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Updated Thurday, 5:05 p.m. PST
Mayor Menino backed down from a threat to actively block Chick-fil-A from setting up shop in Boston.
We don't really blame him, since we're not entirely sure that's legal... Anyway! More after the jump!
Speaking about blocking the business following Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's homophobic remarks, Menino says, “I can’t do that. That would be interference to his rights to go there."
The mayor added: “I make mistakes all the time. That’s a Menino-ism.”
“I sent (the landlord) a letter, but that’s all. There’s no pressure by me to allow this place to be rented,” he said.
Still, while Menino acknowledges Cathy's freedom of speech and expression, he isn't backing down from his own views. He tells the Boston Herald: “Some people might not like these positions, but as mayor of the city of Boston, you can’t run and hide, and I’ll always protect people’s rights,” Menino said. “I’m right out front there and if people don’t like it, I feel sorry for them. But I’m the mayor of Boston and I get elected to make my opinions known.”
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Updated Wednesday, 1:00 p.m. PST
We asked Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino to CC: us on his letter to Chick-fil-A's Atlanta headquarters and he did just that!
Check out what he had to say to Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy after the jump!
And that, Instincters, is a smackdown, Boston-style!
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Original Post
The mayor of Boston DOES NOT PLAY, and we're loving it!
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has vowed to keep Chick-fil-A and its hate chicken out of Beantown and from the sound of it, he means business.
More after the jump!
Menino told the Boston Herald, “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion."
He continues, “That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.”
("Whatever the hell the name is"?? That quote is amazing.)
Menino plans to write a letter to Chick-fil-A's Atlanta headquarters “telling them my feelings on the matter.”
CC: us on that letter, Mr. Mayor!!
Menino warned, “If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult — unless they open up their policies."
Chick-fil-A isn't the first company to face Menino's wrath. According to the Herald, he "blocked Walmart from a Roxbury development last year, criticizing the retail giant’s impact on neighborhood businesses and lower-wage workers."
It sounds like Chick-fil-A, which has been scouting Boston for new locations, may be next in line.
“It doesn’t send the right message to the country,” Menino said. “We’re a leader when it comes to social justice and opportunities for all.”
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