Kathryn’s must-read column on the homepage today, about the persecution of a social scientist who dared look at the reality and effects of family instability, is a reminder that the sexual revolution is now well into its totalitarian phase. Boston mayor Thomas Menino gives us another particularly telling example: Mayor Menino is intent on making sure Chick-fil-A can’t do business in his town. Why? Because Chick-fil-A executives support the traditional family.
Let’s be clear about the mayor’s intent. No one has credibly accused Chick-fil-A of discrimination in employment or in it services. Every customer gets served, regardless of sex, race, creed, sexual orientation, or any other factor. Chick-fil-A stores comply with all applicable local, state, and federal nondiscrimination laws. Yet the mayor believes the business has no place in his town because of the constitutionally protected speech, ideas, and gifts of its executives and leaders.
If the mayor acts to block Chick-fil-A, his actions would be grotesquely unconstitutional. The right to do business in any community is not contingent upon the political or religious views of the business owners. Customers are certainly free to forgo eating at Chick-fil-A for any reason or no reason at all, but the government may not affirmatively block its access to the market on the basis of nothing more than politics and bigotry.
I have no idea if Chick-fil-A has any plans to enter the Boston market, but if they do, I hope they won’t be deterred by Mayor Menino. Unless our nation has truly entered a post-constitutional age, his intolerance won’t prevail in federal court.