN, Texas (CBS/AP) — Texas lawmakers have passed a controversial bill nicknamed “Save Chick-fil-A.” It prevents the government from taking negative action against individuals or businesses based on membership, support or donations to religious groups.

The nickname comes after the fast food chain lost a food contract over criticism for donating to charities that oppose gay marriage.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled he will sign legislation that Republicans say is a defense of Chick-fil-A and religious freedom, but gay lawmakers sometimes tearfully railed against it on the House floor as a license to discriminate.

The bill, given final approval Tuesday in the Texas House, was fast-tracked in the GOP-controlled Legislature in response to the San Antonio City Council stopping Chick-fil-A from opening a location in the airport of the nation’s seventh-largest city.

Join Us and Get These Perks:

✅ No Ads in Articles
✅ Access to Comments and Discussions
✅ Community Chats
✅ Full Article and Podcast Archive
✅ The Joy of Supporting Our Work 😉



Some council members said they were taking a stand over the fast-food company’s values: Chick-fil-A’s owners have donated to anti-LGBT causes, and councilmember Roberto Trevino said in March that the city does “not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”

But 80 miles north in the Texas Capitol, Republicans swiftly responded with a bill that would prohibit cities from taking “adverse action” against an individual based on contributions to religious organizations. Opponents slammed the measure, which is likely to reach Abbott’s desk before the legislative session ends Monday, as duplicating existing religious freedom protection and said it would only stoke discrimination against the LGBT community.

The bill reignited battles over divisive social issues that Texas Republicans have largely sought to avoid after an unusually rough election year for them in 2018. Two years ago, the Legislature was upended by a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people, and LGBT lawmakers said during emotional floor speeches Monday that they’ve had enough.

“I’m tired of this,” Democratic state Rep. Celia Israel, who spoke at length about the impact of such measures on LGBT youth. “It’s been cloaked in religious freedom but the genesis and the nexus of this bill is in hatred.”

Republicans pushed back, saying the bill contained no discriminatory language. Abbott teased in a tweet that he would sign the legislation.

Read More >>

Three Ways to Support DISNTR


The Dissenter is primarily supported by its readers. The best way to support us is to subscribe to our members-only Substack site where you will receive all of our content ad-free, plus you will get member-only exclusive content.

Support us with a monthly donation on Patreon

Support us with membership to our ad-free Substack

Make one-time or monthly donation on Donorbox


👕 Or make a purchase from our online store. 👕
Make a Dogecoin Donation

- Advertisement -

Latest

The Modern American Soft “Jesus” is an Idol

The Modern American Soft “Jesus” is an Idol

The modern American imagination is an idol factory, and it has manufactured a version of Jesus that never existed. In this version, Jesus is soft-spoken, endlessly agreeable, and almost allergic to confrontation. He floats through the Gospels like a spiritual...

Why are Leftists Like David French Fascinated with James Talarico?

Why are Leftists Like David French Fascinated with James Talarico?

James Talarico Is the Exact Kind of Christian as David French Or maybe it’s clearer if we say it without the polite packaging—he isn’t one at all. Every few months the evangelical internet machine latches onto a new personality and suddenly the timelines start...

- Advertisement -

Subscribe

Store

Follow Us

- Advertisement -

- Advertisement -

You Might Also Like…

In a World Unraveling, God Still Reigns.

In a World Unraveling, God Still Reigns.

I wake up, grab my coffee, thumb the screen—and it’s the same grim parade, again. A man guns down a pregnant woman at a red light—her husband beside her—an unborn child erased in the same breath, and the system shrugs it off under the banner of insanity. Not...

The Modern American Soft “Jesus” is an Idol

The Modern American Soft “Jesus” is an Idol

The modern American imagination is an idol factory, and it has manufactured a version of Jesus that never existed. In this version, Jesus is soft-spoken, endlessly agreeable, and almost allergic to confrontation. He floats through the Gospels like a spiritual...

Liberals and Conservatives are Not “Equal But Opposite” Evils

Liberals and Conservatives are Not “Equal But Opposite” Evils

“Yes, Democrats are evil, but Republicans…” I always hear the David French types, the Phil Vischer types, the JD Greear types, attempt to argue that Republicans are some kind of “opposite” evil from Democrats. These center-leftists, for lack of a better term, will...

The Eastern Orthodox Icon Ruse

The Eastern Orthodox Icon Ruse

by John Carpenter Most serious American Christians are accustomed to engaging groups like the Mormons, with their sexually immoral con-man who wrote bad fiction full of provable absurdities, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, repackaging ancient Arianism, or even Roman...

- Advertisement -

Want to go ad-free with exclusive content? Subscribe today.
Already a subscriber? Click Here

This will close in 0 seconds

Three Ways to Support DISNTR



The Dissenter is primarily supported by its readers. The best way to support us is to subscribe to our members-only Substack site where you will receive all of our content ad-free, plus you will get member-only exclusive content.

 

Support us with a monthly donation on Patreon

Support us with membership to our ad-free Substack

Make one-time or monthly donation on Donorbox


👕 Or make a purchase from our online store. 👕

This will close in 0 seconds