University students protest arrival of anti-gay Chick-fil-A on campus

Students at a university in Pittsburgh have said they are in “fear” of the arrival of a Chick-fil-A on campus.

The CEO of the chicken restaurant chain has expressed and re-affirmed an opposition to gay rights.

So student senators are protesting at the Duquesne University over the deal to open a branch on campus.

Speaking at a student government association meeting on 26 March, student senator Niko Martini proposed that the deal between the university and Chick-fil-A be blocked.

“Chick-fil-A has a questionable history on civil rights and human rights,” Martini told The Duquesne Duke.

“I think it’s imperative [that] the university chooses to do business with organisations that coincide with the [university’s] mission and expectations they give students regarding diversity and inclusion.’

Despite the resolution failing, another one passed which could mean the restaurant would be “vetted” before a deal is finalised.

The resolution by Martini has been backed by the gay-straight alliance at the university, which says that the Chick-fil-A would jeopardise the university as a “safe space” for LGBT+ people.

“I’ve tried very hard within the last semester and a half to promote this safe environment for the LGBTQ community. So I fear that with the Chick-fil-A being in Options [an on-campus food fair] that maybe people will feel that safe place is at risk,” GSA president Rachel Coury added.

In 2012 it emerged that the fried chicken company had donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups including the Family Research Council, ‘gay cure’ group Exodus International and Focus on the Family.

CEO Dan Cathy doubled down on discrimination, confirming the company was “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of a family”.

• Nov 29 2023

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