District 6 City Councilman and mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse has taken it upon himself to write a letter of apology to Chick-Fil-A for the City Council’s recent vote to ban the restaurant from the San Antonio Airport for its anti-LGBTQ beliefs.
In his March 26 missive to the company, Brockhouse writes, “The recent actions of our City Council do not reflect the overwhelming belief in our City that you are a valued business and community partner. In spite of the appearance of this decision, San Antonio is a welcoming City that values diversity, faith and inclusivity.”
The City Council voted on March 21 against allowing the opening of a Chick-Fil-A concession at the city’s airport in a vote of 6 to 4 with one abstention.
“With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion,” District 1 Councilman Roberto C. Treviño said in a statement after the vote. “San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we don’t have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”
In 2012, the company’s CEO, Dan T. Cathy, said “. . . our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.” However, recently released 2017 tax filings show the Chick-Fil-A Foundation donated more than $1.8 million to three groups with anti-LGBTQ policies.
Brockhouse was one of four City Council members who voted against the Chick-Fil-A ban. The others were Art Hall, John Courage and Clayton Perry. Councilwoman Rebecca J. Viagran abstained from voting.
Brockhouse did not mention Chick-Fil-A’s anti-LGBTQ reputation in his letter, saying, “I regret the words used to describe your organization and I will not use them in my letter.”
Instead, Brockhouse chose to apologize, “On behalf of hundreds of thousands of San Antonio residents, please accept our sincerest apologies for this decision. We will do better in the future.”
